Windows shattered in the lobbies of at least three Lake View condo buildings Friday as jets practiced for the annual Chicago Air and Water Show, residents said.
Some residents said they felt strong vibrations and a sudden jolt as U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds practiced over buildings in the 3100, 3600 and 3900 blocks of North Lake Shore Drive. Chicago police and an alderperson received complaints about damage at the building in the 3100 block of Lake Shore Drive.
Anna Brailovsky, a resident in the 3900 block of North Lake Shore Drive, said she felt vibrations from the jets about 10 a.m.
“I thought there was something wrong with my body, like my extremities were tingling,” said Brailovsky, 55. “The building shook. It felt like an earthquake.”
Brailovsky, who has lived in her building since 2020, said the practice was the first time “it felt like the jets were right on top of us.”
Pilots also practiced around 3:30 p.m. Windows in her building’s lobby shattered both times, she said.
A spokesperson with the U.S. Air Force said “a review of the practice determined the Thunderbird jets did not go supersonic at any point during the demonstration.”
One resident in a building in the 3600 block, who asked not to be identified, said the building “felt a massive jolt” that left the glass doors to the patio broken.
Another resident in the building said, “I’ve lived here 42 years, and this has never happened. … It was kinda scary, and we don’t know what it was.”
A resident wrote on Facebook: “I thought I saw the windows of the north tower facing south, and my own windows, rattling. It happened quickly.”
That building’s residents also said they received emails from the building’s management about the damage. Residents said they were concerned about who would pay for the repairs.
An email requesting response from the management of the building was not immediately answered.
A spokesperson for Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) said his office received complaints about the shattered windows in the 3100 block of North Lake Shore Drive and is seeking more information about the incident from the city’s Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. But Lawson had yet to receive a response from the agencies late Friday afternoon.
The two agencies also didn’t respond to Sun-Times emails inquiring about the incidents.
In the incident at the building in the 3100 block of North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago police said they received a 311 call about 10:20 a.m. that four windows in the building’s lobby had shattered. No injuries were reported.
The Air and Water Show will be held Saturday and Sunday.
