TRAVERSE CITY — The owner of a mystery plane that repeatedly circled local airspace last month released a statement Thursday on the purpose of the odd flight patterns.
“N515JA is a modified Gulfstream to conduct atmospheric research and currently in developmental and testing phases,” said Fabian Bello, chief executive officer of Journey Aviation in Boca Raton, Florida.
“For this reason we fly in the same areas and patterns to receive consistent results. Our atmospheric testing is with a commercially developed sensor on board that is of proprietary but not classified nature,” Bello added.
“While we cannot provide specific details of the sensing unit onboard, rest assured this is no clandestine or secret project of any sorts.”
Bello’s statement was in response to an inquiry from journalist Mike LaSusa, who grew up in Traverse City, is now based in Los Angeles and covers legal and security issues for Law360.
LaSusa shared Bello’s statement with the Record-Eagle.
Previous email inquiries and telephone messages to Bello from Record-Eagle reporters were not returned.
Between June 6 and June 30 N515JA made 12 flights between Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti to the airspace above Traverse City, sometimes also circling Flint, data from Flight Aware, a popular aviation website, shows.
The flights lasted between 1 hour and 13 minutes, and 2 hours and 58 minutes and came to the attention of local residents the afternoon of June 19, when atmospheric conditions were right for a series of white vapor trails to appear in the sky.
On June 30 the plane made a single trip from Willow Run to Traverse City airspace and back, then later flew to Newport News, Virginia, and landed at Williamsburg International Airport.
Willow Run is known in aviation circles as a testing ground for mobility innovations, said Cherry Capital Airport Director Kevin Klein.
Williamsburg International Airport saw passenger travel decline in 2012 when AirTran merged with Southwest Airlines.
and is now the home to several flight schools, according to the airport’s website.
———
©2020 The Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.)
Visit The Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.) at record-eagle.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
