USMC T-34C pilot who flew penis shape route didn’t realize ADS-B transponder was trackable

Marine Corps Times has obtained the investigation report into the flight of a U.S. Marine Corps T-34C which flew a penis shape route over California in October 2018.

T-34C Turbo-Mentor
The original uploader was TheWrkncacnter at English Wikipedia. [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons


The VMFAT-101 pilot is F/A-18-rated and was flying with a weapon systems officer. The aircraft they flew was the first in the unit to have a automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS B)transponder.

He told investigators that he had “elected to conduct a holding pattern in a phallic shape” at the spur of the moment and had not intention to show it to the public. Both added that the flight did not create contrails that could be seen on the ground.

Both were given nonpunitive letters of caution and had to attend training on using the transponder.

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