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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Alexander Smail

Plane carrying Queen's coffin from Edinburgh Airport 'most tracked in history'

The plane that carried Queen Elizabeth II's coffin from Edinburgh to RAF Northolt in London has been revealed as the most tracked flight in history.

According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, more than five million people tracked the Queen's final flight from Scotland on Tuesday.

The website said that over 4.7 million people watched the journey on its website and mobile app, while a further 296,000 tuned into a live YouTube stream.

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It topped the previous record holder, which was speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s flight to Taiwan in August, which was tracked by approximately 2.2 million people.

The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II was flown out of Edinburgh Airport on a RAF Globemaster C-17. It was carried by personnel from The Queen’s Colour Squadron, 63 Squadron, Royal Air Force Regiment.

Within the first minute of the plane's transponder activating, approximately six million people attempted to track the flight.

In a blog post, Flightradar24 stated: "That put unprecedented strain on the Flightradar24 platform, far beyond even what we experienced when the US Speaker of House flew to Taiwan and 2.2 million people followed the flight.

"Even though our platform suffered under such heavy load, Queen Elizabeth II's final flight from Edinburgh to RAF Northolt is by far the all-time most tracked flight on Flightradar24 and will likely remain at the top for a long while."

Before being transported to London, the Queen's coffin was lying in state at St Giles' Cathedral in the Scottish capital on Monday and Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of people queued for hours to see the late monarch's coffin and pay their respects.

Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at Balmoral at the age of 96, after reigning for more than 70 years.

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- Woman queues to see Queen's coffin in Edinburgh 'seven times' in a row

- King Charles arrives at Edinburgh St Giles Cathedral as Vigil of the Princes takes place

- Scottish supermarket opening times for Queen's funeral as some set to close all day

- Martin Lewis shares urgent energy price cap update as direct debit rates announced

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