By Islam El-Sakka
The UK National Police Air Service has denied that a helicopter pilot deliberately drew a phallic shape on a flight path after a resident raised the complaint this week.
Resident spots unusual pattern
Gordon Bird, 53, from Ancells Farm in Fleet, Hampshire, said he was shocked after looking up the helicopter's flight path online when the aircraft circled his estate for 15 to 20 minutes late on Monday night, waking his two-year-old daughter. He told the BBC the phallic outline took about half an hour to complete and the overall flight lasted an hour.
Police say flight was for legitimate purpose
The National Police Air Service insisted the flight was conducted for a legitimate policing purpose. A spokesman said the helicopter was orbiting the area as part of a search for a vehicle that had failed to stop for police, adding that flights do not follow predetermined plans because they respond to dynamic circumstances on the ground.
Previous similar incidents
Similar flight-path patterns were spotted in 2021 involving Royal Air Force pilots and Finnish air force cadets, both of which drew public attention and, in the Finnish case, disciplinary consequences.
