Updated 7.15pm with AFM statement

An Armed Forces of Malta's helicopter flight pattern appeared to create a phallic drawing in the skies above Comino on Sunday morning. 

The flight pattern raised eyebrows on social media following a tweet by popular international aircraft tracking website flightradar24.com, which included an image showing the helicopter’s unusual flight path. The caption read: "Meanwhile in Malta..."

The helicopter to have created the image is an AW139, an AFM aircraft which, according to the manufacturer’s website, is “a helicopter that can adapt to multiple missions” and boasts “superior performance”.

Flight number AS1429 over Comino included a series of elaborate loops that, when viewed on a map, appear to show the outline of a penis. 

Twitter users responded ironically, with one speculating that it may have been the pilot’s last day at work. Others simply took to suggesting possible puns for ‘helicopter’ and Popeye Village, also shown in the picture.

While the flight path may have been viewed with some amusement, so far it remains unclear what the purpose of the flight was, and if the use of fuel and pilot time could be justified. 

AFM: Image 'did not show completed flight path'

The AFM responded to questions on Monday evening, saying that the image printed by flightradar24 was "printed out of context." 

"The flight tracking shown was segmented as the helicopter was flying low altitude and did not show the completed flight path," an AFM spokesperson said.  

According to the blog on the flightradar24 website, while unusual flight patterns can be the result of aerial surveys, flights used to calibrate instrument landing systems and pilot training, sometimes the reason for the flight routes is less clear. 

In 2014, an Air Malta captain created an image of a heart in the skies around Sicily as part of an elaborate marriage proposal. 

Sunday's flight, it may be argued, cannot be said to display the same spirit of romance.  

The helicopter stunt is not the first to happen in international skies. Among others, an air crew who used their US Navy warplane to draw a penis in the sky above the town of Okanogan, Washington in 2017 was grounded.