Can any pilots comment on why the buzzfeed report concluded from their data that counter-clockwise flight paths were the most highty indicative of being a surveillance flight? (slide 85, steer2)
I’m not a pilot, but my guess is that it is because pilots usually sit on the left, giving them a better view out the left side of the aircraft. I think this is why the standard traffic pattern for airports is to make left turns. Surveillance flights, more than others, will require orbiting a specific point on the ground—maybe even one that’s moving. I think it’s just easier for pilots to do that specific maneuver if they can look out the window next to them.
