A US Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft declared a mid-air emergency over Scotland on Thursday morning. The plane, used for hunting submarines, issued a 7700 squawk code, an emergency alert, shortly after departing the RAF base in Lossiemouth, Moray, at 7am.
Flight Path and Return
The aircraft was tracked flying south over Central Scotland before making a U-turn. It then returned to Lossiemouth. The nature of the emergency is currently unknown.
Aircraft and Base Role
The Poseidon P-8 is used extensively by the US Navy, the UK Royal Air Force (operating as the Poseidon MRA1), and allied nations for long-range maritime patrol, intelligence, surveillance, and anti-submarine warfare. RAF Lossiemouth serves as the primary home base for the UK's Poseidon fleet and frequently hosts integrated US Navy P-8A operations and support facilities covering the North Atlantic.
The Daily Record has approached the US Navy and the Ministry of Defence for comment.
