A United States Hercules military plane has been tracked heading westwards across the Atlantic before it suddenly turned around after apparently declaring an emergency and returned to Cardiff
A US military plane has turned around after appearing to declare an emergency and returned to Cardiff Airport.
The USAF C-130H Hercules was tracked heading westwards across the Atlantic before it suddenly turned around for unknown reasons and landed at 1.15pm.
It is understood that the plane transmitted a 7700 code, indicating there is a general emergency, but at this stage it is unclear the reason.
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport plane made in the United States by Lockheed Martin.
Designed to carry troops, cargo and casualties for medical evacuation, the aircraft is able to take off and land on rough unprepared runways.
When a pilot enters the four-digit emergency code 7700 into their transponder, it immediately alerts air traffic control that the aircraft is in distress and requires priority handling.
The exact nature of the incident is unclear as it acts as a “catch-all” for any emergency situation that isn’t a hijacking (7500) or radio failure (7600).
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