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A plane flying over royal wedding crowds gave a police helicopter pilot a fright

The Aer Lingus flight was on its descent to Heathrow on Saturday afternoon.
The Aer Lingus flight was on its descent to Heathrow on Saturday afternoon. The Aer Lingus flight was on its descent to Heathrow on Saturday afternoon.

A police helicopter operator received a shock when a plane unexpectedly flew over crowds in Windsor over the weekend.

The Berkshire town, near Heathrow Airport, was crowded with some 100,000 well-wishers keen to catch a glimpse of newlyweds the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

So while the operator was conducting a quick scan of crowds 8,000ft up in the air, a plane flying below caught the crew member by surprise.

Incredibly, the AerLingus plane appears much closer than it actually was – 5,000 feet below.

The airline seemed to enjoy the moment.

One Twitter user worked out that the plane, which was on approach to Heathrow, may have been coming in from Dublin, according to Flight Radar 24.

As expected, security on Saturday was tight, and airspace above the town was closed for 15 minutes just before the start of the royal wedding service.

A Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) was in place to prohibit flying above Windsor, apart from police and air ambulance

However planes controlled by the National Air Traffic Service (NATS), which include those coming from Heathrow Airport, were permitted to fly.