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RIP Boeing 747

gbesq
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Although the 747 has a storied history, many forget that two 747s were involved in the deadliest accident in aviation history which occurred on March, 27, 1977 when KLM flight 4805 collided with Pan Am flight 1736 on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The collision occurred when the KLM aircraft initiated its takeoff roll in heavy fog while the Pan Am aircraft was still on the runway. There was no ground radar at the airport at the time which almost certainly would have prevented the accident. The impact and resulting fire killed everyone on board the KLM aircraft and most of the occupants of the Pan Am aircraft, resulting in 583 fatalities with only 61 passengers seated in the front section of the Pan Am aircraft surviving the collision. A terrible tragedy that resulted in the installation of ground radar at vitually all major airports.
 
DoctorEvil
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@JwRosenthal
Thanks for sharing the article and your experience.
My first time flying in a 747 was from Singapore to Honolulu in 1979 via Singapore Airlines. The cabin staff were lovely to me and allowed me access to the cockpit, which was a dream come true for an airplane mad kid. Sadly, this sort of thing wouldn't happen today. My last flight in a 747 would have been around 1994 from Singapore to Melbourne, Australia on Thai Airways.
 
spacemission
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gbesq gbesq
Although the 747 has a storied history, many forget that two 747s were involved in the deadliest accident in aviation history which occurred on March, 27, 1977 when KLM flight 4805 collided with Pan Am flight 1736 on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The collision occurred when the KLM aircraft initiated its takeoff roll in heavy fog while the Pan Am aircraft was still on the runway. There was no ground radar at the airport at the time which almost certainly would have prevented the accident. The impact and resulting fire killed everyone on board the KLM aircraft and most of the occupants of the Pan Am aircraft, resulting in 583 fatalities with only 61 passengers seated in the front section of the Pan Am aircraft surviving the collision. A terrible tragedy that resulted in the installation of ground radar at vitually all major airports.

DEP 🙁
 
Pianotuna
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What a great aircraft, that wouldn’t have gone ahead with the guy from Pan-Am ordering six, then upping it to 30, which enabled Boeing to commit to production.
First 747 flight would have been 1975, Melbourne-Auckland-Hawaii-LAX. But several more crossing the Tasman in the 70/80’s. In the ‘fight’ between the 747 and the rather unfairly maligned DC-10 the jumbo always had the edge, although I recall the DC-10 as the quieter aircraft. Trying to place the last time and can’t recall if it was a Lufthansa flight into Europe from Aust or Cathay Pacific.

doesn’t matter, a great lady of the skies, which deserves every plaudits coming it’s way. Fitting that it’ll live on in the consciousness in the form of Air Force One.
 
asrnj77
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I fondly recall business class upgrades about 10-15 years ago on United from Beijing to D.C. The “upstairs” on the 747 was business class that was dated but comfortable and the window seat had a large cubby between the seat and the window that could hold the carry-on so you wouldn’t have to standup in the aisle. You could just reach over to your side and you had a huge space at seated level. That was really nice (I guess it’s the little things 😀
 
JwRosenthal
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gbesq gbesq
Although the 747 has a storied history, many forget that two 747s were involved in the deadliest accident in aviation history which occurred on March, 27, 1977 when KLM flight 4805 collided with Pan Am flight 1736 on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The collision occurred when the KLM aircraft initiated its takeoff roll in heavy fog while the Pan Am aircraft was still on the runway. There was no ground radar at the airport at the time which almost certainly would have prevented the accident. The impact and resulting fire killed everyone on board the KLM aircraft and most of the occupants of the Pan Am aircraft, resulting in 583 fatalities with only 61 passengers seated in the front section of the Pan Am aircraft surviving the collision. A terrible tragedy that resulted in the installation of ground radar at vitually all major airports.
Wow Greg, way to throw cold water on the party. 😬
Remind me to have you speak about the radium girls at our next get together.
 
gbesq
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Wow Greg, way to throw cold water on the party. 😬
Remind me to have you speak about the radium girls at our next get together.
Sorry, man. A lot of pilots in my family. Tragically, it’s a perfect example of a dreadful accident that would have never happened with the right technology in place. As incredibly safe as air travel is, there is still the human factor which accounts for virtually all major incidents with very few exceptions.
 
gbesq
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Wow Greg, way to throw cold water on the party. 😬
Remind me to have you speak about the radium girls at our next get together.
Hey, I own a number of radium watches including this portable nuclear fission reactor! Is the eerie blue light that you see in the background emanating from the keyboard or THE WATCH!?! 😲😲😲😲😲😲
A56DBC78-FD37-41C9-9606-6E727DC5399F.jpeg
Edited:
 
gbesq
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Wow Greg, way to throw cold water on the party. 😬
Remind me to have you speak about the radium girls at our next get together.
I’d rather give a presentation on something more cheery, inspirational and uplifting. How about “Current Rolex Business Practices”? 😁😁😁😁😁
 
JwRosenthal
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gbesq gbesq
I’d rather give a presentation on something more cheery, inspirational and uplifting. How about “Current Rolex Business Practices”? 😁😁😁😁😁
Or the topic of the dying watchmaker trade and what that means for collectors.
 
Jonathan40
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Always felt very privileged walking onboard and going up the stairs to be seated on a BA 747
Staff always excellent and knew your name.
Made me feel safer with 4 engines when travelling thousands of miles over water.
Progress hey!!!
 
janice&fred
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
way to throw cold water on the party.


Ah yes back when I was a bag man-a small cog in a large family run criminal conspiracy, I have fond memories of my first ride in a 747, escorted by two federal marshals and headed to prison. Those were the good ole days!
 
JwRosenthal
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janice&fred janice&fred
Ah yes back when I was a bag man-a small cog in a large family run criminal conspiracy, I have fond memories of my first ride in a 747, escorted by two federal marshals and headed to prison. Those were the good ole days!
I didn’t know your last name was Lansky!
 
SpeedyPhill
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Besides the amazing KAO - Kuiper Airborne Observatory ( a modified NASA C-141 Starlifter Mil cargo aircraft - NASA Ames Research Center California ), I also visited SOFIA - Stratospheric Observatory for Infra-red Astronomy ( a modified short body Boeing 747 SP - when it was at DLR in Germany ).
.
SOFIA-MoonwatchUniverse.jpg
 
fiberguy
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My last 747 flight was in 1998 - Chicago to Heathrow, I was happy to be seated in the "upper deck" only to find my seat would not recline and had a slight tilt to one side. Being a fully booked fight I was stuck there for the duration.
 
abrod520
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In anticipation of this, a couple years ago I had a model made of one of the first, in the livery it was intended to wear (many people do not know that the 747 was designed and constructed at the behest of Pan Am) and now sits in prominence in my living room 😁

445779AC-DF75-45C6-9429-1486873D142B.jpeg


I was fortunate enough to fly on British Airways 747-400s a number of times just before the pandemic (and thus their early retirement) from SFO-LHR. Nowadays they do show their age inside compared to newer widebody aircraft, but it's still a special experience.

After all, before the 747, flying intercontinental was still the domain of the rich and business travelers, even on the 707. It was the 747 that introduced the economies of scale allowing for cheaper seats, that allowed regular people to fly around the world more often. It truly brought the world together in ways never possible before.

Yes the A380 is admirably smooth and quiet, and the 787 really does effectively combat jet lag (and thus is my new favorite) - but no other will ever be the Queen of the Skies.
 
Foo2rama
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Kraal90 Kraal90
Rubbing it in
Jokes aside, wonder if we’ll ever see a double decker passenger plan again.

well there is the A380…

not the most successful but a double decker still being flown today in some high volume long distance routes.
 
High Hope
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Flying from Honolulu to Tokyo, it was about 1970. I was 10, my pest of a sister was 5. In her obnoxious effort to get to the aisle she managed to catapult her dinner tray that sat precariously on its pull-out tray table. I don’t recall what else we had for dinner, but we definitely had green peas. The tray flipped with some violence, sending all the peas across the aisle and onto the Japanese business man in the adjacent seat.

😲
 
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