Nancy Pelosi’s SPAR19 jet to Taiwan is the most tracked flight in history

The flight carrying US Speaker Nancy Pelosi into Taiwan has become the most tracked flight in history amid international tensions.

The flight carrying US Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in defiance of China’s warning against the visit, has become the most tracked in flight radar history.

Throughout the seven-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur, 2.92 million people jumped on the Flightradar24 website to follow the US Air Force jet with the call sign SPAR19.

Normally a flight of just over four-hours, the jet was forced to detour over Indonesia to avoid the South China Sea, where Beijing has been performing military drills.

The enormous interest in the flight amid international tensions over Ms Pelosi’s visit, proved overwhelming for the site, which almost crashed in response.

“Because of unprecedented sustained tracking interest in SPAR19, Flightradar24 services are under extremely heavy load,” said a statement from the site.
“Some users may currently experience issues accessing the site, our teams are working on restoring full functionality to all users as quickly as possible.”

When the Boeing C-40C landed in Taipei, 708,000 people were tracking the flight, making it the most-tracked live flight of all time.

The flight path of the US Air Force jet that carried US Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei. Picture: Flightradar24

Although there had been no confirmation Ms Pelosi was on board the flight, it soon became apparent she was, after being greeted at Songshan Airport in Taipei by Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

China had warned of “serious consequences” if Ms Pelosi’s planned visit to Taiwan went ahead.

The US Air Force plane carrying Ms Pelosi to Taiwan had to take a three-hour detour to avoid potential military conflicts in the South China Sea.

Flightradar24 noticed the unusual route of the carrier, which flew in an arc over the island of Borneo and around the Philippines, instead of the near-linear route over the South China Sea that is taken by most commercial flights, said a spokesman for the flight-tracking site, Ian Petchenik.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu welcomes Nancy Pelosi upon her arrival at Sungshan Airport in Taipei. Picture: Twitter/MOFA_Taiwan

The average flight time for a commercial flight from Kuala Lumpur to Taipei is about four hours and 15 minutes, said Mr Petchenik. He said SPAR19 took just over seven hours.

The Boeing C-40C is a military version of the US manufacturer’s popular 737 jet, and used to transport cargo and passengers by the US Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

The reason for the detour was to ensure security, said Bonnie Glaser, Asia program director of German Marshall Fund of the US, a think tank based in Washington, DC. She also said the route avoided the Taiwan Strait.

Designed to be an “office in the sky” the cabin area is equipped with business class seating with worktables, as well as sleep accommodations for distinguished visitors, two galleys or kitchens, and a crew rest area.

It has the capability to change its configuration to accommodate from 42 to 111 passengers.

A Boeing 737 operated by commercial airlines would typically seat up to 189 people.