RAF Plane Carrying the Body of Queen Elizabeth II Is the Most Tracked Flight in Recorded History
The flight carrying the Late Queen Elizabeth II, UK’s longest reigning monarch was the most tracked flight in history according to flightrader24.
“Seventy years after her first flight as Queen aboard the BOAC Argonaut ‘Atalanta,’ Queen Elizabeth II’s final flight is the most tracked flight in Flightradar24 history,” Flightradar24 Director of Communications said in an email.
Just over 5 million people viewed Queen Elizabeth’s final flight on Tuesday, as the journey carrying the late monarch’s body from Edinburgh to London became the most tracked flight in history.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said a total of 4.79 million people watched the flight live online, with a further quarter of million people watching on its YouTube channel.
The company said an unprecedented 6 million people tried to follow the flight within the first minute of the Boeing C17A Globemaster turning on its transponder at Edinburgh’s airport, affecting the stability of the platform. The Queen’s coffin was flown on an RAF Globemaster C-17, after lying in state at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.
The flight used the callsign “Kittyhawk”, used for any military flight with the Queen on board.
Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, died in Balmoral, Scotland on the evening of 8th September 2022. Her funeral will take place on Monday Sept. 19, 2022.
Flightradar24 said the flight was more than twice the previous record of 2.2 million – when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi flew on a controversial visit to Taiwan in August.
Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence accompanied the coffin, with the princess saying she had felt fortunate to be able to share the final hours of the life of her “dearest mother”. “It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys,” she added.
Prime Minister Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace were among those waiting at RAF Northolt for the flight, which landed just before 19:00 BST.
This record replaces the previous record when a flight carrying US politician Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last month was followed by 2.2 million people on Flightradar24.
