Age is not the most accurate indicator of jet life expectancy, but it is typically 20-25 years for short-haul narrowbody aircraft and around 35 years for widebody aircraft. But sometimes planes are retired regardless of age, flight hours, or operational cycle.
Jets spend very little time in the air, and there are many reasons why they are grounded. In this article, AeroTime looks at some of these reasons and shares five stories where the life of an aircraft ended significantly sooner than expected.
Service life ends 6 days before delivery
Occasionally, an aircraft may be taken out of service before entering service. This is exactly what happened to Etihad Airways’ Airbus A340 widebody airliner in 2007.
The life of a brand new A340-600 jet that was supposed to operate on registered Etihad Airways long haul routes A6-EHGfinished much sooner than anyone could have predicted.
The aircraft was one of 24 on order for Etihad Airways. It was expected to join the UAE-based airline in the fall of 2007, following a purchase deal with a European planemaker worth about $275.4 million at the time.
Unfortunately, the aircraft never joined Etihad’s fleet.The aircraft was scheduled to undergo a series of tests at the manufacturing company’s headquarters in Toulouse, France, before being handed over to the airline.
On November 15, 2007, while the temporarily F-WWCJ registered jet was undergoing engine testing, the engine experienced high levels of thrust after engineers failed to properly secure the A340 with the chocks. The jet was stuck when operating in the
The engineer applied the parking brake as soon as the plane started to move. However, it was not enough to stop the aircraft from accelerating to a ground speed of about 31 knots and colliding with a nearby concrete retaining wall.
The impact caused severe damage to the brand new plane’s fuselage, including the left engine and tail. The cockpit was also torn from the fuselage. The damage was irreparable and Airbus wrote off his A340, which he was due to be ferried to Etihad in six days. The widebody airline was scrapped about a year after the incident.
Babybus fleet unlucky pick
It is no surprise that airlines constantly replace aging or economically inefficient aircraft with new ones. This is what happened with Frontier Airlines, the leading ultra-low-cost airline in the United States.
The Colorado-based airline operated 11 Airbus A318 aircraft, the smallest and least popular across the A320 family. Frontier, the first customer of this model, wanted the plane to fit perfectly into their low-cost business strategy.
The plane was delivered between 2003 and 2007. However, the airline’s plans to operate a model that could fly from He 107 to He 132 passengers with a maximum range of 5,750 kilometers (about 3,100 nautical miles) did not go as planned. .
Perceived as a ‘baby bus’, the A318 had less capacity than other members of the A320 family, meaning it had higher operating costs than larger models. Frontier has decided to replace the baby bus with his A320, aiming to reduce the cost per seat in order to keep airfares as low as possible.
The airline ended up scrapping the entire fleet of little-serviced A318s because the aircraft parts were worth more than the actual plane itself.
A318-100, Registered N809FR, had the shortest life span of them all. Manufactured in April 2007, the plane featured a special tail design featuring a porcupine. Having spent only two and a half years in the air, the N809FR retired from service in his September 2009.
The plane was scrapped after making its final flight to Greenwood Lefleur Airport (GWO) on 28 September of the same year.
Abandoned after first flight
A brand-new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner owned by Colombian airline Avianca is another example of a little-used plane being abandoned despite being young.
Registered Boeing 787-9 N797AV, It has a unique story. Unlike many other aircraft that have been parked due to technical problems, financial difficulties or, more recently, a global pandemic, Avianca’s Dreamliner entered service shortly after it left the manufacturer’s assembly line. Stopped.
The now 3.7-year-old Dreamliner has been in official service for an incredibly short time, during which it made its first and only flight.
Boeing manufactured the widebody on May 11, 2019. However, since June 2019, the aircraft has taken an unexpected rest while landing in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The aircraft’s bizarre short story begins in 2017 when Avianca entered into a deal with Boeing to replace the three previously ordered Boeing 787-8s with a larger version of the Dreamliner, the Boeing 787-9. It started after we agreed.
Two years later, on May 30, 2019, control of the airliner was handed over to Columbia’s flag carrier, according to SMBC Aviation Capital, although the actual plane and its associated components are still located at Boeing’s facility in Seattle, USA. was A company that leases aircraft.
However, the first appearance Avianca AirlinesThe primitive 787-9 has come to an abrupt end. On 1 June 2019, the aircraft was transferred by ferry to Abu Dhabi and has been out of service since. Planespotters.net data Suggest.
victims of a global pandemic
A similar misfortune has been experienced with another giant airliner. Air France Airbus A380-800.
aircraft, registered F-HPJIwas delivered to the French flag carrier in September 2013, but was withdrawn from service in 2020, but was still in good condition for passenger flights.
In October 2013, the iconic Superjumbo, together with the A320-200 registered F-HEPG, was painted in a special livery to mark the 80th anniversary of the airline, a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group. .
But unlike the A320-200, this widebody ended its life in the aircraft boneyard. In March 2020, when airlines around the world were hit hard by his COVID-19 pandemic, a lack of passenger demand in air travel led to an unprecedented number of planes being parked or put into storage. This has resulted in great financial pressure.
Air France’s parent company suffered a loss of €7.1 billion at the time, phase out the entire fleet of double-decker ships The “Final End” will take effect immediately rather than the end of 2022 as originally planned.
The 9.9-year-old aircraft was one of the airline’s 10 aircraft affected by COVID-19 fleet cutbacks and retired in March 2020. Partially scrapped in the aircraft graveyard at Tarbes Lourdes Pyrénées Airport (LDE), France. May 2020.
This plane was one of the two newest Air France A380s. Another jet of this type, his nine-year-old F-HPJJ, which joined the airline in 2014, was removed from service the same year. The aircraft has not yet been scrapped, but is currently in storage at LDE Airport and may await a similar fate.
Fancy flying mansion demolished after client’s death
The Boeing 747-8 Business Jet (BBJ), the most luxurious “Queen of the Skies” aircraft ever built, has been scrapped for scrapping despite having less than half the life of a typical aircraft. Here is another example of an airframe being sent.
of Boeing 747-8 BBJRegistered N458BJis the world’s first 747-8 aircraft to be scrapped after less than 30 hours of flight time.of VIP airliner Despite being handed over to its owner only a decade ago, the jet will soon be scrapped at the Pinal Air Park cemetery in Marana, USA.
The story of this particular Sky Queen began in late 2012 when it left the Boeing factory. The giant was initially expected to be a special government aircraft to operate flights for the Saudi government. Euroairport at Tripoint on the border of France, Germany and Switzerland He Basel He Mulhouse He was ferried to Freiburg Airport (BSL), where an interior refurbishment was to take place.
The aircraft was to be the personal plane of Crown Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia. However, in October 2021, the customer passed away about nine months before the scheduled delivery. Several subsequent attempts were made to sell the BBJ for around $95 million (a fifth of what the then-new 747-8 was worth), leaving the new owner of the little-flying jet It turned out to be difficult to find.
Painted in white paint, the BBJ sat at BSL airport for over a decade before being ferried to one of the world’s largest aircraft cemeteries at Pinal County Air Park (MZJ) in the Arizona desert in April 2022. I was on my way.
The 747-8 had only 16 flights, was reportedly only 29 hours in the air, and had its most valuable component, the four General Electric GEnx turbofan engines removed. .
The fuselage has not yet been completely dismantled, but the wing flaps, part of the tail and fuselage, and the rudder have already been dismantled.
