Browsing Tag: Photo

The first Boeing 787-9 moves to the flight-line at Paine Field. Image: Boeing.

The first Boeing 787-9 moves to the flight-line at Paine Field. Image: Boeing

Previously, we have seen photos of the first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (ZB001) taken while dark out, but now we get to see the aircraft in the light of day.

Yesterday, the first 787-9 Dreamliner rolled out of the factory and was towed to the flight line, where Boeing will prepare the aircraft for its first flight later this summer. After the test flights are completed, the first 787-9 is expected to be delivered to Air New Zealand by mid-2014.

Jetstar's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner sits at Paine Field earlier today. Photo by Bernie Leighton.

Jetstar’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner (VH-VKA) sits at Paine Field earlier today. Photo by Bernie Leighton.

Last weekend, the first of 14 Boeing 787 Dreamliners for the Qantas Group rolled out of the paint hangar at Paine Field.  This aircraft will be heading to Jetstar Airways, a Qantas-offshoot low cost carrier (LCC). The delivery will be significant, since as of now Jetstar operates an all-Airbus fleet.

Jetstar currently operates the A320-family on short-haul routes around Australia, the South Pacific, and Asia, while running larger A330-200s on long-haul routes from Australia to Asia & Hawaii. The A330s are a mix of new aircraft and ex-Qantas birds. As the airline receives new 787s, they plan to transition their newer A330s into the legacy Qantas fleet.

Despite this being the first for Jetstar, Boeing has delivered over 100 aircraft to the Qantas Group, ranging from the original 707 up to the 747-400ER (of which they are the only operator of the passenger variant).

A Boeing 747-400F taxi's during Paine Field Aviation Day 2009. Photo by Les Smith.

A Boeing 747-400F taxi’s during Paine Field Aviation Day 2009. Photo by Les Smith.

Sometimes a photo (or two) come along that I feel defines why I do this blog and love aviation. These are two of those photos and I wanted to share. These show one of the last 744F’s taxiing and taking off at Paine Field. But the photos are not about the aircraft, but for me, it is about the people (and especially that child waving).

Its departure was not a planned part of Paine Field Aviation Day, but it made most attendees stop in their tracks to enjoy the show. A big thanks to Les Smith for letting me share his photos!

An lift off. Photo by Les Smith.

An lift off. Photo by Les Smith.

This Eritrean Airlines Boeing 767 obviously has its front door un-latched at the time of landing. Click photo for larger view and check then door handle.

This Eritrean Airlines Boeing 767 obviously has its front door un-latched at the time of landing. Click photo for larger view and check the door handle. Photo by Ken Fielding.

Airline enthusiast Ken Fielding caught an interesting shot while spotting in Manchester (MAN) on December 27, 2004. He took this photo of an Eritrean Airlines Boeing 767-300ER being ferried from Paris-de Gaulle (CDG). At the time, he did not realize the significance of the photo and took a closer look when he recently uploaded it to Flickr. Take a close look near the front of the plane and you will notice that the front door (1R) is unlatched (click on the photo, zoom in and you can easily see the handle in the up position).

It appears that the door was put into that position while at  CDG and that the pressurization of the cabin kept the door closed during flight. Fielding reports that since the aircraft was on a ferry flight, there were no passengers on board. Still, that doesn’t give the crew a pass at not completing a simple task of flying safely: make sure all the doors are shut and locked. The crew should have noticed when arming the doors (which they obviously did not do) and/or there should have been an indicator in the cockpit.

I tried to reach out to Eritrean Airlines, but their website is not very helpful for finding contacts and since they are high-lighting stories from 2004, I am guessing it is not the most accurate. The airline went out of business in 2008, but started up again on July 16, 2011 with a pretty slick new livery.

Photo by Ken Fielding