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Lana Burpee was stunned when a float plane flew under the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge in Ottawa last weekend.

Burpee, president of the Ottawa Rowing Club, was standing on the dock on the Ottawa River on Saturday morning as most of the club’s athletes were preparing for the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta when she heard a strange noise and saw a small float plane rising out on the water.

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“I’m watching the plane from the dock and I’m seeing its nose lifting and I thought ‘What could it be doing?’” she said.

A video uploaded to YouTube shows the plane taking off from the Ottawa River and flying below the bridge.

A group of rowers on the water look on, and some can be heard screaming and yelling as the plane flies under the bridge that connects Ottawa and Gatineau, Que.

Burpee said it was unusual to see a plane on the Ottawa River, especially around the downtown core, but what happened next made her gasp. The plane picked up speed and lifted off.