A Lufthansa pilot traced a 15-mile-long penis shape in the sky after being asked to divert his plane

• A Lufthansa pilot created a penis-shaped loop in the sky after being asked to divert the flight.
• They spent about 16 minutes creating the 15-mile-long shape over Sicily's east coast.

A Lufthansa pilot made a 15-mile-long, penis-shaped loop in the sky after being asked to divert their flight.

The pilot was flying from Frankfurt to Sicily on July 28, but was asked mid-flight to land in Malta instead, according to the air-traffic website Flightradar24.

The cause was said to be a disruption at the flight's original destination of Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, which had been struggling after a fire damaged the main terminal on July 16 amid a historic heat wave, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported.

Flightradar24 data showed that, after receiving the diversion request, the Lufthansa aircraft flew over and past Catania before spending about 16 minutes creating a distinctly phallic loop over the sea off the eastern coast of Sicily.

The plane then retraced its route back over Catania and continued to Malta, where it landed about 35 minutes later, Flightradar24 data shows.

It remains unclear whether the pilot intentionally designed the shape. Insider asked Lufthansa about this, but the airline avoided the question in its response.

Instead, a spokesperson said that wind shear made it impossible to proceed with the landing approach to Catania.

They added: "Therefore, the captain had to fly a holding and made the approach again, but without success. He then flew to Malta, refueled, and approached Catania from a different direction."

This isn't the first time a pilot has created a phallic flight pattern in the sky. Earlier in the year, an Armed Forces of Malta helicopter seemingly took detours to draw a similar pattern over Malta.

And last year, a US Air Force refueling aircraft appeared to draw a penis shape near a Syrian city where Russia has a naval base, BuzzFeed News reported. Air Force officials insisted it was coincidental.