Police reveal reason for aircraft activity over Melton

The Police plane was spotted over the skies of Melton yesterday evening (Sunday) prompting many residents to wonder what was going on.

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) has now confirmed that it was out on a training flight.

NPAS provides borderless air support to the police forces across England and Wales 24/7/365 from a national network of bases and operates 24 hours a day.

One of the fixed aircrat fleet operated by NPAS. Photo: National Police Air Service

A spokesperson for NPAS confirmed that a new pilot was out on a training flight from their base at East Midlands Airport flying for a total of around 2 hours and nine minutes.

The aircraft remains fully operational during the training flights and can be diverted at any time.

During this flight at around 19:34 the aircraft was diverted to the Wolverhampton Area to assist West Midlands Police with a suspect search.

There was some speculation that the Police Helicopter was over the Melton Borough on Sunday afternoon however this was an aircraft operated by Network Rail which inspect railways and conduct surveys from the air.