Police helicopter denies deliberately drawing phallic flight path

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 5 Nov, 10:11 · Archive

The National Police Air Service denied that one of its pilots deliberately drew a penis shape on a flight path over Hampshire.

A police helicopter's flight path over Ancells Farm in Fleet, Hampshire, on Monday night created a shape resembling male genitalia when viewed on aircraft tracking websites. The aircraft circled low over the residential estate for 15 to 20 minutes, waking residents including Gordon Bird, 53, who said his two-year-old daughter was disturbed. When Bird checked the flight path online, he said he was shocked by the shape it had made, taking approximately half an hour to draw according to flight radar data.

Bird told the BBC he was not angry but upset at what he perceived as a waste of police resources during the hour-long flight. The National Police Air Service (NPAS), which provides support to police forces across England and Wales, denied the shape was intentional. A spokesman said that helicopter flights do not follow predetermined routes, instead responding dynamically to changing circumstances on the ground. NPAS confirmed the aircraft was assisting Thames Valley Police in tracking a vehicle that had failed to stop for officers.

How it is being reported

• Police helicopter denies making penis shaped flight path on purposeA shape resembling a penis appeared on plane tracking websites following a police helicopter operation in the area (Picture: ADS-B Exchange) A police helicopter service accused of making a penis-shaped flight path insisted it was accidental. The police air service NPAS denied that the phallus-like…Metro · 5 Nov, 09:46
• Police air service denies phallic flight path was deliberateThe National Police Air Service insisted the helicopter was used for a ‘legitimate policing purpose’The Independent · 4 Nov, 19:37

In this story: Gordon Bird · National Police Air Service · Thames Valley Police · Fleet · Hampshire · Ancells Farm

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