The Sanborn County Sheriff’s Office has received several calls in the past few weeks about a low-flying aircraft in Sanborn County skies. According to reports from some of the county’s residents, there has been an aircraft flying at very low altitudes south of Artesian and north of Woonsocket, which has raised a few concerns to people living in the areas where they have been spotted. Thanks to the Sanborn County Sheriff’s Office, all concerns can be quashed and eliminated.

Through an investigation with the South Dakota National Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration, Deputy Josh Starzman found that, for the past 30 plus years, the area a few miles north of Mitchell going north through Sanborn County has been a designated low-level military training route (MTR). Because it is a military route, the emphasis is on low-altitude training and the lowest threshold for that is 500 feet, so it can be alarming to see something flying that low in this area that isn’t spraying crops.

…Read on in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!