Why An Undamaged United Boeing 747 Was Written Off 24 Years Ago 

I was one of the crew members on that flight and the seatbelt sign was ON when the turbulence hit. It wasn’t turned off until we turned around to head back to NRT.

Thanks. Quite informative but I think the title is a little misleading. I don't know if the airplane after suffering such a rapid drop would have required an inspection of the airframe in case of damage. If so at that age there would have been zero economic value in it. The plane was over 20 years and would have been fully depreciated and any residual value was in scrap.

It was written off because it had over 92,000 hours and they didn't want to fix the broken ceiling panels and clean up the food/beverage stains. I'd say they got their money's worth from that plane.

For more context - the air-frame would have suffered from the G-load applied to it by the event. United didn't want to do the required checks, so they instead moved up the scrappage. They non-fair flighted it back to Arizona directly, took the engines and scrappage happened about 3 years later.

I flew a lot from UK and Spain across the Atlantic to Venezuela during the '70s and early '80s...we were always told by the flight attendants to keep our seat belts fastened. Why? A good example was a day we were approaching the coast of Venezuela and the usual berks got up to start readying for disembarking. We were in a tight turn to line up when the plane hit an air pocket and we dropped dramatically. Gravity took a well earned break for a few seconds and some of the berks got a well earned break on their skulls. Never forgotten watching people go upwards!!

92520 hours! They got their money’s worth out of that airplane.

I've never crossed the Pacific without experiencing turbulence at the midway point. I guess there must be a hump, where the laces tie Asia to North America

Considering the inspection that would have been needed to clear the airframe after that drop and the number of hours and cycles on it, it makes sense to retire a plane that is 25 years old.

This 747 was not a spring chicken with 90k+ hours and 19k+ cycles. It’s has earned its keep.

Fun fact the 747 in the image at 0:31 is the same plane that would later become United 811, the aircraft that had the cargo door rip open.

1. During this time period and years before I traveled thousands of business air miles every year; some on United, some not. I remember years before this 1997 event being encouraged during pre-flight passenger safety instructions by flight attendants to always keep my seatbelt fastened when seated. This sounded like good advice back then. I believe it’s good advice today. And I do it. I don’t fly as much now, but I still keep my seat belt fastened when in my seat. 2. This is the first time I’ve heard about this event. It’s sad someone died because of it. Thanks for sharing this information.

Not this one, but I clearly remember the United Airlines flight 811 incident in which the front cargo door of the 747 blew off shortly after taking off from Honolulu en route to Auckland.

Fun fact, this is the second incident on flight 826, the first was the 1960 New York mid air collision with united 826 and TWA 266

I was over the pacific in a KC-10 on that day flying between Japan and California. I do remember that turbulence very well!!

I thought they were going to say someone took a dump in the lavatory so big that they couldn't get the smell out, so they had to write it off.😬

awesome aircraft!

Northwest Flight 19... The flight that helped Northwest Flight 85 to the ground in Anchorage

40 years ago I was on a Aircraft landing at O'Hare airport the aircraft in front of us hit air turbulence and dropped 300 feet many people were injured some very badly yet our flight was uneventful.When we had arrived at the terminal our Pilot advised us of what had happened his advice to us was always wear your seat belt.

I flew United Airlines two weeks ago and yes it's required to have your seat belts fasten even if the captain seat belts signs are off and I do keep it on during flight.

I suggest you a vidéo about ''Why American Airlines removed Boeing 747, from its fleet in 1994 ?

Don't remember hearing about this one and I have an almost eidetic memory. Great stuff. I worked for a major airline's holding company from 1989-1993, while in college. My field of study was aviation technology with the added optional professional pilot program. I got to fly free all over the place all the time as part of my travel benefits when space was available. It was a very heavily science weighted curriculum. We were required to take a couple semesters of meteorology in addition to chemistry and physics. I learned that "air pockets" was a bs term from the 70's used on the general public. What turbulence really was at those flight levels was CAT, Clear Air Turbulence. All that means is wind shear in the vertical realm. It's invisible, unpredictable, and often deadly. When I flew commercially as a passenger, I ALWAYS had my seatbelt cinched down tightly due to what I'd learned. Clear air turbulence can rip wings right off a passenger airplane. It happened to a Boeing 707 over Mt. Fuji. The only aircraft built to handle the wing loading induced by clear air turbulence or thunderstorms are military fighter jets.

Thanks to this and other aviation channels I now stay belted for the entire flight because of incidents like this. Nobody plans on getting T-boned while driving or being plastered against the ceiling of an airliner so wear your belts people.

You stated the airline decided to write the plane off, but no reason was given, despite the fact that it had sustained no damage and could have been sold for conversion. The plane being written off remains a mystery.

Its weird hearing how many people take off their seat belts when the sign goes off and then DON'T get up! I mean are those little jokes of lap belts really that uncomfortable to you???

I recall this day, vividly. I was scheduled to be aboard this flight - but last minute events kept me grounded. Flights on this route during this timeframe were usually full to capacity. Tragically, one person lost their life here. Fortunately, many passengers did remain in their seats, with seatbelts on - thus preventing far greater casualties. Aviation has learned a lot regarding clear air turbulence since this accident. Perhaps even more advanced technologies will completely prevent similar future events such as this altogether.

Wow that’s interesting

I watched an aircraft accident documentary that briefly featured this incident, you could see the cabin ceiling panels broken in certain areas and rubbish, food items and belongings deposited everywhere. I never knew the aircraft was written off though.

I love the classic queens ❤

This incident reminds me of the Philippine Airlines flight from Manila to New York back in June 25 of 2021. While we’re above Japan, the heavy turbulence occurred and later the plane stall at the feet of 100. But luckily, no one was injured because we’re wearing seatbelts.

Are you doing a video about Tap portugals shuttle service to madeira?

There are some monsters out over the pacific. Feels just like mountain wave but without the mountains. Scary stuff indeed.

What ? I never heard this incident before

Ok nice video but you never said WHY they made the decision to dispose of the jet earlier than planned.

Is all this information archived somewhere?

2:00 This is why you should wear your seatbelt at all times while seated, regardless if the seatbelt light is on or off.

Not a good title considering this video will be here years from now :D

Best to err on the side of caution especially with an older large airframe. Pinal is actually pronounced "pin ell" with the accent on the 2nd syllable.

Theories in question

Your 36,000 ft in the air doing 500 mph, keep the seatbelt on!

given the hours & cycles, probably cheaper to retire the plane than replace all the stained seats. & on my 800+ flights I always kept my seat belt fastened when seated.

Had the plane been modified at some point giving it more than the normal 3 per side upper deck pax windows? The pics don't match a stock -100.

What about the United flight where the door was ripped opened?

So why did they wrote it off before schedule

i read 24 HOURS ago , and was like wait whah

there are several incidents similar to this, where passengers are thrown to the ceiling during bad turbulence, all of which are why they tell you to stay belted. as for why they wrote it off, probably had something to do with insurance?

Your title said why was it written off and you didn't say why.

I remember it was big news.

No doubt writing the aircraft off was done to give future customers confidence in the airline

A 100 still was in service in 1997? An old Pan Am bird, no doubt, but at that age and hours, it was close to service withdrawal anyway.

Say it was damaged without saying it was damaged, huh!?

Aloha Airlines Flight 243

I fly a lot. Removing your seatbelt for any reason (except toilet, of course) is risky.

Hello Tpkyo Airport was Originally Haneda or HND, and in 1978 Narita or NRT opened, in 1997 the international airport was Narita. This flight originated in NRT. Your commentary stated later known as Narita.

Well, if the seatbelt sign is on, it wouldn't make sense for the cabin crew to be standing between the two aft passenger sections hissing like schoolgirls after dark, now would it? I found this to be curious LHR - SEA on a BA 747 March 2001. To add to the breach of safety, it was the worst cabin crew as far as actually doing anything for the passengers in the section I was in. Oh wait. They rolled their eyes and argued when they did something. I guess I lied. I flew BA for years. Thankfully, this was the exception, not the rule.

What's the big deal. It was a 25+ year old aircraft (very old for airlines). The -400 model came out 12 year before this event! It was going to be salvaged in less that year anyway.

This is a great video!!! And then again recently I've been reading about people grabbing multi-figures monthly as incomes in investments even in this crazy days in the stock market.

So they remove it because it was just old?

So it was scrapped because of the bad PR it would bring?

"Currently scrapped"??? Are you expecting that to change?

Pinal is pronounced pin-al for future reference!

well, last time, I was on my last plane { US Airways } since 2000' from Seattle, Washington to Lynchburg, VA .... NO MORE PLANES FOR MESELF TOTALLY ⚠️⚠️⚠️

I thought the plane in the images was a -200 as it has more than a few windows on the top deck. Only just found out that some later -100’s also had these

No idea if it was undamaged or not. It was never inspected, more cost effective to just scrap the very aged airframe. Very misleading title.

No, and yes, in that order.

Hello Simple Flying, I suggest a video about Boeing 777 : Why Air France is a biggest customer in Europe ?????

I don't take off my seat belt after getting on the freeway and reaching freeway speed.. why do passengers think it's a good idea to take off their seat belts doing 9 or 10 times highway speed. Your not in your living room.

Yet another "narrate a final report" with stock images. At least you've gone some way to produce graphics.

0:40 and 3:19 It's pronounced "seventy" not "sevendy". All your videos are like this!

What, could it be that United decided to write it off because they perhaps thought the aircraft was 'haunted'? Such a superstitious airline hahahaha......lol.