OttawaA distinctive U.S. military plane spotted over Ottawa Tuesday was likely on a “routine training flight,” a former NORAD official says.Boeing E-3 Sentry is used for airborne radarCBC News · Posted: Sep 18, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoPlane watchers report seeing U.S. military aircraft in Ottawa skiesOttawa residents may have spotted a Boeing E-3 Sentry — a military aircraft used for airborne radar — in Ottawa’s skies this week.A distinctive U.S. military plane spotted over Ottawa Tuesday was likely on a “routine training flight,” according to a former Canadian military official.Images and video of the rare Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft — known by the acronym AWACS, which stands for airborne warning and control system — were shared widely on social media.The plane, which features a large spinning radar dome, can be used to augment ground-based radar from above, said Christopher Coates, director of foreign policy, national defence and national security at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.Spotting one flying over the Canadian capital was notable, he said.”The aircraft are very rare in the U.S. inventory and they’re in high demand,” said Coates, who is also the former deputy commander of North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).”So for them to be over the Ottawa area on a regular basis, wouldn’t be usual.”A rare Boeing E-3 Sentry pictured on approach to the Ottawa airport on Sept. 16, 2025. (Submitted by Daniil Rzhepishevskiy)The plane was likely circling the city for one of three reasons, according to Coates.It may have been conducting a routine training mission, providing enhanced security for an event, or ensuring the military has an up-to-date “air picture” of the region.CBC contacted the Canadian Department of National Defence and the U.S. Air Force, as well as NORAD bases in both Canada and the United States. None responded to a request for more information.The Ottawa International Airport Authority said in an email it does not track the activity of military planes, while Nav Canada said it does not disclose flight plan information in order to protect the confidentiality of third-party data.Asked for an explanation about the presence of the plane, Defence Minister David McGuinty said: “I know nothing about it.”Plane took off from Bangor, MaineAccording to crowd-sourced flight tracking website ADS-B Exchange, the plane took off from the Bangor International Airport and tracked across southern Quebec toward Ottawa, where it passed at a low altitude over both primary airport runways.The plane then continued west toward Kingston before pivoting south across Lake Ontario and eventually circling the Griffiss International Airport in Rome, N.Y.The Boeing E-3 Sentry is used to supplement ground-based radar, which can be limited by obstacles. (U.S. Air Force)Ottawa resident Derek Puddicombe lives on a flight path in Barrhaven.”I’m familiar with different sounds of wide-body, private planes, smaller aircraft and such,” Puddicombe said. “This was a particular unfamiliar roar of engines, and so I knew it was probably something different — and likely military.”Puddicombe said once he saw the disc on the aircraft, he knew right away it was an AWACS.”It was the roar of the engines that really caught my attention,” he said. “And I thought this was really something different.”
Rare U.S. military aircraft spotted over Ottawa likely on training flight, ex-NORAD officer says
