Boeing 747

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Image:Singapore.b747.london.750pix.jpg

The Boeing 747, commonly called the Jumbo Jet, is one of the most recognizable modern airliners and is the largest airliner currently in airline service. First flown commercially in 1970, it held the size record for more than 35 years, although it has been surpassed by the Airbus A380 (due to enter service in late 2006). The Soviet-built Antonov An-225, a transport, remains the world's largest aircraft in service, while the Spruce Goose had a larger wing-span.

The four-engine 747, produced by Boeing Commercial Aircraft, uses a two-deck configuration, where the small upper deck is usually used for business-class passengers[1]. A typical three-class layout accommodates 416 passengers while a two-class layout accommodates a maximum of 524 passengers. A single-class layout could seat up to 624 passengers according to the airplane description by Boeing. The hump created by the upper deck has made the 747 a highly recognizable icon of air travel.

The 747 flies at high-subsonic speeds (typically Template:Mach) and features intercontinental range ({{{1|1}}} mi (Template:Round} * 1.609344}}}} km) for the 747-400 version). In some configurations this is sufficient to fly non-stop from New York to Hong Kong — a third of the way around the globe. In 1989, a Qantas 747-400 flew non-stop from London to Sydney, a distance of {{{1|1}}} mi (Template:Round} * 1.609344}}}} km) in 20 hours and 9 minutes, although this was a delivery flight with no passengers or freight aboard.

By February 2006, a total of 1430 aircraft have been built or ordered in various 747 configurations, making it a very profitable product for Boeing [2]. Image:Virgin.b747-400.g-vbig.taxi.arp.jpg

Contents

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History

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Development

Image:Boeing 747 prototype.JPG The 747 was born from the explosion of air travel in the 1960s. The era of commercial jet transportation, led by the enormous popularity of the Boeing 707, had revolutionized long distance travel and made possible the concept of the "global village." Boeing had already developed a study for a very large airplane while bidding on a US military contract for a huge airlifter. Boeing lost the contract to Lockheed's C-5 Galaxy but came under pressure from its most loyal airline customer, Pan Am, to develop a giant passenger plane that would be over twice the size of the 707. In 1966 Boeing proposed a preliminary configuration for the airliner, to be called the 747. Pan Am ordered 25 of the initial 100 series. The original design was a full-length double-decker fuselage. Issues with evacuation routes caused this idea to be scrapped in favor of a wide-body design.

At the time, it was widely thought that the 747 would be replaced in the future with an SST (supersonic transport) design. In a shrewd move, Boeing designed the 747 so that it could easily be adapted to carry freight. Boeing knew that if and when sales of the passenger version dried up (see below regarding the future sales of the 747), the plane could remain in production as a cargo aircraft. The cockpit was moved to a shortened upper deck so that a nose cone loading door could be included, thus creating the 747's distinctive "bulge". The supersonic transports, including the Concorde and Boeing's never-produced 2707, never lived up to expectations, such planes being too expensive to operate profitably at a time when fuel prices were soaring, and also there were difficulties of operating such aircraft due to regulations regarding flying supersonic over land.

The 747 was expected to become obsolete after sales of 400 units. But the 747 outlived many of its critics and production passed the 1,000 mark in 1993. The expected slow-down in sales of the passenger version in favour of the freighter model has only been realized in the early 2000s, around 2 decades overdue.

The development of the 747 was a huge undertaking. Boeing did not have a facility large enough to assemble the giant aircraft, so the company built an all-new assembly building near Everett, Washington. The factory is the largest building by volume ever built.

Pratt and Whitney developed a massive high-bypass turbofan engine, the JT9D, which was initially used exclusively with the 747. To appease concerns about the safety and flyability of such a massive aircraft, the 747 was designed with four backup hydraulic systems, split control surfaces, multiple structural redundancy, and sophisticated flaps that allowed it to use standard-length runways.

The wing is swept back at the unusually high angle of 37 degrees. This high sweepback angle was chosen in order to minimize the wing span, thus allowing the 747 to use existing hangars.

During the flight certification period, Boeing built an unusual training device known as "Waddell's Wagon" (named after the 747 test pilot, Jack Waddell) which consisted of a mock-up cockpit mounted on the roof of a truck. It was intended to train pilots on how to taxi the aircraft from the high upper deck position.

Boeing had promised to deliver the 747 to Pan Am by 1970, meaning that it had less than four years to develop, build and test the airplane. Work progressed at such a breakneck pace that all those who worked on the development of the 747 were given the nickname "The Incredibles". The massive cost of developing the 747 and building the Everett factory meant that Boeing had gambled its very existence on the 747's success, and the company was nearly bankrupted in the early 1970s.

The gamble paid dividends, however, and Boeing enjoyed a monopoly in the very large passenger aircraft industry for years. In fact, the record and benchmark set by the 747 would only be surpased, more than 35 years after its first delivery, by the Airbus A380, built by Boeing's rival.

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In service

Image:Delta.b747.anet.arp.750pix.jpg Initially, many airlines regarded the 747 with skepticism. McDonnell Douglas (which now has been absorbed by Boeing) and Lockheed, were working on wide-body three-engine "tri-jets", which were significantly smaller than the proposed 747. Many airlines believed the 747 would prove too large for an average long distance flight, investing instead in tri-jets. There were also concerns that the 747 would not be compatible with existing airport infrastructure, similar concerns that the Airbus A380 currently faces, however compounded even more due to its double-decker feature.

Another issue raised by the airlines was fuel efficiency. A three-engine airliner burns significantly less fuel per flight than a four-engine, and with airlines trying to lower costs, fuel efficiency was an important issue that would briefly return to haunt Boeing in the 1970s.

Many of the airlines' fears came to bear in the 1970s. The Arab oil crisis and economic stagnation in the United States lowered the number of airline passengers and made it difficult for airlines to fill their new 747s. American Airlines replaced coach seats on its 747s with piano bars in an attempt to attract more customers: eventually, it relegated its 747s to cargo service and then sold them. Continental Airlines also removed its 747s from service after several years. The advent of smaller, more efficient widebodies, starting with the trijet DC-10 and L-1011 and followed by the twinjet 767 and A300, took away much of the 747's original market, especially as airline deregulation made point-to-point international service more common. Other airlines that have removed 747s from their fleet include Air Canada, Aer Lingus, SAS, TAP, and Olympic Airways.

However, many international airlines continued to use the 747 on their busiest routes. The type remained popular among Asian airlines for short and medium-range flights between major cities: in Japan, domestic airlines continue to pack 747s to their maximum passenger capacity. Elsewhere, 747s remain popular on long-range trunk routes, such as transoceanic flights and the Kangaroo routes between Europe and Oceania. The largest fleet of 747s today belongs to Japan Airlines, at approximately 78 (series -200s, -300s and 44 -400s). British Airways has the next largest fleet of 747s comprised of 56 747-400s.

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Future of the 747

Many different stretching schemes for the 747 have been proposed, but the only design to be adopted is 2005's 747-8.

The 747-X program was launched in 1996 as Boeing's response to the Airbus A3XX proposal. The 747-X would have consisted of the 747-500X and 747-600X, seating up to 800 passengers. General Electric and P&W formed the Engine Alliance and designed the GP7200 turbofan to power the stretched 747. Airlines, however, would have preferred Boeing to develop an all-new design instead of an updated 747, and the plan was dropped after a few months.

After the Airbus A380 was formally launched in 2000, Boeing reexamined its 747-X studies but instead devoted its energies to the Sonic Cruiser, and then later on the 787 after the Sonic Cruiser program was put on hold for an undefined period. Some of the ideas developed for the 747-X were, however, used in the production of the 747-400ER.

In early 2004, Boeing rolled out tentative plans for what it called the 747 Advanced. Similar in nature to the 747-X plans, the stretched 747 Advanced uses advanced technology from the 787 to modernize the design and its systems. On November 14 2005, Boeing announced it was launching the 747 Advanced as the 747-8. [3]

Eventually, the 747 (in all forms) will be replaced by a clean-sheet aircraft dubbed "Y3".

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Variants

The 747 exists as several models:

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747-100

Image:Pan Am 747 LAX.jpg

The first model of the jet, the 747-100, rolled out of the new Everett facility on 2 September 1968. The prototype, named "City of Everett", first flew on February 9 1969, and on January 1 1970 the 747-100 entered service with launch customer Pan American World Airways. It was later replaced by the 747-100B, a very similar aircraft with a stronger airframe and undercarriage design. The basic 100 has a range of about {{{1|1}}} mi (Template:Round} * 1.609344}}}} km) with full load. The US military designation for 747-100 is C-19.

The very first 747-100s off the line were built with three upper-deck windows to accommodate upstairs lounge areas. A little later, as airlines began to use the upper-deck for premium passenger seating instead of lounge space, Boeing offered a ten window upper deck as an option, and it quickly became the standard. Some 100s were even retrofitted with the new configuration.

Some 747-100 aircraft were converted into freighters and designated 747-100SF.

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747SR

Boeing developed the 747SR as a 'Short Range' variant of the -100. The SR has a lower fuel capacity, but can carry more passengers--up to 498 passengers in early versions and more than 550 passengers in later models. The 747SR has a modified body structure to accommodate a greater number of take-offs and landings. Later on, short range versions were developed also of the -100B and the -300. The SR aircraft are primarily used on domestic flights in Japan.

Two 747-100B/SRs were delivered to Japan Airlines (JAL) with a stretched upper deck to accommodate more passengers. This is known as the "SUD" (stretched upper deck) modification.

All Nippon Airlines (ANA) operated 747SR on domestic Japanese routes with 455-456 seats but retired the aircraft on 10 March 2006. JAL operates its 747-100B/SR/SUD aircraft with 563 seats on domestic routes and plans for retirement in the third quarter of 2006. JAL and JALways have also been operating the -300SRs on leisure routes domestically as well as to other parts of Asia and Australia.

One ex-JAL 747SR-46, registered N911NA, is currently being operated by NASA as a Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. (It joined an ex-American Airlines 747-123 in 1988 due to a recommendation from the Challenger inquiry board to have two SCAs, and the aircraft first carried a shuttle in 1991.)

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747-200

Introduced in 1971, and further improved over successive years, the 747-200 had more powerful engines and higher takeoff weights than the -100, allowing it to fly further. A few early build -200s retained the three window configuration of the -100, but most were built with a ten window configuration. As on the -100, a stretched upper deck modification was offered much later. KLM remains the only airline to retrofit their -200s with the SUD option. The last models of the 200, the 200B, built in the late 1980s, have a full load range of about {{{1|1}}} mi (Template:Round} * 1.609344}}}} km). The US military designation for 747-200B is C-25. The USAF only operates two C-25, in VIP configuration (VC-25A). These two aircraft, tail numbers 28000 and 29000 are better known as Air Force One when the President of the United States is onboard.

The 747-200C Convertible and 747-200F Freighter variants were designed to carry air freight. The 747-200F is a pure freighter, while the 747-200C is a "convertible" aircraft that can carry either passengers or freight. A sub-variant is unofficially called the 747-200M and is a "combi" aircraft that can carry both at the same time. Like the 100, many 200s have been given a new lease on life as freight aircraft.

The 747-200B is an improved version of the 747-200, with increased fuel capacity and more powerful engines. It comes in a combi version as well.

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747SP

Image:SOFIA.jpg

The 747SP, or "Special Performance," was first delivered in 1976. The SP was largely a stop-gap model to compete with the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011. The 747 was simply too big for many routes, and Boeing did not have a mid-sized widebody to compete in the segment of the market that the DC-10 and L-1011 had created. Crippled by the huge costs it had incurred in developing both the 737 and 747 in the late 1960s, Boeing could not afford to develop an all-new design, so instead it shortened the 747 and re-optimized it for speed and range at the expense of capacity.

Apart from having a shorter fuselage, the 747SP differs from other 747 variants in having a larger tail surface and larger single-piece flaps on the trailing edges (other 747s use triple flaps). The SP could typically only accommodate 220 passengers in a 3-class cabin, but could fly over {{{1|1}}} mi (Template:Round} * 1.609344}}}} km) at speeds of up to Template:Mph. Some airline insiders call it the "74 Short" or "Baby Jumbo" because of its shortened fuselage, and stubby appearance. Originally designated 747SB (standing for Short Body), by Boeing, the airlines had Boeing change the production designation to 747SP.

The 747SP was the longest-range airliner available until the 747-400 entered service in 1988. It found its way into the fleets of American Airlines, Qantas, and Pan Am, airlines that needed its range for trans-South Pacific routes (American later used its 747SPs for services to Tokyo). Pan Am also used their 747SPs on their trans-pacific flights to and from Hong Kong. Prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran Air used the type on their daily Tehran-New York flight, at the time the longest non-stop airline route in the world. The 747SP was also used South African Airways on flights from Johannesburg to London, during the Apartheid years, when that airline's aircraft were not allowed to fly over African countries and had to fly around the Bulge of Africa. The extra range allowed aircraft to cover the additional distance. With seven of these jets, SAA had the largest fleet of 747SP's in the world at the time.

For all its technical achievements, the SP never sold as well as Boeing hoped. Only 45 were ever built and most that are still in service are used by operators in the Middle East.

One special 747SP is the SOFIA astronomical observatory, where the airframe was modified to carry a 2.5-meter-diameter infrared reflecting telescope to high-altitude, the limit to which infrared penetrates the atmosphere. Originally delivered to Pan Am and titled "Clipper Lindbergh", NASA has displayed the name in Pan Am script on the plane. It will fly again in late 2005.

The 747SP was originally intended to be known as the 747SB (the SB logically standing for "Short Body", before it was nicknamed "Sutter's Balloon" by Boeing employees, being named after 747 chief engineer Joe Sutter). Eventually the name "Special Performance" was used instead.

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747-300

Image:Pia.b747.arp.750pix.jpg The first incarnation of the 747-300 would have been a trijet version of the 747SP, intended to compete with the DC-10 and L-1011 TriStar. This plan was scrapped due to insufficient demand.

The 747-300 name was revived for a new aircraft, which was introduced in 1980, and was the first 747 model to feature a "stretched upper deck," which increased its capacity over earlier models. Combi (747-300M) and short range (747-300SR) models (mainly for Japanese domestic routes) were also built. The upper deck was now accessed via a straight staircase, rather than the spiral steps that featured in the 100 and 200. The maximum range of a 747-300 is {{{1|1}}} mi (Template:Round} * 1.609344}}}} km).

Airlines currently operating a large number of this type are JAL/JALways, Air India, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Qantas, and Thai Airways.

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747-400

Image:Britaw.b747-400.g-bnlo.arp.jpgTemplate:Main The 747-400 is the latest completed model of the 747, and also the only series currently in production. It added Template:Feet wing tip extensions and Template:Feet winglets, an all-new glass cockpit which dispensed with the need for a flight engineer, tail fuel tanks, revised engines, an all-new interior, and newer in-flight entertainment to the basic design of the -300 series. The passenger version first entered service in February 1989 with Northwest Airlines. The combi version entered service in September 1989 with KLM. The freighter version entered service in November 1993 with Cargolux. China Airlines was the first airline to take the new "Signature Interior" with the China Airlines/Boeing livery 747-400, the aircraft entering service in 2005.

The 747-400 is about 25 percent more fuel efficient than the 747-100, and twice as quiet. It is available in all passenger, combi (747-400M) and freighter (747-400F) variants. A new sub-variant, the 747-400BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter) entered service on 19th December 2005 with Cathay Pacific Cargo, operating its first flight from Hong Kong International Airport to Penang's Bayan Lepas International Airport on 21st December 2005. These are ex passenger variants of the -400 converted into freighter form by Boeing. Until the Airbus A380 officially enters service, the Japanese domestic variant, the 747-400D, is potentially the highest-capacity passenger aircraft in the world: ANA used to operate a few of its 747-400Ds in an all-economy 594-seat configuration. However, since the two Japanese operators JAL and ANA have fitted the aircraft with bigger business class areas, the highest number of seats at the moment on a passenger airplane is 587 on 747-400 aircraft operated by the French airline Corsairfly. The -400D lacks the wing tip extensions and winglets included on other variants, allowing for increased number of takeoffs and landings by lowering wing stresses. The weight saved from the lack of winglets also means lower fuel burn, which suits the short-haul Japanese domestic market where the aerodynamic advantages of winglets do not come into effect. The -400D can be converted to the normal longer range -400 version when needed.

The US military designation for 747-400 is C-33, intended to augment the C-17 fleet, but the plan was cancelled in favor of purchasing additional C-17 military transports.

The 747-400ER is 400's extended range version: it also comes in an all-freight version, the 747-400ERF.

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747 Large Cargo Freighter

Image:Boeing 747-400LCF 2.jpg Boeing announced in October 2003 that due to the high cost of marine shipping, air transport will be the primary method of transporting parts for the 787. Passenger 747-400 aircraft are to be converted into an outsize configuration, in order to ferry sub-assemblies to Everett, Washington for final assembly. It has a bulging fuselage like the Super Guppy or Airbus Beluga cargo planes used for transporting wings and fuselage sections. The conversion, designed by Boeing´s Moscow office, is to be carried out in Taiwan by a subsidiary of the Evergreen Group. Boeing has purchased two former China Airlines aircraft which are currently being modified and a third aircraft, yet to be acquired, will be added later.

Delivery times for the wings — built in Japan — will be reduced from around 30 days to one day with the 747 LCF. The Large Cargo Freighter can hold three times the volume of a 747-400F freighter. (See: Boeing news releases [4], [5], [6]). Evergreen International Airlines, which is unrelated to the Evergreen Group, will be the operator of the LCF fleet. [7]

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747-8

Template:Main Image:Boeing 747-8I Large.jpg Boeing announced a new 747 model, the 747-8 (referred to as the 747 Advanced prior to launch) on November 14 2005, which will use same engine and cockpit technology as the 787 (It was decided to call it the 747-8 because of the technology it will share with the 787 Dreamliner). Boeing claims that the new design will be quieter, more economical and more environmentally friendly. The passenger version (dubbed 747-8 Intercontinental) will be capable of carrying up to 450 passengers in a 3-class configuration and fly over Template:Nautical mile at Template:Mach. As a derivative of the already common 747-400, the 747-8 has the economic benefit of similar training and interchangeable parts.

According to Bloomberg, Boeing is staking its position as the dominant maker of the biggest passenger planes on selling Pakistan International Airlines Corp. and other Asian carriers the first of a longer, more fuel-efficient version of its 747-8 model.

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Government and military

The current U.S. presidential aircraft, VC-25A, is among the most famous 747 models. It is popularly known as Air Force One, although that name technically refers to any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President. VC-25A is based on the civilian 747-200, though it contains many of the innovations introduced on the 747-400 (such as an updated flight deck and engines.) Other special 747s include the E-4B National Emergency Airborne Command Post (referred to colloquially as "Kneecap"), modified 747s to transport the Space Shuttle (Shuttle Carrier Aircraft), and aerial refueling tankers. A recent addition to the military's 747 arsenal is the experimental Airborne Laser, a component of the National Missile Defense plan. T/Space is also planning to use a 747 for its CXV space capsule proposal.

A number of other governments also use the 747 as a VIP transport, including Bahrain, Iran, Japan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, and Brunei.

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Powerplants

(For the last versions of each series offered)

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Technical data

Measurement 747-100 (initial version) 747-400ER (current version) 747-8 Intercontinental[8]
Length 70.7 m 70.7 m 74.2 m
Span 59.6 m 64.4 m 68.5 m
Height 19.3 m 19.4 m 19.4 m
Wing area 511 m² 541 m²  ?
Weight empty 162.4 t 180.8 t  ?
Maximum take-off weight 340.2 t 412.8 t 435.4 t
Cruising speed Template:Mach Template:Mach Template:Mach
Maximum speed Template:Mach Template:Mach Template:Mach
Range fully loaded   9,040 km 14,200 km 14,815 km
Max. fuel capacity   183,380 litres 241,140 litres 227,600 litres
Max. fuel/Range, fully loaded   20.3 litres/km 17.0 litres/km 15.4 litres/km
Cargo capacity   170.6 CBM (5 pallets + 14 LD1s) 158.6 CBM (4 pallets + 14 LD1s) 275.6 CBM (8 pallets + 16 LD1s)
Engines (example) 4 × Pratt & Whitney JT9D, 209 kN thrust each 4 × General Electric CF6-80, 274 kN thrust each 4 × General Electric GEnx-2B67, 296 kN thrust each
Cockpit Crew Three Two Two
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Facts & trivia

Image:Giant Plane Comparison.png

  • A 747-400 has six million parts (half of which are fasteners) made in 33 different countries.
  • Just one engine on a 747 produces more thrust than all four engines on an early model Boeing 707 combined.
  • When pressurized, a 747 fuselage holds over a ton of air.
  • Early model 747s have more than 700lbs (300 kg) of depleted uranium molded into the engine nacelles. Its purpose is as ballast to prevent the wing from fluttering.
  • At the time of its launch, the term "jumbo jet" had already been coined by the media to describe a general class of new wide-bodied airliners then being developed, including the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and Douglas DC-10. Boeing was quite keen to discourage the media and the public using the term "jumbo jet" for the 747, but their efforts were in vain, and now the term is synonymous with the 747.
  • Due to its immense length, there is a very small flexure of the fuselage in flight. This effect was not anticipated in the design of the autopilot on early models, and so there is a very slow oscillation in yaw when flying on autopilot. This was first discovered on an overseas flight to the Paris Airshow, when some of the people in the rear got air sick. Upon return, the plane went through a shake test for two weeks to sort out the problem and adjust the yaw damper system. This solved the problem and the effect is now too small to be noticeable by passengers.
  • To enable easy transportation of spare engines between sites by airlines, early 747s include the ability to attach a non functioning fifth-pod engine under the port wing of the aircraft, between the nearest functioning engine and the fuselage. Photographs of planes flying in this configuration are highly prized by aircraft enthusiasts. [9] [10][11]
  • There are other aircraft with prominent humps on the upper fuselage including the Carvair, which was built from 1961 to 1969. Its most notable appearance is in the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger.
  • In the 1970s 747 pilots nicknamed the Jumbo Jet, "The Queen of the Skies" because of its huge size and capacity.
  • Although the upper deck might seem small compared to the size of the whole aircraft, it can seat a significant number of people: JAL has 86 seats on the upper deck of its B747-400D aircraft.
  • The 747 is certified to fly on 3 of its 4 engines. A 747 can successfully take-off even if an engine fails after rotation, and in many cases the flight will continue to its destination.
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Preserved aircraft

As increasing numbers of 'classic' 747-100 and 747-200 series are retired, some are finding their way into aircraft museums. They include:

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Disasters

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Specific accidents

The 747 has been involved in a number of air disasters. However, very few have been due to design flaws in the aircraft itself: as with most air accidents, most have been because of human error, improper maintenance, or in a few cases, terrorist or military action.

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Accident summary

See Aviation Safety Network for authoritative figures.

  • Hull-loss Accidents: 33 with a total of 2850 fatalities
  • Other hull-loss occurrences: 6 with a total of 857 fatalities
  • Hijackings: 30 with a total of 22 fatalities
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External links

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Related content

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