Unusual Flight Routes on FlightRadar24

[zb]

A few times recently, late on in the evening, I have noticed some unusual flight routes on Flight Radar 24. Is this just glitches? Or is it something else like maintenance check flights? Below is a screen shot I captured last night, showing what I mean.

[jonnyb]

You haven't posted a time, but it could be a Northern Lights flight. It's where we take a bunch of people up north to see if we can see the Aurora Borealis, amongst other things.

[ecsrobin]

As above.

http://theherald.reader.travel/tour.php?c=9&s=...

[zb]

It was about midnight (roughly), the Aurora Borealis flights make sense, cheers.

[md.]

Just spotted another (2 A/C) circling off the coast at Filey. Not sure how to screenshot from a tablet though, doh!

[markmullen]

md. said:

Just spotted another (2 A/C) circling off the coast at Filey

They'll be in a fruitless search for anyone awake in Filey after 8pm.

[Munter]

These two must be getting dizzy:

[Slashmb]

What's going on here...
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It was doing this for quite a while after this too.

[jonnyb]

Circuits at Doncaster?

[Chuck328]

Slashmb said:

What's going on here...
[/URL]

It was doing this for quite a while after this too.

Base training most likely. New pilots doing take offs and landings in an empty plane. Done in Shannon as it's cheaper there and looks like a few in Doncaster as well.

Flight numbers starting with 9 are also indicative of positioning/training and non revenue flights.

[couzens]

Munter said:

These two must be getting dizzy:

Spying

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

Slashmb said:

What's going on here...

Looks like He/She is in the NDB Hold (the holding pattern based upon the non-directional beacon).

[jonnyb]

Ginetta G15 Girl said:

Slashmb said:

What's going on here...

Looks like He/She is in the NDB Hold (the holding pattern based upon the non-directional beacon).

At 600ft! Hope not.

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

jonnyb said:

At 600ft! Hope not.

Oops! Didn't notice that!

That said, I'd hope he wasn't doing visual circuits at 600ft (do Airbuses even do low-level visual circuits?).

Then again it could have been a series of holds followed by an NDB approach. I take it the 600' is at the point the snapshot is taken? 550ft seems to ring a bell for the NDB MDH (Min Descent Height) on R/W 02 (03 when I was there) at Finningley.

[anonymous-user]

jonnyb said:

Circuits at Doncaster?

Yup. The 600 ft is just a snapshot in the descent.

It's training for new pilots.

[surveyor]

el stovey said:

Yup. The 600 ft is just a snapshot in the descent.

It's training for new pilots.

Daughter provides visual confirmation that it was there. Flew over her school (misson) quite a few times.