This morning around 05:00 CET an Italian Air Force ATR P-72A ( MM62298 ) left Sigonella AB to make a patrol flight over central Mediterannean Sea. the aircraft participating in Operation Sophia, a military operation of the European Union that was established with the aim of neutralising established refugee smuggling routes in the Mediterranean.
The aircraft made its patrol off Tripoli, Libya, near the limit of territorial waters for more than 3 hours.
The P-72A is landed again in Sigonella around 12:00 CET.
