scrubbedexpat091

It is a Seattle based new outlet

markonline1

Wow! British Airways announced last night it was retiring it’s fleet of B747’s immediately!! Obviously we knew it was coming, it was planned for 2024, but that’s it. They won’t be flying any more. I think I’m right in saying BA were the biggest operator still of the type. Sad day. The 380 was a bigger aircraft, but when I used to follow a 747 down a taxiway is it taxied out with its flaps out, I used to be amazed every time how the hell it got off the ground. It was massive. A beautiful and iconic aircraft.

civilservant

I'm not surprised. The 4-burners were always going to be done for the second that demand dropped off a cliff. I'm surprised they survived the Great Recession to be honest. I was never a fan myself, either flying on them or their looks, but it is another type consigned to history for BA, which is always sad.

They did look good in the Landor livery, but then, so did everything.

Concorde in Landor

Pulaski

Isn't that announcement actually back-dated by three months? I can't image that BA has been flying many 747s since the end of March.

Steerpike

4-burners - 4 engines? I've always felt safer on a 4-engine plane, from a redundancy perspective.

civilservant

Right.

I see the logic of the 'more is more' but honestly since the advent of ETOPS they just aren't relevant anymore. These engines hardly ever fail, and if they do it's some outside force (like the pilot turning it off by mistake, ice build up, bird ingestion etc)

Pulaski

That post, under the quoted picture, seems ironic, considering the fate of Concorde.

civilservant

Not the Olympus's fault though was it? Blame the DC-10 that departed in front of it

Pulaski

Agreed.

Anyway, to Steerpike's point, there aren't many two engine planes that come down because of engine issues. Software issues, pilot errors/ issues, .... and, er, missiles, appear to be the most common reasons these days for planes to drop out of the sky, and having an extra couple of engines isn't going to help with any of those issues.

steveq

For those not familiar with air flight acronyms. ETOPS. Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim.

civilservant

Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards

I've heard yours before though, and like it very much

Giantaxe

Leaving aside the MH370 disappearance, the last major over-the-ocean crash I can remember was AF447 over the southern Atlantic. That was caused by frozen pitot tubes and pilot error, so four engines wouldn't have saved it.

steveq

True, I wouldn't even blame the tubes, it was pilot error. The final accident report was very sobering.

Pulaski

I believe there are similarities with Atlas Air 3591 which was apparently flown into the ground by a pilot who trusted his perceptions over the readings on his instruments.

scrubbedexpat091

Ill miss seeing the 747. I loved the look. Glad I got to fly on it once. We would get a BA 747 half the year here in Vancouver and A380 in summer peak season.


Still need a 777 myself but likely never will fly on one.

Not much variety in my new city, mostly Dash 8s and smaller.