A huge boom was heard over parts of the West Country as a specialist RAF plane flew over this evening (Tuesday, June 14).
An AIRBUS A-400M, call sign Comet459, reg ZM405 went over the Quantocks, Taunton and Ilchester, before turning over HMS Yeovilton to cut up towards Castle Cary before steaming over Bruton, Frome and Trowbridge.
The plane flew so low over Taunton just after 5pm that passing residents were able to clearly make it out and reported being shocked by the loud roar of the plane's engine. Fight trackers show the plane was doing 185mph at one point.
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Flight trackers show the plane took off at 3.23pm and although the exact take off position is not known, it came from near Pembrey West Wales Airport. As of 5.45pm it has headed as far north as Oxford where it appears to have landed at RAF Brize Norton.
The Airbus A400M Atlas is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It entered operational service back in 2014 and provides tactical airlift and strategic oversize lift capabilities complementing those of the Hercules and C-17 fleets.
It has the ability to carry 37-tonne payload and over 2,000nm to established and remote civilian and military airfields, and short unprepared or semi-prepared strips.
It can go as high as 40,000ft but has "impressive low-level capability". The plane can take as many as 116 fully-equipped troops on board too.
