Alaska Airlines commercial shoot rattles nerves in Marin

A shot from Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing 737-900ER aircraft commercial filmed in partly cloudy skies of the Bay Area Wednesday. A shot from Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing 737-900ER aircraft commercial filmed in partly cloudy skies of the Bay Area Wednesday. Photo: Alaska Airlines Photo: Alaska Airlines Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Alaska Airlines commercial shoot rattles nerves in Marin 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Update: Alaska Airlines apologized about the unannounced second day of low flying on Wednesday. In an email a spokesperson said: "We had to extend the flying by one day due to low ceilings in the area. I apologize for any disturbance our low flying caused to the residents of Marin."

Take two.

Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing 737-900ER aircraft took to the partly cloudy skies of the Bay Area Wednesday for a second day of shooting a low-flying commercial. The sleek airliner was spotted over Marin County, and even scared some residents who were unaware that it would be circling the area closely followed by a film crew in a Learjet.

Alaska Airlines is using the San Francisco skyline as the backdrop for a commercial showing off the prized addition to its fleet, officials said. The San Francisco Police Department sent out a notice that the filming above the city would occur on Tuesday, but there was no mention of a Wednesday shoot.

Some residents of Marin County were caught off guard.

“Low flying plane over Marin not appreciated, it is scary,” one Marin resident emailed The Chronicle. “Surely there is enough technology around here to fake a SF background!”

The 138-foot long airliner made laps around San Francisco Tuesday morning and again in the afternoon. From Oakland International Airport, its course included buzzing the Golden Gate Bridge.

“While flying at low altitudes may surprise local residents, the seasoned technical pilots of both planes are veterans of this type of flying and have filed their flight plans with the Federal Aviation Administration and NORCAL Traffic Management Unit,” San Francisco Police said in a statement released on Tuesday.

During the filming, the two planes flew in close formation to get the best shots of Alaska Airlines’ newest star coursing through the air with the backdrop of the Bay Area in its jet stream.

Bill Hutchinson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bhutchinson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: bill_hutchinson