Airport employee spotted giving old plane bound for scrapyard one last flight
- An airport employee at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, US was spotted having fun in an airplane scrapyard
- He was spotted giving a retired plane one last chance to fly
- The video certainly captured the internet’s attention
Published on Apr 25, 2024 at 1:52 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on May 09, 2024 at 6:39 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
Think of a plane scrapyard and you probably didn’t expect to see this.
Amid the sad end-of-life aircraft destined to either be dismantled for parts, crushed, or simply sit there indefinitely gathering dust – this happy little video is pretty surprising.
An airport employee at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, US, used the jaw-like grapple of a Cat excavator to grab the mid-section of a plane.
READ MORE! Air India’s last Boeing 747 bows out in style with impressive maneuver
It looks like the plane in question could be a Learjet, although it’s difficult to tell from that distance.
The worker holds the plane steady, lifts it off the ground, and then spins the cab – making the plane seem as if it’s taking one final flight.
And the resulting footage is like an emotional scene from a Pixar movie.
The original Instagram post by @vice.aviator amassed over 500K posts – and even more when re-shared elsewhere.
“That’s how they teach planes to fly,” said one commenter.
“The airplane whispered to him… ‘Can I fly… just one more time,'” said a second.
“Playing with their new toy on Christmas,” said a third.
It might remind you of this $34 billion aircraft boneyard, which left the internet wondering why its spare parts couldn’t be reused.
The retired aircraft are sitting in a lot at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, US.
It’s officially called the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group.
The area is used by the US Air Force to house planes that are no longer in active commission.
It holds the world record for being the World’s Largest Military Aircraft Boneyard, according to the World Record Academy.
Like this million-dollar car graveyard in a German forest – it’s not there for nothing.
As the ‘Regeneration’ part of the name suggests – the planes don’t simply sit there gathering dust -as planes that come to the base aren’t broken, for the most part – they’re just retired.
They’re maintained in working order so that they can be used when needed.
Many of these planes are partially and gradually stripped for parts as needed.
Then, once parts come off a plane, they’re carefully refurbished to a like-new standard.
And this isn’t the only way to get the most out of a retired plane, this old Boeing 747 was bought for $1.35 and turned into the ultimate party venue.
What’s more, this man built his dream home out of two jets and it only costs him $200 per month.
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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.”
