A UK Search and Rescue helicopter created a Christmas tree over Dartmoor. The crew decided to create a festive surprise during a training session; while some were concerned, others praised the route. The design was discovered on the flight tracking website FlightRadar24, where you can see the entire Christmas tree. It stretched across Dartmoor, with the top reaching Okehampton and the bottom not far from Ivybridge. “UK Search and Rescue teams are constantly training, and on this occasion, they were able to plan a particularly seasonal route for their routine helicopter exercises,” said a spokesman for Bristow Helicopters. “An authorised and planned low-level navigational training session gave the team the opportunity to create what could be the largest Christmas tree in the UK – while keeping their vital, lifesaving skills honed and ready to respond, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”  

While the planned Christmas tree made many people happy, some were concerned that it was a waste of fuel and money in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Money well raised during a fuel crisis,” one person said, while another said, “What a waste of fuel and to think of all those elderly people who can’t heat their houses, absolutely disgusting…” Bristow Helicopters, on the other hand, has confirmed that the flight was part of an authorised and planned training session in which they took the opportunity to spread some Christmas cheer.