- A Lufthansa pilot created a penis-shaped loop in the sky after being asked to divert the flight.
- They spent around 16 minutes creating the 15-mile-long shape over Sicily's east coast.
- It wasn't clear whether the shape was intentional or a coincidence.
A Lufthansa pilot made a 15-mile-long, penis-shaped loop in the sky after being asked to divert their flight.
The pilot was flying from Frankfurt to Sicily on July 28, but was asked mid-flight to land in Malta instead, according to the air-traffic website Flightradar24.
The cause was said to be disruption at the flight's original destination of Catania–Fontanarossa Airport. The airport has been struggling lately after a fire damaged the main terminal on July 16 amid a historic heatwave, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
After receiving the diversion request, Flightradar24 data shows the Lufthansa aircraft flying over and past Catania before spending approximately 16 minutes creating a distinctly phallic loop over the sea off the eastern coast of Sicily.
The plane then retraced its route back over Catania and continued to Malta, where it landed approximately 35 minutes later, Flightradar24 data shows.
It remains unclear whether the pilot intentionally designed the shape. Lufthansa did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
This isn't the first time a pilot has created a phallic flight pattern in the sky. Earlier in the year, an Armed Forces of Malta helicopter seemingly took detours to draw a similar pattern over Malta.
—Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 15, 2023
And last year, a US Air Force refueling aircraft appeared to draw a penis shape near a Syrian city where Russia has a naval base, BuzzFeed News reported. Air Force officials insisted it was coincidental.