A plane that appears to be registered to West Yorkshire Police flew over Merseyside on Wednesday night (March 30).
The flightpath for a Vulkanair P.68R, which FlightRadar suggests is registered to the Police & Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire, shows a number of loops around Sefton, with a particular focus around Litherland, Waterloo and Aintree. FlightRadar states that it left Doncaster Airport at 7.10pm, but its destination is unknown.
The flightpath also shows a number of loops around other Merseyside, including several around Kirkby. At present, the reason for the plane's presence in the region is unknown.
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Vulcanair P68 planes are based at Doncaster and provide air support for a number of police forces, including Humberside Police. Grimsby Live report ed that the brightly-coloured planes are fitted with L3 WESCAM MX15 state of the art cameras.
After they were announced, the National Police Air Service said: "When the aeroplanes are operational, they will be deployed from NPAS’ Doncaster base. They will join the existing fleet of helicopters, which fly from 13 other NPAS bases."
GrimsbyLive added that the new planes are cheaper to run and maintain than rotary aircraft. They have greater endurance than helicopters and will mean that police air assets will be able to stay ‘on station’ for longer periods of time than helicopters.
