A police helicopter on Wednesday (May 29) flew just beneath the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, in an unusually low altitude that the prefecture said was part of security preparations for the Olympic Games.

Amateur video footage showed the helicopter passing between the iconic monument's legs beneath the tower's first floor, which has an altitude of 57 metres (187 feet), then flying off above Eiffel Tower ' buildings.

Police authorities held throughout last week low-altitude exercise flights around Paris in an effort to conduct a "cartography of reference as part of the operational preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games," the Paris police prefecture has said.

The Paris Olympics kicks off on July 26 and will last until Aug. 11.

(Production: Maria Laguna, Ardee Napolitano)