A HUGE RAF plane appeared to circle low over Glasgow on Tuesday night.
At around 10:35 pm online flight tracking service Flightradar24 showed an Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft enter the city's airspace.
Rather than landing for good in Glasgow, the sizeable military plane seems to have flown in loops around the city reaching a low altitude of around 600 feet at the airport and before taking to the skies again.
After only 35 minutes the Airbus began to fly back towards its base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at around 11:10 pm.
However, it seems flight tracking websites weren't the only indication of the RAF plane's arrival.
The loud noise caused by the aircraft quickly became a hot topic for discussion on social media as people began to question its route.
RAF plane circling Glasgow, keeps dropping to just above the airport then climbs and does another loop. Weird! #ascot432 pic.twitter.com/KpowmRVlr4
— chlo. (@hello_its_chlo) April 5, 2022
One Twitter user said: "Anyone got an idea why this RAF flight from Brize Norton is circling Glasgow Airport, dropping down to a few hundred feet but not landing?"
Another added: "Fuel crisis? Then why have the RAF got planes doing laps round Glasgow at this time."
A third said: "Going by the noise it was one hell of a big aircraft."
The Atlas A400M is a transport aircraft which has been in service around the globe for around nine years. Capable of carrying a maximum payload of 37 metric tons, it can be used to deploy troops as well as humanitarian aid and has the capacity to airdrop supplies.
A spokesperson for the RAF said: “A Royal Air Force Atlas A400M aircraft from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire was completing routine and pre-authorised night-flying training around Glasgow yesterday evening.
"The RAF use a variety of locations around the UK for training as they provide complex airspace and differing challenges for our pilots to ensure we remain ready and able to deploy on global operations.”
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