Misplaced Pages

#703296

149-811: On 4 October 1992, El Al Flight 1862 , a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft of the Israeli airline El Al , crashed into the Groeneveen and Klein-Kruitberg flats in the Bijlmermeer (colloquially "Bijlmer") neighbourhood of Amsterdam , the Netherlands. The accident is known in Dutch as the Bijlmerramp (Bijlmer disaster). Forty-seven people were killed, including all 4 on board and 43 on the ground. Eleven people were seriously injured and 15 received minor injuries. The exact number killed on

298-462: A CWC schedule 2 chemical , had been included in the cargo. The chemical's primary commercial use is as a flame retardant. Other commercial uses include being a preignition additive for gasoline, anti-foaming agent, plasticizer, stabilizer, textile conditioner, antistatic agent, an additive for solvents and low-temperature hydraulic fluids, and as a catalyst/reagent in the organic synthesis of sarin and soman nerve gases. The State of Israel noted that

447-455: A Mayday call to air traffic control (ATC) and indicated that they wanted to return to Schiphol. At 18:28:45, the first officer reported: "El Al 1862, lost number three and number four engine, number three and number four engine." ATC and the flight crew did not yet grasp the severity of the situation. Although the flight crew knew they had lost power from the engines, they did not see that the engines themselves had completely broken off and that

596-478: A Tampa Colombia 707 cargo flight was forced to return to Miami, when the No. 3 engine separated shortly after takeoff. On 31 March 1993, Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 46E , a Boeing 747-121F (freighter), operated by Evergreen International Airlines returned to Anchorage International Airport after the No. 2 engine (inner-most left engine) detached. After this accident, Boeing issued a service directive to all owners of

745-485: A US Department of Commerce license. According to the chemical weapons website CWInfo, the quantity involved was "too small for the preparation of a militarily useful quantity of Sarin, but would be consistent with making small quantities for testing detection methods and protective clothing." This was one of several accidents caused by problems with Boeing 707 and 747 engine pylons, which were nearly identical in design. On 8 April 1968, an engine and pylon had fallen off

894-610: A $ 569 million post-tax charge against its fourth-quarter 2015 profits. At the end of 2015, the company had 20 orders outstanding. On January 29, 2016, Boeing announced that it had begun the preliminary work on the modifications to a commercial 747-8 for the next Air Force One presidential aircraft, then expected to be operational by 2020. On July 12, 2016, Boeing announced that it had finalized an order from Volga-Dnepr Group for 20 747-8 freighters, valued at $ 7.58 billion (~$ 9.44 billion in 2023) at list prices. Four aircraft were delivered beginning in 2012. Volga-Dnepr Group

1043-551: A 10 m (33 ft) stretch of the wing's leading edge. The loud noise attracted the attention of some pleasure boaters on the Gooimeer. The boaters notified the Netherlands Coastguard of two objects they had seen falling from the sky. One boater, a police officer, said he initially thought the two falling objects were parachutists, but as they fell closer he could see that they were plane engines. The first officer made

1192-459: A 5,000-nautical-mile (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) range with a typical 452-passenger payload, and an increased MTOW of 750,000 lb (340 t) was offered. The first -100B order, one aircraft for Iran Air , was announced on June 1, 1978. This version first flew on June 20, 1979, received FAA certification on August 1, 1979, and was delivered the next day. Nine -100Bs were built, one for Iran Air and eight for Saudi Arabian Airlines . Unlike

1341-590: A 520,000-pound (240 t) MTOW and Pratt & Whitney JT9D -7A engines derated to 43,000 pounds-force (190 kN) of thrust. Following the -100SR, Boeing produced the -100BSR, a 747SR variant with increased takeoff weight capability. Debuting in 1978, the -100BSR also incorporated structural modifications for a high cycle-to-flying hour ratio; a related standard -100B model debuted in 1979. The -100BSR first flew on November 3, 1978, with first delivery to All Nippon Airways (ANA) on December 21, 1978. A total of 20 -100BSRs were produced for ANA and JAL. The -100BSR had

1490-544: A 600,000 pounds (270 t) MTOW and was powered by the same JT9D-7A or General Electric CF6 -45 engines used on the -100SR. ANA operated this variant on domestic Japanese routes with 455 or 456 seats until retiring its last aircraft in March 2006. In 1986, two -100BSR SUD models, featuring the stretched upper deck (SUD) of the -300, were produced for JAL. The type's maiden flight occurred on February 26, 1986, with FAA certification and first delivery on March 24, 1986. JAL operated

1639-411: A Boeing 707, being operated as BOAC Flight 712 , resulting in five deaths. On 16 January 1987, a Transbrasil Boeing 707 (PT-TCP) lost its No. 2 engine with 150 people on board. It landed without incident and was later ferried on three engines for repair. On 29 December 1991, China Airlines Flight 358 had crashed when its No. 3 and No. 4 engines fell off shortly after takeoff from Taipei, resulting in

SECTION 10

#1732852796704

1788-400: A burglary report. They saw the aircraft plummet and immediately sounded an alarm. The first fire trucks and rescue services arrived within a few minutes of the crash. Nearby hospitals were advised to prepare for hundreds of casualties. The complex was partly inhabited by immigrants from Suriname and Aruba, both former Dutch colonies, and the death toll was difficult to estimate in the hours after

1937-659: A convergent etymology does involve reference to cock fighting . According to the Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology , the buildings in London where the king's cabinet worked (the Treasury and the Privy Council ) were called the "Cockpit" because they were built on the site of a theater called The Cockpit (torn down in 1635), which itself was built in the place where a "cockpit" for cock-fighting had once stood prior to

2086-440: A disaster that has shaken the whole country." In the days immediately following the disaster, bodies of victims were recovered from the crash site. The mayor ordered rubble and aircraft wreckage removed, and investigators found the critical engine pylon fuse pins in the landfill . The two fallen engines were recovered from the Gooimeer, as were pieces of a 9-metre (30 ft) section of the right wing's leading edge. The remains of

2235-419: A final approach to landing. During the second circle, the wing flaps were extended. The inboard trailing edge flaps extended, since they were powered by the number one hydraulic system, which was still functioning, but the outboard trailing edge flaps did not, because they were powered by the number four hydraulic system, which had failed when the number four engine broke away. The partial flap condition meant that

2384-452: A fully occupied 747. Nonetheless, many flag-carriers purchased the 747 due to its prestige "even if it made no sense economically" to operate. During the 1970s and 1980s, over 30 regularly scheduled 747s could often be seen at John F. Kennedy International Airport . The recession of 1969–1970 , despite having been characterized as relatively mild, greatly affected Boeing. For the year and a half after September 1970, it only sold two 747s in

2533-428: A good spread of support on the ground and safety in case of tire blow-outs. The main gear are redundant so that landing can be performed on two opposing landing gears if the others are not functioning properly. The 747 also has split control surfaces and was designed with sophisticated triple-slotted flaps that minimize landing speeds and allow the 747 to use standard-length runways. For transportation of spare engines,

2682-405: A high-capacity airliner with enough range to cover Pan Am's New York–Middle Eastern routes and Iran Air's planned Tehran–New York route. The Tehran–New York route, when launched, was the longest non-stop commercial flight in the world. The 747SP is 48 feet 4 inches (14.73 m) shorter than the 747-100. Fuselage sections were eliminated fore and aft of the wing, and the center section of

2831-437: A higher maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) variant, and the -100SR (Short Range), with higher passenger capacity. Increased maximum takeoff weight allows aircraft to carry more fuel and have longer range. The -200 model followed in 1971, featuring more powerful engines and a higher MTOW. Passenger, freighter and combination passenger-freighter versions of the -200 were produced. The shortened 747SP (special performance) with

2980-403: A long "spine" running the length of the aircraft with the wing spar passing through it, while Boeing blended the two, with a longer pod that ran from just behind the nose to just behind the wing. In 1965, Lockheed's aircraft design and General Electric's engine design were selected for the new C-5 Galaxy transport, which was the largest military aircraft in the world at the time. Boeing carried

3129-410: A longer range was also developed, and entered service in 1976. The 747 line was further developed with the launch of the 747-300 on June 11, 1980, followed by interest from Swissair a month later and the go-ahead for the project. The 300 series resulted from Boeing studies to increase the seating capacity of the 747, during which modifications such as fuselage plugs and extending the upper deck over

SECTION 20

#1732852796704

3278-497: A much larger and more capable aircraft was needed, especially to carry cargo that would not fit in any existing aircraft. These studies led to initial requirements for the CX-Heavy Logistics System (CX-HLS) in March 1964 for an aircraft with a load capacity of 180,000 pounds (81.6 t) and a speed of Mach 0.75 (430 kn; 800 km/h), and an unrefueled range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) with

3427-421: A new jet airliner 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 times size of the 707, with a 30% lower cost per unit of passenger-distance and the capability to offer mass air travel on international routes. Trippe also thought that airport congestion could be addressed by a larger new aircraft. In 1965, Joe Sutter was transferred from Boeing's 737 development team to manage the design studies for the new airliner, already assigned

3576-682: A payload of 115,000 pounds (52.2 t). The payload bay had to be 17 feet (5.18 m) wide by 13.5 feet (4.11 m) high and 100 feet (30 m) long with access through doors at the front and rear. The desire to keep the number of engines to four required new engine designs with greatly increased power and better fuel economy. In May 1964, airframe proposals arrived from Boeing, Douglas , General Dynamics , Lockheed , and Martin Marietta ; engine proposals were submitted by General Electric , Curtiss-Wright , and Pratt & Whitney . Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed were given additional study contracts for

3725-471: A pronounced 37.5° wing sweep , allowing a Mach 0.85 (490 kn; 900 km/h) cruise speed , and its heavy weight is supported by four main landing gear legs, each with a four-wheel bogie . The partial double-deck aircraft was designed with a raised cockpit so it could be converted to a freighter airplane by installing a front cargo door, as it was initially thought that it would eventually be superseded by supersonic transports . Boeing introduced

3874-462: A range of 4,620 nautical miles (8,556 km), was the original variant launched in 1966. The 747-200 soon followed, with its launch in 1968. The 747-300 was launched in 1980 and was followed by the 747-400 in 1985. Ultimately, the 747-8 was announced in 2005. Several versions of each variant have been produced, and many of the early variants were in production simultaneously. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) classifies variants using

4023-474: A ship where the cockswain 's station was located, the cockswain being the pilot of a smaller "boat" that could be dispatched from the ship to board another ship or to bring people ashore. The word "cockswain" in turn derives from the old English terms for "boat-servant" ( coque is the French word for "shell"; and swain was old English for boy or servant). The midshipmen and master's mates were later berthed in

4172-447: A shortened code formed by combining the model number and the variant designator (e.g. "B741" for all -100 models). The first 747-100s were built with six upper deck windows (three per side) to accommodate upstairs lounge areas. Later, as airlines began to use the upper deck for premium passenger seating instead of lounge space, Boeing offered an upper deck with ten windows on either side as an option. Some early -100s were retrofitted with

4321-496: A single airline before or since. Ultimately, the high-winged CX-HLS Boeing design was not used for the 747, although technologies developed for their bid had an influence. The original design included a full-length double-deck fuselage with eight-across seating and two aisles on the lower deck and seven-across seating and two aisles on the upper deck. However, concern over evacuation routes and limited cargo-carrying capability caused this idea to be scrapped in early 1966 in favor of

4470-424: A sun shield. Most cockpits have windows that can be opened when the aircraft is on the ground. Nearly all glass windows in large aircraft have an anti-reflective coating , and an internal heating element to melt ice. Smaller aircraft may be equipped with a transparent aircraft canopy . In most cockpits the pilot's control column or joystick is located centrally ( centre stick ), although in some military fast jets

4619-405: A test aircraft was flown to Renton to have test equipment removed and a cabin installed. Pilot Ralph C. Cokely undershot the airport's short runway and the 747's right, outer landing gear was torn off and two engine nacelles were damaged. However, these difficulties did not prevent Boeing from taking a test aircraft to the 28th Paris Air Show in mid-1969, where it was displayed to the public for

El Al Flight 1862 - Misplaced Pages Continue

4768-448: A wider single deck design. The cockpit was therefore placed on a shortened upper deck so that a freight-loading door could be included in the nose cone; this design feature produced the 747's distinctive "hump". In early models, what to do with the small space in the pod behind the cockpit was not clear, and this was initially specified as a "lounge" area with no permanent seating. (A different configuration that had been considered to keep

4917-456: A year, many residents and service personnel began approaching doctors with physical health symptoms, which the affected patients blamed on the El Al crash. Insomnia, chronic respiratory infections, general pain and discomfort, impotence, flatulence, and bowel symptoms were all reported. About 67% of the affected patients were found to be infected with Mycoplasma , and suffered from symptoms similar to

5066-485: Is over"). At that moment a large smoke plume emanating from the crash scene was visible from the control tower. The aircraft had disappeared from arrival control radar. The arrival controllers reported that the aircraft had last been located 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi; 0.81 nmi) west of Weesp , and emergency personnel were sent immediately. At the time of the crash, two police officers were in Bijlmermeer checking on

5215-507: Is the parent of three major Russian air-freight carriers – Volga-Dnepr Airlines , AirBridgeCargo Airlines and Atran Airlines . The new 747-8 freighters would replace AirBridgeCargo's current 747-400 aircraft and expand the airline's fleet and will be acquired through a mix of direct purchases and leasing over the next six years, Boeing said. On July 27, 2016, in its quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission , Boeing discussed

5364-497: Is usually located in a prominent position, either centrally or on either side of the cockpit. It will in most cases include a digitized presentation of the attitude indicator, air speed and altitude indicators (usually as a tape display) and the vertical speed indicator. It will in many cases include some form of heading indicator and ILS/VOR deviation indicators. In many cases an indicator of the engaged and armed autoflight system modes will be present along with some form of indication of

5513-429: The left seat , so that they can operate the throttles and other pedestal instruments with their right hand . The tradition has been maintained to this day, with the co-pilot on the right hand side. The layout of the cockpit, especially in the military fast jet, has undergone standardisation, both within and between aircraft, manufacturers and even nations. An important development was the "Basic Six" pattern, later

5662-445: The 737 development program to design the 747. In April 1966, Pan Am ordered 25 Boeing 747-100 aircraft, and in late 1966, Pratt & Whitney agreed to develop the JT9D engine, a high-bypass turbofan . On September 30, 1968, the first 747 was rolled out of the custom-built Everett Plant , the world's largest building by volume . The 747's first flight took place on February 9, 1969, and

5811-463: The 767 and Airbus A300 / A310 twinjets ). Having tried replacing coach seats on its 747s with piano bars in an attempt to attract more customers, American Airlines eventually relegated its 747s to cargo service and in 1983 exchanged them with Pan Am for smaller aircraft; Delta Air Lines also removed its 747s from service after several years. Later, Delta acquired 747s again in 2008 as part of its merger with Northwest Airlines , although it retired

5960-508: The Boeing 747-400 fleet in December 2017. International flights bypassing traditional hub airports and landing at smaller cities became more common throughout the 1980s, thus eroding the 747's original market. Many international carriers continued to use the 747 on Pacific routes. In Japan, 747s on domestic routes were configured to carry nearly the maximum passenger capacity. The 747-100 with

6109-560: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) have researched the ergonomic aspects of cockpit design and have conducted investigations of airline industry accidents. Cockpit design disciplines include Cognitive science , Neuroscience , Human–computer interaction , Human Factors Engineering , Anthropometry and Ergonomics . Aircraft designs have adopted

El Al Flight 1862 - Misplaced Pages Continue

6258-468: The Gulf War syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome -like symptoms. Dutch officials from government departments of transport and of public health asserted that at the time of the crash, they understood that no health risks existed from any cargo on the aircraft; Els Borst , minister of public health, stated that "no extremely toxic, very dangerous, or radioactive materials" had been on board. In October 1993,

6407-483: The Second World War when enclosed cockpits became the norm. The largest impediment to having closed cabins was the material used to make the windows. Prior to Perspex becoming available in 1933, windows were either safety glass, which was heavy, or cellulose nitrate (i.e.: guncotton) , which yellowed quickly and was extremely flammable. In the mid-1920s many aircraft manufacturers began using enclosed cockpits for

6556-651: The YAL-1 and SOFIA airborne observatory. Initial competition came from the smaller trijet widebodies: the Lockheed L-1011 (introduced in 1972), McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (1971) and later MD-11 (1990). Airbus competed with later variants with the heaviest versions of the A340 until surpassing the 747 in size with the A380 , delivered between 2007 and 2021. Freighter variants of the 747 remain popular with cargo airlines. The final 747

6705-457: The cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage area, it was never found, though El Al employees stated that it had been installed in the aircraft. When Boeing 747 engine or engine pylons experience excessive load, the fuse pins holding the engine nacelle to the wing are designed to fracture cleanly, allowing the engine to separate from the aircraft without damaging the wing or wing fuel tank. Airliners are generally designed to remain airworthy in

6854-433: The side-stick is located on the right hand side. In some commercial airliners (i.e.: Airbus—which features the glass cockpit concept) both pilots use a side-stick located on the outboard side, so Captain's side-stick on the left and First-officer's seat on the right. Except for some helicopters, the right seat in the cockpit of an aircraft is the seat used by the co-pilot . The captain or pilot in command sits in

7003-401: The tailplane (horizontal stabilizer); detailed investigations showed, however, that the best estimate of the exposure to depleted uranium was ".. several orders of magnitude less than the workers' limit for chronic exposure." The flight test program was hampered by problems with the 747's JT9D engines. Difficulties included engine stalls caused by rapid throttle movements and distortion of

7152-477: The "Basic T", developed from 1937 onwards by the Royal Air Force , designed to optimise pilot instrument scanning. Ergonomics and Human Factors concerns are important in the design of modern cockpits. The layout and function of cockpit displays controls are designed to increase pilot situation awareness without causing information overload. In the past, many cockpits, especially in fighter aircraft, limited

7301-503: The -100BSR SUD with 563 seats on domestic routes until their retirement in the third quarter of 2006. While only two -100BSR SUDs were produced, in theory, standard -100Bs can be modified to the SUD certification. Overall, 29 Boeing 747SRs were built. The 747-100B model was developed from the -100SR, using its stronger airframe and landing gear design. The type had an increased fuel capacity of 48,070 US gal (182,000 L), allowing for

7450-499: The -200 in 1971, with uprated engines for a heavier maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 833,000 pounds (378 t) from the initial 735,000 pounds (333 t), increasing the maximum range from 4,620 to 6,560 nautical miles [nmi] (8,560 to 12,150 km; 5,320 to 7,550 mi). It was shortened for the longer-range 747SP in 1976, and the 747-300 followed in 1983 with a stretched upper deck for up to 400 seats in three classes. The heavier 747-400 with improved RB211 and CF6 engines or

7599-460: The 1580s. Thus the word Cockpit came to mean a control center. The original meaning of "cockpit", first attested in the 1580s, is "a pit for fighting cocks", referring to the place where cockfights were held. This meaning no doubt influenced both lines of evolution of the term, since a cockpit in this sense was a tight enclosure where a great deal of stress or tension would occur. From about 1935, cockpit came to be used informally to refer to

SECTION 50

#1732852796704

7748-487: The 300 series were produced. In 1985, development of the longer range 747-400 began. The variant had a new glass cockpit , which allowed for a cockpit crew of two instead of three, new engines, lighter construction materials, and a redesigned interior. Development costs soared, and production delays occurred as new technologies were incorporated at the request of airlines. Insufficient workforce experience and reliance on overtime contributed to early production problems on

7897-513: The 747 Advanced that were eventually adopted. Similar in nature to the 747-X, the stretched 747 Advanced used technology from the 787 to modernize the design and its systems. The 747 remained the largest passenger airliner in service until the Airbus A380 began airline service in 2007. On November 14, 2005, Boeing announced it was launching the 747 Advanced as the Boeing 747-8 . The last 747-400s were completed in 2009. As of 2011 , most orders of

8046-545: The 747 can accommodate a non-functioning fifth-pod engine under the aircraft's port wing between the inner functioning engine and the fuselage. The fifth engine mount point was also used by Virgin Orbit 's LauncherOne program to carry an orbital-class rocket to cruise altitude where it was deployed. After the aircraft's introduction with Pan Am in 1970, other airlines that had bought the 747 to stay competitive began to put their own 747s into service. Boeing estimated that half of

8195-463: The 747 had been a major challenge, and building its assembly plant was also a huge undertaking. Boeing president William M. Allen asked Malcolm T. Stamper, then head of the company's turbine division, to oversee construction of the Everett factory and to start production of the 747. To level the site, more than four million cubic yards (three million cubic meters) of earth had to be moved. Time

8344-532: The 747 regarding its fuse pins. Engines and pylons had to be removed from 747s and the fuse pins examined for defects. If cracks were present, the pins were to be replaced. The crash was depicted in the National Geographic documentary series Seconds from Disaster (in the 2006 episode "Amsterdam Air Crash") and Mayday , known as Air Crash Investigation outside North America (in the 2016 episode "High Rise Catastrophe"). The crash and its aftermath were

8493-496: The 747 was certified in December of that year. It entered service with Pan Am on January 22, 1970. The 747 was the first airplane called a " Jumbo Jet " as the first wide-body airliner. The 747 is a four-engined jet aircraft , initially powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofan engines, then General Electric CF6 and Rolls-Royce RB211 engines for the original variants. With a ten-abreast economy seating, it typically accommodates 366 passengers in three travel classes . It has

8642-466: The 747-400, several stretching schemes for the 747 were proposed. Boeing announced the larger 747-500X and -600X preliminary designs in 1996. The new variants would have cost more than US$ 5 billion to develop, and interest was not sufficient to launch the program. In 2000, Boeing offered the more modest 747X and 747X stretch derivatives as alternatives to the Airbus A38X . However, the 747X family

8791-463: The 747-400. The -400 entered service in 1989. In 1991, a record-breaking 1,087 passengers were flown in a 747 during a covert operation to airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel . Generally, the 747-400 held between 416 and 524 passengers. The 747 remained the heaviest commercial aircraft in regular service until the debut of the Antonov An-124 Ruslan in 1982; variants of the 747-400 surpassed

8940-553: The 747-8 were for the freighter variant. On February 8, 2010, the 747-8 Freighter made its maiden flight . The first delivery of the 747-8 went to Cargolux in 2011. The first 747-8 Intercontinental passenger variant was delivered to Lufthansa on May 5, 2012. The 1,500th Boeing 747 was delivered in June 2014 to Lufthansa. In January 2016, Boeing stated it was reducing 747-8 production to six per year beginning in September 2016, incurring

9089-455: The An-124's weight in 2000. The Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo transport , which debuted in 1988, remains the world's largest aircraft by several measures (including the most accepted measures of maximum takeoff weight and length); one aircraft has been completed and was in service until 2022. The Scaled Composites Stratolaunch is currently the largest aircraft by wingspan . After the arrival of

SECTION 60

#1732852796704

9238-590: The Boeing 747. Flight Engineer Sofer was the most experienced crew member on the flight, with more than 26,000 hours of flight experience, of which 15,000 were on the Boeing 747. Captain Yitzhak Fuchs had flown for El Al for 28 years and had previously served in the Israeli Air Force for 10 years. First Officer Arnon Ohad had flown for El Al for 10 years, Flight Engineer Gedalya Sofer for 37 years. El Al Flight 1862

9387-499: The Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM), used by Airbus , allow the pilot to monitor the following information: values for N1, N2 and N3, fuel temperature, fuel flow, the electrical system, cockpit or cabin temperature and pressure, control surfaces and so on. The pilot may select display of information by means of button press. The flight management system/control and/or display unit may be used by

9536-567: The accident. The first studies on the symptoms reported by survivors, performed by the Academisch Medisch Centrum (AMC), began in May 1998. The AMC eventually concluded that up to a dozen cases of autoimmune disorders among the survivors could be directly attributed to the crash, and health notices were distributed to doctors throughout the Netherlands requesting that extra attention be paid to symptoms of autoimmune disorder, particularly if

9685-459: The actual number of victims killed in the crash was considerably higher. Bijlmermeer has a high number of residents living there illegally, particularly from Ghana and Suriname , and members of the Ghanaian community stated that they lost a considerable number of undocumented occupants who were not counted among the dead. A memorial, designed by architects Herman Hertzberger and Georges Descombes,

9834-449: The aircraft from rolling to the right. The roll reached 90° just before the impact with the apartments. At 18:35:25, the first officer radioed to ATC: "Going down, 1862, going down, going down, copied, going down." In the background, the captain was heard instructing the first officer in Hebrew to raise the flaps and lower the landing gear. At 18:35:42 local time, the aircraft nose-dived from

9983-500: The aircraft were transported to Schiphol for analysis. The aircraft's flight data recorder was recovered from the crash site and was heavily damaged, with the tape broken in four places. The section containing the data from the last two and a half minutes of the flight was particularly damaged. The recorder was sent to the United States for recovery and the data was successfully extracted. Despite intensive search activities to recover

10132-416: The aircraft would have a higher pitch attitude than normal as it slowed down. The leading edge slats extended on the left wing, but not on the right wing, because of the extensive damage sustained when the engines separated, which had also severely disrupted the air flow over the right wing. That differential configuration caused the left wing to generate significantly more lift than the right, especially when

10281-408: The aircraft's upper deck; instead of using a conventional slide, volunteer passengers escaped by using a harness attached to a reel. Tests also involved taxiing such a large aircraft. Boeing built an unusual training device known as "Waddell's Wagon" (named for a 747 test pilot, Jack Waddell) that consisted of a mock-up cockpit mounted on the roof of a truck. While the first 747s were still being built,

10430-458: The airframe, along with General Electric and Pratt & Whitney for the engines. The airframe proposals shared several features. As the CX-HLS needed to be able to be loaded from the front, a door had to be included where the cockpit usually was. All of the companies solved this problem by moving the cockpit above the cargo area; Douglas had a small "pod" just forward and above the wing, Lockheed used

10579-470: The autopilot and the autothrottle. The panel as an area is usually referred to as the "glareshield panel". MCP is a Boeing designation (that has been informally adopted as a generic name for the unit/panel) for a unit that allows for the selection and parameter setting of the different autoflight functions, the same unit on an Airbus aircraft is referred to as the FCU (Flight Control unit). The primary flight display

10728-409: The basis for a five-part Dutch TV docudrama series titled Rampvlucht (‘Disaster Flight’) ( nl ), which premiered on Dutch public broadcaster NPO on October 4, 2022, the thirty-year anniversary of the crash. It follows a Bijlmermeer-based veterinarian and two journalists who find themselves drawn into a years-long investigation into the many puzzling questions surrounding the official narrative about

10877-571: The basis that no practical reason would lead one to believe in any link between the health symptoms of the survivors and the Bijlmer crash site. In 1997, an expert testified in the Israeli parliament that dangerous products would have been released during combustion of the depleted uranium in the tail of the Boeing 747. - an eventuality given consideration, but ruled out as improbable, in the Netherlands Air Safety Board's 1994 final report of

11026-400: The building to escape the fire. Hundreds of people were left homeless by the crash; the city's municipal buses were used to transport survivors to emergency shelters. Firefighters and police were also forced to deal with reports of looting in the area. Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers and Queen Beatrix visited the scene of the disaster the following afternoon. The prime minister said, "This is

11175-506: The cargo aircraft, a Boeing 747-258F, registered as 4X-AXG, travelling from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel, made a stopover at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport . During the flight from New York to Schiphol, three issues were noted: fluctuations in the autopilot speed regulation, problems with a radio, and fluctuations in the voltage of

11324-457: The ceremonial 747 contract-signing banquet in Seattle on Boeing's 50th Anniversary, Juan Trippe predicted that the 747 would be "…a great weapon for peace, competing with intercontinental missiles for mankind's destiny". As launch customer, and because of its early involvement before placing a formal order, Pan Am was able to influence the design and development of the 747 to an extent unmatched by

11473-468: The chemical had been listed on the cargo manifest in accordance with international regulations, the material was nontoxic, and its intended use was to test the filters of chemical weapon detectors. The Dutch foreign ministry confirmed that it had already known about the presence of chemicals on the aircraft. The shipment was from a US chemical plant to the Israel Institute for Biological Research under

11622-407: The cockpit, and it served as the action station for the ship's surgeon and his mates during battle. Thus by the 18th century, "cockpit" had come to designate an area in the rear lower deck of a warship where the wounded were taken. The same term later came to designate the place from which a sailing vessel is steered, because it is also located in the rear, and is often in a well or "pit". However,

11771-465: The concept but was committed to developing the engine for the C-5 Galaxy and did not enter the commercial market until later. Pratt & Whitney was also working on the same principle and, by late 1966, Boeing, Pan Am and Pratt & Whitney agreed to develop a new engine, designated the JT9D to power the 747. The project was designed with a new methodology called fault tree analysis , which allowed

11920-461: The controls that enable the pilot to fly the aircraft. In most airliners, a door separates the cockpit from the aircraft cabin . After the September 11, 2001 attacks , all major airlines fortified their cockpits against access by hijackers . The word cockpit seems to have been used as a nautical term in the 17th century, without reference to cock fighting . It referred to an area in the rear of

12069-405: The crash. The crash was also witnessed by people in a nearby fire station on Flierbosdreef. First responders came upon a rapidly spreading fire of "gigantic proportions" that consumed all 11 floors of the buildings and was 120 metres (390 ft) wide. No one survived from the crash point, but some managed to escape from the remainder of the building. Witnesses reported seeing people jumping out of

12218-479: The crash. The series was awarded the 2022 Golden Calf for Best TV Series. Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 times its size, to reduce its seat cost by 30%. In 1965, Joe Sutter left

12367-405: The crew were able to keep the aircraft in the air at first due to its high air speed (280 knots), though the damage to the right wing, resulting in reduced lift, had made keeping level more difficult. At 280 kn (520 km/h; 320 mph), nevertheless, lift on the right wing was sufficient to keep the aircraft aloft. Once it had to reduce speed for landing, the amount of lift on the right wing

12516-421: The death of all five occupants. On 31 March 1992, a similar scenario occurred with Trans-Air Service Flight 671 . Engines No. 3 and No. 4 (Both right wing engines) detached from the aircraft – this time on a Boeing 707. Again, No. 3 engine detached and collided with No. 4 engine, tearing it off as well. On this occasion, the crew was able to land safely at Istres Air Base in the south of France. In April 1992,

12665-470: The device allowed pilots to practice taxi maneuvers from a high upper-deck position. In 1968, the program cost was US$ 1 billion (equivalent to $ 6.7 billion in 2023 dollars). On September 30, 1968, the first 747 was rolled out of the Everett assembly building before the world's press and representatives of the 26 airlines that had ordered the airliner. Over the following months, preparations were made for

12814-415: The disaster, it was announced that the aircraft had contained fruit, perfumes, and computer components. Dutch Minister Hanja Maij-Weggen asserted that she was certain that it contained no military cargo. The survivors' health complaints following the crash increased the number of questions about the cargo. In 1998, El Al spokesman Nachman Klieman publicly revealed that 190L of dimethyl methylphosphonate ,

12963-452: The disaster: all four occupants of the aircraft (three crew members and one nonrevenue passenger) and 43 people on the ground. This was considerably lower than expected; the police had originally estimated a death toll over 200 and Amsterdam Mayor Ed van Thijn had said that 240 people were missing. Twenty-six people sustained nonfatal injuries; 11 of these were injured seriously enough to require hospital treatment. A belief has persisted that

13112-529: The driver's cabin, especially in high performance cars , and this is official terminology used to describe the compartment that the driver occupies in a Formula One car. In an airliner , the cockpit is usually referred to as the flight deck , the term deriving from its use by the RAF for the separate, upper platform in large flying boats where the pilot and co-pilot sat. In the USA and many other countries, however,

13261-412: The early 747 sales were to airlines desiring the aircraft's long range rather than its payload capacity. While the 747 had the lowest potential operating cost per seat, this could only be achieved when the aircraft was fully loaded; costs per seat increased rapidly as occupancy declined. A moderately loaded 747, one with only 70 percent of its seats occupied, used more than 95 percent of the fuel needed by

13410-490: The effects of a failure of a single part to be studied to determine its impact on other systems. To address concerns about safety and flyability, the 747's design included structural redundancy, redundant hydraulic systems, quadruple main landing gear and dual control surfaces. Additionally, some of the most advanced high-lift devices used in the industry were included in the new design, to allow it to operate from existing airports. These included Krueger flaps running almost

13559-594: The electrical generator on engine number three, the inboard engine on the right wing that would later detach from the aircraft and initiate the accident. The jet landed in Schiphol at 14:40 for cargo loading and crew change. The aircraft was refueled and the observed issues were repaired, at least provisionally. The crew consisted of Captain Yitzhak Fuchs (59), First Officer Arnon Ohad (32), and Flight Engineer Gedalya Sofer (61). A single passenger named Anat Solomon (23)

13708-425: The empennage. As Boeing did not have a plant large enough to assemble the giant airliner, they chose to build a new plant. The company considered locations in about 50 cities, and eventually decided to build the new plant some 30 miles (50 km) north of Seattle on a site adjoining a military base at Paine Field near Everett , Washington. It bought the 780-acre (320 ha) site in June 1966. Developing

13857-403: The entire length of the fuselage were rejected. The first 747-300, completed in 1983, included a stretched upper deck, increased cruise speed, and increased seating capacity. The -300 variant was previously designated 747SUD for stretched upper deck, then 747-200 SUD, followed by 747EUD, before the 747-300 designation was used. Passenger, short range and combination freighter-passenger versions of

14006-409: The entire length of the wing's leading edge, as well as complex three-part slotted flaps along the trailing edge of the wing. The wing's complex three-part flaps increase wing area by 21% and lift by 90% when fully deployed compared to their non-deployed configuration. Boeing agreed to deliver the first 747 to Pan Am by the end of 1969. The delivery date left 28 months to design the aircraft, which

14155-400: The evacuation of 560 volunteers from a cabin mock-up via the aircraft's emergency chutes. The first full-scale evacuation took two and a half minutes instead of the maximum of 90 seconds mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and several volunteers were injured. Subsequent test evacuations achieved the 90-second goal but caused more injuries. Most problematic was evacuation from

14304-446: The event of an engine failure or separation, so they can be landed safely. However, damage to a wing or wing fuel tank can have disastrous consequences. The Netherlands Aviation Safety Board found that the fuse pins had not failed properly, but instead had fatigue cracks prior to overload failure. The board developed a scenario of a probable sequence of events for the loss of engine three: This sequence of consecutive failures caused

14453-504: The events of an emergency if they cannot do so through the cabin. The 747's maximum takeoff weight ranges from 735,000 pounds (333 t) for the -100 to 970,000 pounds (440 t) for the -8. Its range has increased from 5,300 nautical miles (9,800 km; 6,100 mi) on the -100 to 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) on the -8I. The 747 has redundant structures along with four redundant hydraulic systems and four main landing gears each with four wheels; these provide

14602-433: The first flight, which took place on February 9, 1969, with test pilots Jack Waddell and Brien Wygle at the controls and Jess Wallick at the flight engineer's station. Despite a minor problem with one of the flaps, the flight confirmed that the 747 handled extremely well. The 747 was found to be largely immune to " Dutch roll ", a phenomenon that had been a major hazard to the early swept-wing jets. During later stages of

14751-410: The first time. Finally, in December 1969, the 747 received its FAA airworthiness certificate , clearing it for introduction into service. The huge cost of developing the 747 and building the Everett factory meant that Boeing had to borrow heavily from a banking syndicate. During the final months before delivery of the first aircraft, the company had to repeatedly request additional funding to complete

14900-591: The first time. Early airplanes with closed cockpits include the 1924 Fokker F.VII , the 1926 German Junkers W 34 transport, the 1926 Ford Trimotor , the 1927 Lockheed Vega , the Spirit of St. Louis and the passenger aircraft manufactured by the Douglas and Boeing companies during the mid-1930s. Open-cockpit airplanes were almost extinct by the mid-1950s, with the exception of training planes, crop-dusters and homebuilt aircraft designs. Cockpit windows may be equipped with

15049-411: The flight by more than six hours to the following day when Clipper Victor (registration N736PA) was used. The 747 enjoyed a fairly smooth introduction into service, overcoming concerns that some airports would not be able to accommodate an aircraft that large. Although technical problems occurred, they were relatively minor and quickly solved. After the initial 747-100, Boeing developed the -100B ,

15198-431: The flight deck out of the way for freight loading had the pilots below the passengers, and was dubbed the "anteater".) One of the principal technologies that enabled an aircraft as large as the 747 to be drawn up was the high-bypass turbofan engine . This engine technology was thought to be capable of delivering double the power of the earlier turbojets while consuming one-third less fuel. General Electric had pioneered

15347-541: The flight test program, flutter testing showed that the wings suffered oscillation under certain conditions. This difficulty was partly solved by reducing the stiffness of some wing components. However, a particularly severe high-speed flutter problem was solved only by inserting depleted uranium counterweights as ballast in the outboard engine nacelles of the early 747s. This measure caused some concern when these aircraft crashed, for example El Al Flight 1862 at Amsterdam in 1992 with 622 pounds (282 kg) of uranium in

15496-472: The fully digital "glass cockpit". In such designs, instruments and gauges, including navigational map displays, use a user interface markup language known as ARINC 661 . This standard defines the interface between an independent cockpit display system, generally produced by a single manufacturer, and the avionics equipment and user applications it is required to support, by means of displays and controls, often made by different manufacturers. The separation between

15645-500: The fuselage was redesigned to fit mating fuselage sections. The SP's flaps used a simplified single-slotted configuration. The 747SP, compared to earlier variants, had a tapering of the aft upper fuselage into the empennage , a double-hinged rudder, and longer vertical and horizontal stabilizers. Power was provided by Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7(A/F/J/FW) or Rolls-Royce RB211-524 engines. Cockpit The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and

15794-559: The glareshield. A central concept in the design of the cockpit is the Design Eye Position or "DEP", from which point all displays should be visible. Most modern cockpits will also include some kind of integrated warning system . A study undertaken in 2013, to assess methods for cockpit-user menu navigation, found that touchscreen produced the "best scores". After the September 11, 2001 attacks , all major airlines fortified their cockpits against access by hijackers . In

15943-413: The ground is uncertain, as the building housed many unregistered residents. The accident is the deadliest aviation disaster to have occurred in the Netherlands. The aircraft involved was a Boeing 747-258F, MSN 21737, registered as 4X-AXG. It had flown 45,746 hours and completed 10,107 flight cycles before the accident. It was equipped with four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7J engines. On 4 October 1992,

16092-410: The inboard engine and pylon to break free. Its trajectory after breaking off the wing caused it to slam into the outboard engine and rip it and its pylon off the wing. Serious damage was also caused to the leading edge of the right wing. Both loss of hydraulic power and damage to the right wing prevented correct operation of the flaps that the crew later tried to extend in flight. Research indicated that

16241-472: The inboard midspar fuse-pin – the no. 3 pylon and engine to separate from the wing in such a way that the no. 4 pylon and engine were torn off, part of the leading edge of the wing was damaged and the use of several systems was lost or limited. This subsequently left the flight crew with very limited control of the airplane. Because of the marginal controllability a safe landing became highly improbable, if not virtually impossible. Forty-seven people were killed in

16390-408: The industry. The majority of the systems-related controls (such as electrical, fuel, hydraulics and pressurization) for example, are usually located in the ceiling on an overhead panel. Radios are generally placed on a panel between the pilot's seats known as the pedestal. Automatic flight controls such as the autopilot are usually placed just below the windscreen and above the main instrument panel on

16539-466: The main deck, the cockpit creates a hump. This raised cockpit allows front loading of cargo on freight variants. The upper deck behind the cockpit provides space for a lounge and/or extra seating. The "stretched upper deck" became available as an alternative on the 747-100B variant and later as standard beginning on the 747-300. The upper deck was stretched more on the 747-8. The 747 cockpit roof section also has an escape hatch from which crew can exit during

16688-549: The model number 747. Sutter began a design study with Pan Am and other airlines to better understand their requirements. At the time, many thought that long-range subsonic airliners would eventually be superseded by supersonic transport aircraft. Boeing responded by designing the 747 so it could be adapted easily to carry freight and remain in production even if sales of the passenger version declined. In April 1966, Pan Am ordered 25 Boeing 747-100 aircraft for US$ 525 million (equivalent to $ 3.8 billion in 2023 dollars). During

16837-406: The modern electronic cockpit, the electronic flight instruments usually regarded as essential are MFD, PFD, ND, EICAS, FMS/CDU and back-up instruments. A Mode control panel , usually a long narrow panel located centrally in front of the pilot, may be used to control heading, speed, altitude, vertical speed, vertical navigation and lateral navigation. It may also be used to engage or disengage both

16986-606: The new PW4000 engine (the JT9D successor), and a two-crew glass cockpit , was introduced in 1989 and is the most common variant. After several studies, the stretched 747-8 was launched on November 14, 2005, with new General Electric GEnx engines, and was first delivered in October 2011. The 747 is the basis for several government and military variants, such as the VC-25 ( Air Force One ), E-4 Emergency Airborne Command Post, Shuttle Carrier Aircraft , and some experimental test aircraft such as

17135-417: The new configuration. The -100 was equipped with Pratt & Whitney JT9D -3A engines. No freighter version of this model was developed, but many 747-100s were converted into freighters as 747-100(SF). The first 747-100(SF) was delivered to Flying Tiger Line in 1974. A total of 168 747-100s were built; 167 were delivered to customers, while Boeing kept the prototype, City of Everett . In 1972, its unit cost

17284-446: The nose door and raised cockpit concepts over to the design of the 747. The 747 was conceived while air travel was increasing in the 1960s. The era of commercial jet transportation, led by the enormous popularity of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 , had revolutionized long-distance travel. In this growing jet age, Juan Trippe , president of Pan American Airways (Pan Am), one of Boeing's most important airline customers, asked for

17433-403: The nuclear energy research foundation Laka reported that the tail contained 282 kilograms (622 lb) of depleted uranium as counterweight, as did all Boeing 747s at the time; this was not known during the rescue and recovery process. Studies were suggested to be undertaken on the symptoms of the affected survivors and service personnel, but for several years, these suggestions were ignored on

17582-446: The original -100, the -100B was offered with Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A, CF6-50, or Rolls-Royce RB211-524 engines. However, only RB211-524 (Saudia) and JT9D-7A (Iran Air) engines were ordered. The last 747-100B, EP-IAM was retired by Iran Air in 2014, the last commercial operator of the 747-100 and -100B. The development of the 747SP stemmed from a joint request between Pan American World Airways and Iran Air , who were looking for

17731-465: The patient had a link with the Bijlmer crash site. Another study, performed by the Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu , concluded that although toxic products had been released at the time of the crash, the added risks of cancer were small, about one or two additional cases per 10,000 exposed persons. The institute also concluded that the chances of uranium poisoning were minimal. Soon after

17880-402: The pilot to enter and check for the following information: flight plan, speed control, navigation control, etc. In a less prominent part of the cockpit, in case of failure of the other instruments, there will be a battery-powered integrated standby instrument system along with a magnetic compass, showing essential flight information such as speed, altitude, attitude and heading. In the U.S.

18029-474: The pitch attitude increased as the airspeed decreased. The increased lift on the left side increased the tendency to roll further to the right, both because the right outboard aileron was inoperative and because the thrust of the left engines was increased in an attempt to reduce the aircraft's very high sink rate. As the aircraft slowed, the ability of the remaining controls to counteract the right roll diminished. The crew finally lost almost all ability to prevent

18178-605: The potential termination of 747 production due to insufficient demand and market for the aircraft. With a firm order backlog of 21 aircraft and a production rate of six per year, program accounting had been reduced to 1,555 aircraft. In October 2016, UPS Airlines ordered 14 -8Fs to add capacity, along with 14 options, which it took in February 2018 to increase the total to 28 -8Fs on order. The backlog then stood at 25 aircraft, though several of these were orders from airlines that no longer intended to take delivery. On July 2, 2020, it

18327-401: The presence of Pan Am chairman Najeeb Halaby . Instead of champagne, red, white, and blue water was sprayed on the aircraft. The 747 entered service on January 22, 1970, on Pan Am's New York–London route; the flight had been planned for the evening of January 21, but engine overheating made the original aircraft (Clipper Young America, registration N735PA) unusable. Finding a substitute delayed

18476-426: The production line on December 6, 2022, and was delivered on January 31, 2023. Boeing hosted an event at the Everett factory for thousands of workers as well as industry executives to commemorate the delivery. The Boeing 747 is a large, wide-body (two-aisle) airliner with four wing-mounted engines. Its wings have a high sweep angle of 37.5° for a fast, efficient cruise speed of Mach 0.84 to 0.88, depending on

18625-496: The project. Had this been refused, Boeing's survival would have been threatened. The firm's debt exceeded $ 2 billion, with the $ 1.2 billion owed to the banks setting a record for all companies. Allen later said, "It was really too large a project for us." Ultimately, the gamble succeeded, and Boeing held a monopoly in very large passenger aircraft production for many years. On January 15, 1970, First Lady Pat Nixon christened Pan Am's first 747 at Dulles International Airport in

18774-402: The right wing while the aircraft was climbing through 1,950 m (6,400 ft). Engine No.   3 (right wing, nearest to fuselage ) separated from the right wing of the aircraft, shot forward, damaged the wing slats , then fell back and struck engine No.   4 (right wing, farthest from fuselage), tearing it from the wing. The two engines fell away from the aircraft, also ripping out

18923-473: The right wing. On the night of the crash, the landing runway in use at Schiphol was runway 06. The crew requested runway 27 – Schiphol's longest – for an emergency landing, even though it meant landing with a 21-knot (10.8 m/s; 38.9 km/h; 24.2 mph) quartering tailwind. The aircraft was still too high and close to land when it circled back to the airport. It was forced to continue circling Amsterdam until it could reduce altitude to that required for

19072-492: The selected values for altitude, speed, vertical speed and heading. It may be pilot selectable to swap with the ND. A navigation display, which may be adjacent to the PFD, shows the route and information on the next waypoint , wind speed and wind direction. It may be pilot selectable to swap with the PFD. The Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System (EICAS), used by Boeing and Embraer , or

19221-680: The size of the pilots that could fit into them. Now, cockpits are being designed to accommodate from the 1st percentile female physical size to the 99th percentile male size. In the design of the cockpit in a military fast jet, the traditional "knobs and dials" associated with the cockpit are mainly absent. Instrument panels are now almost wholly replaced by electronic displays, which are themselves often re-configurable to save space. While some hard-wired dedicated switches must still be used for reasons of integrity and safety, many traditional controls are replaced by multi-function re-configurable controls or so-called "soft keys". Controls are incorporated onto

19370-485: The sky and crashed into two high-rise apartment complexes in the Bijlmermeer neighbourhood of Amsterdam, at the corner of a building where the Groeneveen complex met the Klein-Kruitberg complex. It exploded in a fireball, which caused the building to partially collapse inward, destroying dozens of apartments. The cockpit came to rest east of the building, between the building and the viaduct of Amsterdam Metro Line 53;

19519-430: The standard 747. The initial 747SR model, the -100SR, had a strengthened body structure and landing gear to accommodate the added stress accumulated from a greater number of takeoffs and landings. Extra structural support was built into the wings, fuselage, and the landing gear along with a 20% reduction in fuel capacity. The initial order for the -100SR – four aircraft for Japan Air Lines (JAL, later Japan Airlines ) –

19668-639: The stick and throttle to enable the pilot to maintain a head-up and eyes-out position – the Hands On Throttle And Stick or HOTAS concept. These controls may be then further augmented by control media such as head pointing with a Helmet Mounted Sighting System or Direct voice input (DVI). Advances in auditory displays allow for Direct Voice Output of aircraft status information and for the spatial localisation of warning sounds for improved monitoring of aircraft systems. The layout of control panels in modern airliners has become largely unified across

19817-467: The tail broke off and was blown back by the force of the explosion. During the last moments of the flight, the ATCs made several desperate attempts to contact the aircraft. The Schiphol arrival controllers work from a closed building at Schiphol-East, not from the control tower. At 18:35:45, the control tower reported to the arrival controllers: "Het is gebeurd" (literally "It has happened", but colloquially "It

19966-520: The term cockpit is also used for airliners. The seat of a powerboat racing craft is also referred to as the cockpit. The first airplane with an enclosed cabin appeared in 1912 on the Avro Type F ; however, during the early 1920s there were many passenger aircraft in which the crew remained open to the air while the passengers sat in a cabin. Military biplanes and the first single-engined fighters and attack aircraft also had open cockpits, some as late as

20115-434: The turbine casings after a short period of service. The problems delayed 747 deliveries for several months; up to 20 aircraft at the Everett plant were stranded while awaiting engine installation. The program was further delayed when one of the five test aircraft suffered serious damage during a landing attempt at Renton Municipal Airport , the site of Boeing's Renton factory . The incident happened on December 13, 1969, when

20264-422: The variant. The sweep also reduces the wingspan, allowing the 747 to use existing hangars . Its seating capacity is over 366 with a 3–4–3 seat arrangement (a cross section of three seats, an aisle, four seats, another aisle, and three seats) in economy class and a 2–3–2 layout in first class on the main deck. The upper deck has a 3–3 seat arrangement in economy class and a 2–2 layout in first class. Raised above

20413-457: The wing had been damaged. The outboard engine on the wing of a 747 is visible from the cockpit only with difficulty and the inboard engine on the wing is not visible at all. Given the choices that the captain and crew made following the loss of engine power, the Dutch parliamentary inquiry commission that later studied the crash concluded that the crew did not know that both engines had broken away from

20562-521: The world, both to Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus . No 747s were sold to any American carrier for almost three years. When economic problems in the US and other countries after the 1973 oil crisis led to reduced passenger traffic, several airlines found they did not have enough passengers to fly the 747 economically, and they replaced them with the smaller and recently introduced McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar trijet wide bodies (and later

20711-540: Was US$ 24M (174.8M today). Responding to requests from Japanese airlines for a high-capacity aircraft to serve domestic routes between major cities, Boeing developed the 747SR as a short-range version of the 747-100 with lower fuel capacity and greater payload capability. With increased economy class seating, up to 498 passengers could be carried in early versions and up to 550 in later models. The 747SR had an economic design life objective of 52,000 flights during 20 years of operation, compared to 24,600 flights in 20 years for

20860-501: Was announced on October 30, 1972; rollout occurred on August 3, 1973, and the first flight took place on August 31, 1973. The type was certified by the FAA on September 26, 1973, with the first delivery on the same day. The -100SR entered service with JAL, the type's sole customer, on October 7, 1973, and typically operated flights within Japan. Seven -100SRs were built between 1973 and 1975, each with

21009-440: Was built near the crash site with the names of the victims. Flowers are laid at a grey poplar tree that survived the disaster, referred to as " the tree that saw it all " ( de boom die alles zag ). A public memorial is held annually to mark the disaster; no planes fly over the area for one hour out of respect for the victims. Mental health care was available after the crash to all affected residents and service personnel. After about

21158-616: Was delivered to Atlas Air in January 2023 after a 54-year production run, with 1,574 aircraft built. As of December 2023 , 64 Boeing 747s (4.1%) have been lost in accidents and incidents , in which a total of 3,746 people have died. In 1963, the United States Air Force started a series of study projects on a very large strategic transport aircraft. Although the C-141 Starlifter was being introduced, officials believed that

21307-498: Was insufficient to enable stable flight, so a safe landing would have been very difficult to achieve. The aircraft then banked sharply to the right with very little chance of recovery. The official probable causes were determined to be: The design and certification of the Boeing -747 pylon was found to be inadequate to provide the required level of safety. Furthermore the system to ensure structural integrity by inspection failed. This ultimately caused – probably initiated by fatigue in

21456-543: Was on board. She was an El Al employee based in Amsterdam, and was travelling to Tel Aviv to marry another El Al employee. Captain Fuchs was an experienced aviator, having flown as a fighter-bomber pilot in the Israeli air force in the late 1950s. He had over 25,000 flight hours, including 9,500 hours on the Boeing 747. First Officer Ohad had less experience than the other two crew members, having logged 4,288 flight hours, 612 of them on

21605-550: Was reported that Boeing planned to end 747 production in 2022 upon delivery of the remaining jets on order to UPS and the Volga-Dnepr Group due to low demand. On July 29, 2020, Boeing confirmed that the final 747 would be delivered in 2022 as a result of "current market dynamics and outlook" stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic , according to CEO David Calhoun. The last aircraft, a 747-8F for Atlas Air registered N863GT, rolled off

21754-457: Was scheduled to depart at 17:30, but was delayed until 18:20. It departed from runway 01L Zwanenburgbaan (now known as runway 36C) on a northerly heading at 18:22. Once airborne, the aircraft turned to the right. Soon after the turn, at 18:27, above the Gooimeer , a lake near Amsterdam, witnesses on the ground heard a sharp bang and saw falling debris, a trail of smoke, and a momentary flash of fire on

21903-409: Was so short that the 747's full-scale mock-up was built before the factory roof above it was finished. The plant is the largest building by volume ever built, and has been substantially expanded several times to permit construction of other models of Boeing wide-body commercial jets. Before the first 747 was fully assembled, testing began on many components and systems. One important test involved

22052-606: Was two-thirds of the normal time. The schedule was so fast-paced that the people who worked on it were given the nickname "The Incredibles". Developing the aircraft was such a technical and financial challenge that management was said to have "bet the company" when it started the project. Due to its massive size, Boeing subcontracted the assembly of subcomponents to other manufacturers, most notably Northrop and Grumman (later merged into Northrop Grumman in 1994) for fuselage parts and trailing edge flaps respectively, Fairchild for tailplane ailerons, and Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) for

22201-642: Was unable to attract enough interest to enter production. A year later, Boeing switched from the 747X studies to pursue the Sonic Cruiser , and after the Sonic Cruiser program was put on hold, the 787 Dreamliner . Some of the ideas developed for the 747X were used on the 747-400ER , a longer range variant of the 747-400. After several variants were proposed but later abandoned, some industry observers became skeptical of new aircraft proposals from Boeing. However, in early 2004, Boeing announced tentative plans for

#703296