Time to say goodbye to United's 747's

The time to say goodbye to scheduled operations for United Airlines Boeing 747's is rapidly approaching. The airline is retiring the big old jumbo from its fleet and to mark the occasion its announced a special retirement schedule for 7th November.

This special journey will serve as an ultimate recreation for customers, employees and invited guests as it recreates the first 747 flight operated by United in 1970.  It will be a real step back into the golden days of aviation, there will be a 70's inspired menu, retro uniforms for flight attendants and special in-flight entertainment befitting of that first 747 flight. Those lucky passengers will help send the Queen of the Skies off in true style and in a rather fitting and moving tribute, this final flight will be named "Friend Ship" which was the original name of that first United 747 flight on the San Francisco to Honolulu route. 

Tickets for this special one-way trip, United flight 747, are available for purchase now via United's website and in a special twist, seats on the upper deck will not be for sale in order all guests the chance to spend time in this iconic space.

Read more on the special flight and a timeline of the 747 with United

The long slow goodbye's for Delta's jumbos

Delta customers and employees began saying their goodbyes to the airline's iconic Boeing 747 fleet in a rather long and slow sedate manner. The aircraft operated its final Tokyo-Narita to Honolulu flight. It then made a rare appearance on two domestic flight legs earlier this month.

After arriving in Honolulu from Tokyo-Narita for the last time, the aircraft was routed through Los Angeles on its way back to Detroit. The flights from Honolulu to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Detroit were expected to be the final domestic 747 flights by any U.S. airline before two 747s were sent from Detroit to Orlando last week to help assist with Hurricane Irma evacuation efforts.

Employees in Honolulu paid tribute to the aircraft, which regularly operated the Honolulu-Narita route, with traditional Hawaiian customs by fashioning a maile lei big enough to fit over the top of the aircraft as a sign of respect. The team also held a gate celebration, and several employees held back tears as the group sang Aloha Oe and watched the aircraft depart Honolulu for the last time.

Second Hand 747's For US President

It has been revealed that the US Air Force is about to buy two second-hand Boeing 747s and convert these into the next Air Force One!

These two aircraft were originally ordered for Russian airline Transaero  back in 2013, however the troubled carrier went bankrupt in 2015.  The aircraft were effectively mothballed until now,  a source close to the deal say it looks set for completion by the end of August. Speaking anonymously to news agency AFP, the source - allegedly from inside the White House, said Boeing was set to sell the pair of 747-8 jetliners to the Air Force. "They’re still working toward a deal to provide two 747-8s to the Air Force.  This deal is focused on providing a great value for the Air Force and the best price for the taxpayer.”

ACT 747 Crashes in Kyrgyzstan Killing 37

A Turkish cargo plane flying from Hong Kong has crashed in Kyrgyzstan, killing at least 37 people, most of them on the ground, officials say.

The Boeing 747 TC-MCL aircraft operated by ACT Airlines crashed as it landed in fog at Manas airport, 25km (15 miles) north of the capital, Bishkek.

At least 15 buildings were destroyed in a village outside the airport, with a number of children among the dead.

Emmergency Landing for Virgin 747 at London Gatwick

Drama over the skies of the south east of England today as a stricken Virgin Atlantic 747 had to repeated circle to burn fuel before returning to London's Gatwick Airport after discovering a problem with part of its main landing gear.

The Virgin flight VS43 with 447 passengers and 15 crew had just departed Gatwick at the start of is flight to Las Vegas when it had to return to the airport, causing major disruption and the closure of Gatwick's only runway. The Virgin aircraft touched down at around 1600 but Gatwick's runway only reopened at 19:03.

Gatwick Airport said in a statement: "The airport is now facilitating inbound and outbound flights but it will take some time for normal service to resume. We advise passengers to check with their airlines on the status of their flight. Updates will also be posted on the Gatwick website and on Twitter."

The statement also explained that the airport was working with its airline partners to provide food, drink and welfare facilities to those affected by the delays and cancellations and volunteers were helping provide advice. Dozens of arriving flights had been diverted to other London and south east airports.

The Virgin 747 is 13-year-old aircraft and had departed Gatwick 11:30 GMT on Monday 29th, when a problem with the main landing gear and hydraulics became apparent. The pilot then had to burn and jettison fuel to in order to be light enough to land. During the incident Virgin announced the plane would be carrying out a "non-standard landing procedure" at Gatwick airport.

Passenger Nick Hughes, on board the jet, said the crew made several attempts to try to free the landing gear.  "They put the thrust on quite heavily and then dipped down, I think, to try and loosen the gears but obviously nothing kind of worked. They gave it every opportunity before they tried the emergency landing. All credit due to the crew and the staff and of course the pilots because the landing was probably one of the softest landings I've ever had."

Eyewitnesses on the ground reported the jet flying at relatively low altitude with the pilot appearing to be trying to "shake" the landing gear down.

Another passenger, Hardeek Desai, said: "The staff were trying to keep everyone calm but a few passengers were a bit panicky. One of the crew came out to the seating area to reassure everyone everything was going to be OK. The staff were giving out thing like drinks and water to everyone to make sure everyone's OK. Generally, the mood was pretty good at this point until we hit the brace position."

Describing the mood on the plane as it was circling, passenger Dan Crane, 24, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, said it was "anxious, a lot were worried, some crying. The mood was quiet, just waiting for the captain's next announcement."  Mr Crane, who is with family and friends, said the crew kept everyone informed, adding: "They said it was an emergency landing and we had to brace on impact."

Another passenger, Mike Kaufman, said: "This was one of the greatest emergency landings in history. It was very smooth." He praised the pilots and the cabin crew, saying the landing had been "textbook".

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Craig Kreeger said: "I am very pleased to confirm that all customers and crew have now disembarked the VS43 flight to Las Vegas, which returned to Gatwick airport this afternoon following a problem with one of the landing gear.  I understand that this will have been a very upsetting situation for the customers involved, and for their friends and family, and will have significantly disrupted people's holiday plans.

"We will make sure they are well looked after this evening, and will be operating a special flight tomorrow for everyone who would like to continue their journey."

Virgin Atlantic president Sir Richard Branson tweeted: "Well done @VirginAtlantic pilots & team for safe & skilful landing of #VS43. Thoughts with passengers & crew, thanks for support & patience."

An investigation is underway.

Emergency Landing in Tel Aviv for Delta 747

A Delta Air Lines 747 flight from Israel's Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport heading for New York had to turn back and make a emergency early this morning. The sudden return to Ben Gurion was caused when flaps on the 747's wings failed to retract properly on take-off.

Delta have confirmed  that the  Boeing 747 (N668US), Flight 469, which had 370 passengers and 17 crew members aboard landed safely back in Israel around 2.30am local time Sunday Morning. Two hours after it had departed bound for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Delta spokesperson, Jennifer Martin, claimed the flight crew made the emergency landing 'out of an abundance of caution.'

There is no evidence the issue with the Delta 747's flaps had anything to do with the continuing unrest between Israel and the Palestinians. However, Delta has issued a travel advisory regarding the 'Israel Unrest' advising the airline would continue to operate its New York-Tel Aviv service, but  would allow passengers to cancel or rebook their plans whilst the conflict goes on, which could be some time.

The 747 restarted its flight to New York at 12.30 local today.