With its impressive size and graceful appearance, the 747, known as the “Queen of the Skies,” has been one of the most recognizable and versatile aircraft since its first flight in 1969.
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According to ATDB, as of October 2023, Boeing has built 11,575 of all generations of this type. About 8,189 are in active service as passenger and cargo aircraft. With numbers like that, the 737 remains the bestselling modern jet aircraft in the world.
With its impressive size and graceful appearance, the 747, known as the “Queen of the Skies,” has been one of the most recognizable and versatile aircraft since its first flight in 1969.
Built in 1967 to produce the mammoth jet, it remains the world's largest manufacturing plant according to Boeing. But after five decades, customer demand for the 747 eroded as Boeing and Airbus (AIR.PA) developed more fuel efficient two-engine widebody planes.
Lufthansa Flight 540 was the first fatal crash of a 747. On November 20, 1974, it stalled and crashed moments after taking off from Nairobi, with 59 deaths and 98 survivors.
Sure, the 747 is a Type Certified and airworthy aircraft, the FAA does not really care who owns it so long as they play by the rules. Boeing even sells them directly to the private market via their BBJ line.
by J. Kasper Oestergaard, European Correspondent, Forecast International. The Boeing 737-800 is the most commonly used aircraft by airlines in the United States.
The Boeing 747 is becoming increasingly rare at airports around the world – at least in the passenger version. More and more airlines are retiring the queen of the skies. The coronavirus pandemic in particular has radically accelerated this process in some cases.
In a ceremony that was broadcast live online, the aircraft was handed over to its new owner, US air cargo operator Atlas Air, at Boeing's plant in Everett, Washington.
A 747 contains around 66 tons of high strength aluminum, much of which will be recycled into everything from bike frames to drinks cans. Overall, when a 747 is scrapped, the dismantler can hope to recover around $6.8 million.
The 747 has also had an incredible safety record despite being involved in disasters such as the Tenerife incident in the Canary Islands when two 747s collided on the runway, and a Japan Airlines 747 that suffered explosive decompression in mid-flight, the two worst incidents in commercial aviation history that each ...
Therefore, the ERJ135/140/145 members of the family are among the safest airliners in history. The Airbus A340 is also one of the safest, with no fatal accidents involving any of the 380 units since its introduction in March 1993.
The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife.