Incredible Hercules plane lands on a British beach

Updated

This incredible video shows the moment dogwalkers and surfers did a double take after a Hercules plane landed - on a British beach.

Rachel Hoult, 25, was enjoying a surf when she spotted several RAF officers on the shore. She asked them what was happening and was told a Lockheed C-130 Hercules was due to land shortly after 3pm on Wednesday at Saunton Sands in North Devon.

She told Devon Live: "As I came off the beach I saw some military and RAF vehicles as well as fire engines and an ambulance. I asked if there was something going on and someone said the Hercules was heading in and landing. I was told it was due to be coming in yesterday but the conditions weren't right. I suspected it was some sort of exercise."

"I surf down here all the time, I only live just down the road. It's definitely not something you see everyday."

The plane, based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, was on a routine training sortie, said an RAF spokesman. Hercules aircraft are designed to land and take off from natural surfaces and has been vital to UK forces tactical mobility tasks since 1999. The aircraft are often spotted flying over North Devon and often take part in training exercises at the nearby Chivenor military base.

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