Sighting in Bastia, February 7, 2013

At around 21:45, a witness and their spouse noticed an object moving slowly across the sky, which intrigued them. The witness first described it as a luminous shape and then, when it changed direction, as a black cylindrical shape. They were surprised because it seemed to be flying twice as low as the aircraft usually seen there.

The investigation found that the description fits an aircraft on approach in every respect. The time given matches the arrival of the Air Corsica flight from Marseille to Bastia, which left Marseille at 21:05 and was scheduled to land at 21:55. Bastia-Poretta airport lies 3 to 4 km away as the crow flies, to the north-west of the observation site. That evening the wind was from the south-west, which corresponds to one of the airport's approach paths, shown in an appendix to the file.

To account for the apparently low altitude, GEIPAN noted that the witness was not at home and so had a different viewpoint from their usual one. It also considered that the pilot may have used a lower approach altitude than normal that day, for reasons of their own. The case was classified A: observation of the Marseille-Bastia flight on its approach to land.