Call the copters: why are Chinooks circling the capital?

Why is the sky over London so chock-full of Chinooks? Susannah Butter reports
Intriguing: the Chinook is a heavy helicopter with two engines (Picture: AFP/Getty)

It was the end of the day and north London was settling down to bed when James Wharton heard buzzing and spotted a curious sight. He sought reassurance on Twitter, saying on Monday evening: “I’ve definitely just seen a Chinook land in north London out of my window and another halo circle above. Hampstead area.” Others were glad he had shared, for they were equally confused. INCA replied: “Me too. Did it definitely land? I saw it rise from the Heath area.” And Robin Joyce proposed a theory: “Might be filming of James Bond, which was happening all day in London today.” And so the city turned detective over these unidentified flying objects.

The Chinook is a heavy helicopter with two engines, which the RAF terms its “workhorse”. They are usually painted in dark colours so there is no chance it was a whirlybird taking an oligarch on a jolly.

But what are they doing circling our city? There have been sightings in Pimlico, Hampstead and Harrow — hardly Homeland territory. On Friday they were particularly conspicuous because flights out of Heathrow were grounded supposedly due to a problem with the computer landing system. Stuart Fuller tweeted: “Despite the skies over London being deserted, two Chinook helicopters were buzzing around about.” Tim Windsor Brown was also intrigued: “A Chinook military helicopter is circling the London shard. So exciting.”

Could it be a case for Mr James Bond? Team 007 is in town filming the new movie Spectre. Those on Her Majesty’s Secret Service say there is no aerial unit in London for Daniel Craig this week and future plans are strictly classified. Olaf Haitink was concerned. He tweeted: “I saw a Chinook and it had another helicopter flying in formation with it. It’s not for fun when a Chinook flies over London!”

After an investigation, the Standard can reveal that these helicopters are on RAF business. A spokesperson said: “We are the only people in the country who fly Chinooks. This was routine training, taking advantage of the good weather to do some urban practice.” Ex-RAF officer turned aviation photographer Keith Campbell was on board one of them and posted a picture of the blades over a reservoir on Instagram with the caption: “On the way into London in a Chinook. TVM [ta very much] for the lift!” He says it was “noisy and great fun”.

If you hang around, you may even see a landing. Earlier this year, in March, commuters saw a Chinook land in Ruskin Park, Lambeth. It was actually a routine stop, and the area is a designated landing site for King’s College Hospital.

So what are we to make of this military move? “We fly up and down the Thames quite a lot,” says the RAF spokesperson. “As long as the weather is good you will see us about. London is a good place to train because flying here is complex — there are lots of other vehicles in the airspace and all the buildings.” Case solved.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in