Nuremberg, Germany — A military aircraft circling over the southern German state of Bavaria for hours on Tuesday attracted attention in the region between the cities of Nuremberg and Regensburg. According to flight data recorded by the website Flightradar24, the NATO aircraft flew a route in the shape of a flower with eight petals over an area of about 30 by 30 kilometres at the corner of the administrative districts of Central Franconia, Upper Palatinate and Upper Bavaria. The aircraft flew over the centre point near Greding in Central Franconia in district of Roth more than 65 times.Military sources said that such flight patterns occur when tests are flown and the aircraft is in the air for refuelling fighter jets. The aircraft was an Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport, which can be used to refuel aircraft in the air. According to the flight data, the aircraft had taken off from Cologne on Tuesday morning and landed there again in the afternoon after circling over Bavaria in the flower pattern for about six hours. It flew mostly at an altitude of about 1,000 metres, only occasionally climbing to about 1,800 metres, far below the usual cruising altitude of civilian aircraft of this size.

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