Beating Nancy Pelosi's Record, Flight Carrying Queen Elizabeth's Coffin Becomes Most-Tracked-Ever With 5M Views

The flight carrying Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Edinburgh to London on Tuesday has become the most tracked flight in history, with over 5 million people watching the flight live online.

What Happened: Flightradar24, a Swedish online flight tracking service that offers real-time information about thousands of aircraft around the world, said 4.79 million people watched the flight live online, and another 25 million people watched it on its YouTube channel.

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The company, in a statement, said that "an unprecedented 6 million people attempted to follow the flight" within the first minute of the Boeing C17A Globemaster turning on its transponder at Edinburgh airport. "This unfortunately impacted the stability of our platform," it added.

Final flight of Queen Elizabeth II sets all-time flight tracking record.

Between web, apps, and live stream, 5 million people followed the flight from Edinburgh to RAF Northolt on Flightradar24. https://t.co/sCCrSadVLk pic.twitter.com/sdE9VMyH8f

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) September 13, 2022

Why It's Important: According to Flightradar24, the flight carrying the Queen's coffin broke the previous record of 2.2 million, when the U.S. Air Force’s Boeing C-40C “SPAR19” plane carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August.

Queen Elizabeth II, the U.K's longest-reigning monarch, died in Balmoral, Scotland, on Sept. 8. Her coffin was flown to London on Tuesday for the funeral scheduled to take place on Sept. 19.

More than tens of thousands of people lined the streets in heavy rain to mark the arrival of the Queen's coffin in the British capital, along with King Charles and members of the royal family. On Wednesday, the coffin will be taken to Westminster Hall, where a period of lying in state will begin until the funeral.

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