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Plane buzzes Durango

Several Durango-area residents reported seeing and hearing a low-flying plane as it roared overhead about 11:30 p.m. Sunday.

The plane, possibly a military craft with propellers, traveled in a southeasterly direction as it skimmed the sleepy town.

Efforts to reach Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque for comment Monday were not immediately successful.

A message left with Cannon Air Force Base outside Clovis, New Mexico, was not immediately returned. Two years ago, the base began a program to train pilots in low-altitude, night flying in mountains to simulate the terrain of Afghanistan.

The flight patterns for the missions included the southern San Juan Mountains in Colorado. Residents in the area as well as communities in New Mexico protested, fearing aviation accidents and noise that would disrupt residents as well as frighten livestock.

The military has also been known to fly CV-22 Osprey aircraft over Durango. The Ospreys are part helicopter and part fixed-wing aircraft. Flight training using CV-22s began from Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque in 2006.

shane@durangoherald.com



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