Airline Secrets Exposed

16/04/2026

1971 BOAC launched its first Boeing 747 service to Australia, flying a route that initially included stops in Frankfurt, Beirut, Teheran, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Darwin before reaching Sydney and Melbourne. Services were then added to Perth on the Australian west coast via Singapore

15/04/2026

LAN Airlines KidZania - Parque Araucano, Santiago. First flight on February 7 1967, delivered to Eastern Air Lines on April 18 1967, then this aircraft flew for Midway Airlines and Northwest Airlines.

The fuselage arrived to Santiago with Northwest colors and was painted as LAN Airlines, one of the sponsors of the theme park.

Douglas DC-9-31
Reg.: N8923E
MSN: 45838
Line No.: 104

15/04/2026

Whittier, California (April 10, 2026), a large chunk of what appeared to be dirty ice crashed through the roof of a dwelling . The home is under the Los Angeles International Airport landing approach. Flightradar24 shows there were planes flying over the house around the time of the incident, and there is a plane over the house approximately every 3 minutes.

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/mysterious-ice-chunk-crashes-through-whittier-adu-roof/3874603/

15/04/2026

Photo date March 2011 Boeing 747 - MSN 38636
Serial number 38636 LN:1434
Type 747-8JKBBJ
First flight date 20/03/2011
Test registration N6067E

Aircraft became 9K-GAA with State of Kuwait in 2012 and was stored 10 years later (2022)

15/04/2026

Oh man, every epic long haul has that one rogue element in the mix. It's gone 5AM in your home timezone, you're midway through a 15-hour airborne marathon, the lights are dimmed to "zombie apocalypse" levels, and the whole plane's finally conked out like a bunch of exhausted toddlers.

Then—WHAM!—some joker yanks up their window shade like they're auditioning for a sunrise infomercial.

The rest of us are fully committed to Vampire Mode, but Window Seat Warrior over there apparently hit the snooze button and decided to declare war on retinas everywhere.

Sure, by the unwritten laws of aviation, the shade's their domain. But cracking it open on a red-eye? That's straight-up breaching the Geneva Convention of Air Travel Etiquette.Now you're stuck in the ultimate passenger pickle:

Pipe up and risk being labeled the Cabin Karen? Suck it up and pretend you're suddenly into impromptu light therapy?

Or stealth-mode it, lean in like a ninja, and "accidentally" slap that thing shut while fake-yawning?I mean, invading someone's shade space screams "federal offense," but so does turning the aisle into a impromptu tanning salon.

Ah, the joys of flying: where passive-aggression reigns supreme, and everyone's got a secret hot take bubbling under the surface.

15/04/2026

Deadliest air crash ever - Tenerife airport disaster when 2 Boeing 747s collided into a fireball on 27 March 1977 due to pilot (arrogance) and ATC error in poor visibility. Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. The impact and the resulting fire killed all 248 people on board the KLM plane and 335 of the 396 people on board the Pan Am plane, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the latter aircraft. With a total of 583 fatalities, the disaster is the deadliest accident in aviation history.

The two aircraft had landed at Los Rodeos earlier that Sunday and were among a number of aircraft diverted to Los Rodeos due to a bomb explosion at their intended destination of Gran Canaria Airport. Los Rodeos had become congested with parked planes blocking the only taxiway, forcing departing aircraft to taxi on the runway. Patches of thick fog were drifting across the airfield, so visibility was greatly reduced for pilots and the control tower

An investigation by Spanish authorities concluded that the primary cause of the accident was the KLM captain's decision to take off in the mistaken belief that a takeoff clearance from air traffic control (ATC) had been issued.

Dutch investigators placed a greater emphasis on a mutual misunderstanding in radio communications between the KLM crew and ATC, but ultimately KLM admitted that its crew was responsible for the accident and the airline agreed to financially compensate the relatives of all of the victims

N736PA was the tail number for the Pan Am Boeing 747 known as Clipper Victor . It was the first Boeing 747 to operate a scheduled commercial service in January 1970 and was also the first 747 to be hijacked in August 1970.

PH-BUF was the aircraft registration for the KLM Boeing 747-206B named Rijn (the Rhine)

READ MORE https://aviation-safety.net/asndb/329179

14/04/2026

China Airlines (Taiwan Airline) had an Airbus A350 damaged at Melbourne Australia today (14/04-2026). The aircraft was to operate flight CI58 China Airlines Melbourne- Taipei.

Whilst still connected to the airbridge the A350 moved backwards and significant damage was caused to the left forward passenger door L1 and also the bridge.

Airbus A350 - MSN 57 B-18902
Serial number 57
Type 350-941
First flight date 27/10/2016
Test registration F-WZFF
Plane age 9.5 years
Seat configuration C32 W31 Y243 Seat
Hex code 89900F
Engines 2 x RR Trent XWB-84

14/04/2026

How a flight attendant survived a fall without a parachute of 10,160 m (33,330 ft). The McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 broke into three pieces and spun out of control, crashing in Czechoslovakia after a bomb exploded.

Vesna Vulović is the sole survivor of JAT Flight 367 after an explosion tore through the baggage compartment on 26 January 1972. Air safety investigators attributed the explosion to a briefcase bomb. The Yugoslav authorities suspected that émigré Croatian nationalists were to blame, but no one was ever arrested.

Following the bombing, Vulović spent days in a coma and was hospitalized for several months. She suffered a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae, broken legs, broken ribs, and a fractured pelvis. These injuries resulted in her being temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Vulović made an almost complete recovery but continued to walk with a limp.

She had little to no memory of the incident and had no fear of flying in the aftermath of the crash. Despite her willingness to resume work as a flight attendant, Jat Airways (JAT) gave her a desk job negotiating freight contracts, feeling her presence on flights would attract too much publicity. Vulović became a celebrity in Yugoslavia and was deemed a national heroine.

Jat Airways was the national flag carrier and largest airline of Yugoslavia and later Serbia and Montenegro and finally Serbia. Founded in 1927 as Aeroput, the airline ceased operations during World War II. (became Air Serbia)

14/04/2026

Talks now about a merger between American and United Airlines which would create the world's largest ever airline with nearly 2000 aircraft.

Reuters news (extract) quote "A combination of two of the largest ‌U.S. network carriers would mark one of the most consequential consolidation moves since the last wave of airline mergers ended more than a decade ago, further tightening the domestic market already dominated by four players of roughly equal ​size.

It would potentially also redraw competition at key hubs such as Chicago and Dallas at ​a time when rising fuel costs are widening the gap between stronger and ⁠weaker airlines.

United and American declined to comment on the potential combination, which was first reported by Bloomberg.

The U.S. airline industry is already highly ​concentrated, with American, Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new tab, United and Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), opens new tab controlling the bulk of domestic traffic, each with a ‌share of ⁠roughly 17%, according to Department of Transportation data.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said this month that he thought there was room for consolidation in the U.S. airline industry, but said any potential deal would face close scrutiny on how it would affect consumers.

American has been under pressure to improve profitability and close ​the gap with Delta ​and United, after unions ⁠earlier this year criticized management over lagging returns. The airline has pointed to strong premium demand and corporate travel to drive a recovery in 2026.

American is ​by far the smallest of the big four U.S. airlines by value, ​with a market ⁠capitalization of $7 billion, compared with $31 billion for United, $19 billion for Southwest and $44 billion for Delta.
United, by contrast, has struck a more confident tone as high fuel prices test the industry, with Kirby recently saying ⁠a prolonged ​cost shock could create opportunities for stronger airlines to gain share ​as weaker rivals struggle.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby has floated a possible combination with American Airlines Group Inc., according to people familiar with the conversations, an audacious proposition that would face intense scrutiny even under the business-friendly Trump administration...

13/04/2026

We received another video of a passenger video on the anuathorised low fly by on an Iceland island by a retiring captain https://www.facebook.com/AIRLINESECRETS/posts/pfbid02kNe4o9CAQ7fPHX5p8PyYF3Y9rpY3LsBNyReLujrxwzX5AnASWdcsybEsRbqBtNAPl

13/04/2026

Special Livery "Spirit of Hong Kong" between January 2000 and December 2003.

Boeing 747 - MSN 24955 B-HOX
Serial number 24955 LN:877
Type 747-467
First flight date 11/09/1991
Test registration N6018N
Seat configuration F12 C47 Y324 Seat
Engines 4 x RR RB211-524G/H-T
Status Scrapped

13/04/2026

How to parachute from Concorde - all four Concorde prototypes and pre-production aircraft (001, 002, 101, and 102) were equipped with a downward-opening emergency escape hatch located in the floor behind the cockpit. This system, which included explosive bolts and a wind deflector, was designed for flight test crews to evacuate in emergencies but was never used in flight.

The hatches allowed test pilots to jump from the aircraft at lower speeds/altitudes. They were not intended for, and likely unusable in, supersonic cruise situations (e.g., 60,000ft, Mach 2), where crew would be exposed to extreme environments.

These prototypes and pre-production aircraft were fitted with the downward facing escape hatches held closed with explosive bolts. Should a hatch be 'blown' at 60,000ft, air would have been sucked out and the cabin would have 'climbed' to 100,000ft. On later test flights the crews abandoned such survival clothing. Once during pre-flight checks an escape hatch was inadvertantly blown, luckily no one was hurt.