Huge military plane snapped flying low and loud over north west

Many residents reported seeing the large aircraft in the skies above yesterday afternoon, Monday.

The plane was a Royal Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III.

The plane left RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at 4.30pm, according to tracking website FlightRadar24.

It then flew north, arriving in the north west after crossing from Wales at around 5pm.

After low circling the Warrington, Runcorn, Widnes, St Helens and Liverpool area, it landed at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Camera Club member Joyce Bird snapped the plane above Runcorn. Picture: Joyce Baird

After taking off again, it headed north up the coast to Cumbria, then east towards Newcastle, where it circled again before landing at Newcastle Airport at around 7pm.

Again taking off, it headed south over the Pennines and over Manchester, passing Birmingham and landing back at RAF Brize Norton at around 8.30pm.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the plane was completing routine exercises in the area.

A spokesman said: “An RAF C-17 Globemaster from RAF Brize Norton was completing a routine training sortie yesterday across northern England.

“This included multiple approaches to and landings at Liverpool and Newcastle airports.

“The RAF routinely uses differing airports all over the UK for training, as they provide complex and differing challenges for our aircrew to ensure they are ready for global operations.”