Mysterious plane flying strange pattern over Toronto has people talking

An airplane was spotted flying in a low and curiously methodical pattern over Toronto on Thursday night, and the aircraft's path was enough to get locals talking.

A Cessna 172 Skyhawk with the tail registration N27AH, owned by Chautauqua, NY-based MWT Aviation and operated by Great Lakes Flight Center, was tracked on a circuitous path over Toronto on Thursday, leaving commenters to speculate the purpose of the mysterious flight.

The route was tracked on air traffic monitoring platform FlightRadar24, and was shared to Reddit where local users wondered aloud what the aircraft was up to.

What is this plane doing over Toronto?
by u/TombstonePete in toronto

As of 4 p.m. on Friday, the post has racked up almost 400 comments, with everything from educated guesses to humorous responses on the flight's nature.

The top comment, with almost 1,000 upvotes, responds to the post's question, "What is this plane doing over Toronto?" simply saying, "flying."

A few commenters noted that the flight was likely conducting a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) or other type of aerial survey, based on a history of similar chartered flights from the same operator.

blogTO reached out to Great Lakes Flight Center for comment on the flight, but has not received a response as of the time of publication.

This is far from the first time a mysterious flight in Toronto skies has drawn online attention. 

In 2021, an ominous V-shaped formation of black helicopters over Toronto sparked confusion and concerns, but was ultimately just operated by a charter, sightseeing, flight training, and aerial work company based out of Cambridge, Ont.

That same year, a massive unmarked Boeing 747-400F operated by Dubai Royal Air Wing, a paramilitary state airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport, sparking questions from online commenters. In the end, the plane was just carrying horses owned by Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

An RCMP surveillance plane circling Toronto generated a similar response in 2023, along with a NASA-owned plane flying at low altitudes over the city that same year.

In 2024, locals were caught off guard by a Royal Canadian Air Force CH-147F Chinook passing over several local neighbourhoods like Riverdale and Regent Park, and making multiple runs along the city's lakefront.