Low-Flying Plane Sunday In Southwest MI Was Local's Retirement

For many people in Southwest Michigan on Sunday, it was a quiet and calm Sunday afternoon as we enjoyed the last remaining days of summer weather before it made the quick turn to fall. But one thing that seemingly caught people off guard and for some a little worrisome was a military-style plane, flying incredibly low to the ground all over southwest Michigan.

Many people were confused as to why the plane was flying so low and were concerned that the pilot was in trouble. This is an understandable feeling considering we recently had the Thunder Over Michigan Airshow, which had a plane crash near a residential area. This, however, was not the case and was a little bit more lighthearted. The plane was flying solo because one local resident was retiring from the military.

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Gobles Football recently shared on their Facebook that one of their former students would be doing the flight, but was not made well-aware to the public until word started getting around:

Gobles HS football alumni John Highley will be retiring from the United States Air Force today after 21+ years of service. Jonathan is a pilot flying the C-17 Globmaster all over the world in service to our country. For his final flight before retirement, he will be making a low level pass over the Gobles HS football field today at 2:06pm.

Now that we know what exactly was going on, I'm glad he was able to retire in style. But this seems like one of those things that needs to be made aware to the public so it doesn't cause a panic. Luckily, the flight went well and all is good. Happy Retirement!