747/ 400/200

[northernlight]

747 400 or 200 that is the question?
BA have 747 400 . Virgin run 200 version. Am I going to die by flying Virgin. Let's face it their planes are really old aprox 20yrs. We all know about 'Capton Wiring' and 'Metal Fatigue' . We all know what happened to TWA 800; when will one of these older 747 200's give up and hurt someone?
Will I need the advice of the Flying Lawyer?

[LightningIII]

But,even if the 747's have been flying for the last 20 years why not for longer if maintained?

[This message has been edited by LightningIII (edited 03 February 2001).]

[Nigel PAX]

BA and Virgin both operate 742s and 744s; BA has more of both, of course (and largely with different egines). But both also operate other modern wide bodies as well (777s, 767s and 340s respectively). And both have an excellent safety record. So what's the point of the question?

[Deeko01]

Northernlight,

Why would you ask am I going to die?, so what if the Virgin 742's are 20 years old, all aircraft's components have life limits and when these aircraft reach their limit they are replaced also the aircraft itself is maintained to the highest standards, granted they are a bit older than the 744's but that doesn't mean the aircraft has a better chance of falling out the sky than a 744.

Jeez you only have to look at some aircraft operating in third world countries, if you think the virgin one is old and you are dubious about flying in it then you would not even dare set foot in one of these aircraft.

And don't believe everything you hear about capton wiring, I dont believe TWA800 crashed as a result of the wiring in the fuel tank, I think it was a missile from the US Military which locked on to the aircraft as it was flying below FL130 in the climb over a firing range, and pressure from the US Government on the NTSB made them have to come to some conclusion of the accident.

How many other 747's have had this problem, I know the wiring wears but I dont know of any other aircraft which were AOG because of this.

My advice is go on the Virgin 747 and enjoy the ride.

Have fun. :-)

[SFly]

Yeah, that's right, they both have both kinds. (Luckily they both recently got rid of their -100s, or it would be another story), but the maintainance levels on both airlines are fine, and so it boils down to service, so First/Buisiness class: Virgin,
Economy: BA
You can figure out the rest.

[jotpilot]

Deeko051

A missile? Yeah right. Area 51 rules...

[Mega]

Been onboard as pax on both BA and Virgin 747´s. Virgin = Exellent service, BA not so good service.

/M

[Jumbo Jockey]

The short answer is the one given by a Dakota pilot eons ago when asked a similar question: "How d'ya think it got to be this old?"

The longer version:

Don't forget that what ages aeroplanes is not primarily years or even flying hours, it's pressurisation cycles. That means that - all other things being equal - a short-haul aeroplane will tend to show its age more than a long-haul one which has the same number of hours and which rolled out of the factory on the same day.

However, that isn't anywhere near the whole story. Many aeroplane parts are "lifed", which means that when they've been on the aircraft for a certain amount of time, they are replaced - irrespective of how good a condition they may be in. Hence the twenty-year old aeroplane you are sitting in is not the same one that rolled out of the aforementioned factory!

Furthermore, aeroplanes are subjected to a great deal of preventive maintenance: The actual schedule depends on the type to a certain extent, but suffice to say that if your car went through the same exhaustive programme of TLC you'd probably be a lot safer in it than you are now. Every single day, my aeroplane gets a going over on the essential items like oil quantities, tyre condition and the like - not only by highly qualified engineers, but also in a "last line of defence" eyeballing by one of the flightcrew. How many road accidents could be prevented by drivers doing that before the first drive of the day?!

[buckland]

I fly a 30 year old 747-200 and, frankly, this is the least of my worries. many years ago, a very wise, old farmer said tome that he hd a penknife which had been given to him by his grandfather. It had had three new blades and two new handles over the years. Was it still the same penknife?