Life in an aircraft graveyard (NOT the Arizona one) – in pictures

[Phoenix1969]

A friend sent me this, so I thought the Pprune-izens might like it too.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/g...P=share_btn_tw

One wonders how on earth the planes got there. They're not really the sort of thing one randomly fly-tips.

And it doesn't appear to be near any airport either https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/...8!4d100.673275

[Rosevidney1]

Hmmm. It rather begs the question 'How did they get there?'

[Jhieminga]

Other internet reports about this site have described it as an aircraft dismantling operation where parts and materials are reclaimed from the airframe sections. The one I saw was a few years old and at that point the 747 was the main 'attraction' there. I guess that with an increase in scale they also needed more people for the work, and they needed a place to live...

[Compass Call]

Rosevidney1

They flew into the airfield that was there before the government sold it for social housing ;-)

[Rosevidney1]

A perfectly logical answer, Compass Call! It was so obvious I disregarded the thought that a city could overwhelm an airport!! They must be breeding like flies out there. I wonder which airport will be the next to be engulfed?

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by Rosevidney1

A perfectly logical answer, Compass Call! It was so obvious I disregarded the thought that a city could overwhelm an airport!! They must be breeding like flies out there. I wonder which airport will be the next to be engulfed?

You do realise CC is joking, don't you ? That's OK, then.

[ZFT]

Originally Posted by DaveReidUK

You do realise CC is joking, don't you ? That's OK, then.

...and there aren't many flies here either!

[Phoenix1969]

They flew into the airfield that was there before the government sold it for social housing

Of course! Mystery solved....I so didn't think of that. Interestingly, I had a very quick look on the street view function of a well-known website and the buildings in the area didn't look particularly new, yet one of the fuselages is of a 744 - so that plane must have been not very old in years at all when it was scrapped.

I wonder if this has happened anywhere else in the world eg HK's old Kai Tak airport?

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by Phoenix1969

I had a very quick look on the street view function of a well-known website and the buildings in the area didn't look particularly new, yet one of the fuselages is of a 744 - so that plane must have been not very old in years at all when it was scrapped.

Close, but no cigar.

It's actually a former JAL 747-146B (23390) with a stretched upper deck, built in 1986.

It last flew as HS-UTQ for One-To-Go, was WFU at Don Mueang in 2008 and the forward fuselage moved to its current location a couple of years later.

[Thai Pom]

I saw them being chopped (literally) on the ramp at Don Muang in front of the old cargo complex / Bangkok Airways hangar.