Final resting place for commercial aircraft found in dusty California desert
- When commercial aircraft retire they can be sent to this airplane graveyard in the Mojave desert
- Mojave Airport and spaceport (MHV) in California, USA, has an accompanying airliner storage and reclamation yard
- The vast area and dry, low-humidity desert conditions make it the perfect spot
Published on May 29, 2024 at 7:00 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on May 31, 2024 at 7:25 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
When commercial aircraft are retired, they don’t go off to a giant aircraft hanger in the sky – many of them go to this airplane graveyard in the Mojave desert.
Mojave Airport and Spaceport (MHV) in California, USA, has an accompanying airliner storage and reclamation yard for commercial airliners.
While it might seem eerie, but the vast area, far from major cities and other airports, and dry, low-humidity desert conditions make it the perfect location.
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In the middle of the dusty landscape, you’ll find commercial aircraft like large Boeing, Airbus, McDonnell-Douglas, and Lockheed aircraft owned by major global airlines.
Aging and ailing aircraft are sent there when they reach the end of their useful lifetime.
Some that are beyond repair are scrapped at the Mojave aircraft boneyard.
Meanwhile, other airplanes can be revived and refurbished in hopes of resuming active service.
One example of this is the Qantas Airlines’ fleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 747s.
During the global lockdown during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, they were sent to the Mojave aircraft graveyard.
The last 747-438(ER), VH-OEJ, named ‘Wunala’, left Sydney Airport, Australia in July 2020.
Flight QF747’s was takeoff witnessed by hundreds of spectators and airplane spotters alike.
The 17-year-old aircraft embarked on the last leg of the final flight on July 24, 2020, departing LAX to Mojave Airport.
Check out this footage of a Boeing 747 sitting in the boneyard with no engines appearing to try to take off one last time.
The apparent getaway attempt was down to high winds of over 70 mph and gusts of up to 100mph in the low-pressure zone back in 2012.
With its landing flaps deployed and lack of engines, cockpit avionics, and other interior elements making the tail heavy, it appears to try to take to the skies one last time.
Mojave was also the site for the world’s largest aircraft ‘Roc’, which launched the first powered flight of a hypersonic vehicle at Mach 5.
While you can no longer tour in person, you can do a Mojave Air and Space Port Virtual Driving Tour.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
