Where jumbo jets go to die - The great aeroplane graveyard | 60 Minutes Australia

I've just taken a flight unlike any I've ever experienced the service was great and I can't remember any turbulence but the destination was bizarre having spanned the Pacific Ocean I was flown to a strange and unknown Airport in the middle of the searing Californian desert it's called Victorville and it's a place where planes go to die now you might think a flight to nowhere is a story about the decline of the airline industry but not necessarily so [Laughter] [Music] it was a story I'd often heard but never seen an aircraft graveyard somewhere in a desert in the American West like the legendary elephant's graveyard a place where the Jumbos of the air go to die I'd always thought it was just another modern myth it's not then way in the distance mirage like the latest arrival appearance but before this familiar plane lands we need to start our journey back at the beginning I have spent a good deal of my life sadly in this ogg oscar golf golf in the language of pilots like captain Georgina Saturn is a Boeing 767 which has been in Qantas fleet for almost 25 years this one plane has flown five million passengers a distance equivalent to 140 trips to the moon and back then I kick guitar sure that's a hell of a tire is here but now Oh Gigi there's only one more flight to complete even in these difficult times or because of them Qantas is upgrading its fleet but renewal also means retirement so with a splash of red paint the wings of the 767s are being clipped does it have a personality I think all aircraft have different personalities but I think the 767 is a fleet has a personality that all the pilots have been on this aircraft love it none of them want to leave they want to stay on till the end Rafi say goodbye so I didn't really appropriate way [Music] [Applause] [Music] I've made the long trip across the Pacific Ocean more than a hundred times but never aboard a plane to a destination from which there would be no return today where gate 27 and your seat 47 deep hmm is there any chance of an upgrade no I'm sorry mr. Walley we don't have any available today the flight crew today captain's Georgina Sutton and Helen Trenor II and first officers Sonya Wasel and dama Porter between them have 60 years of experience on the 767 it's unusual to probably have four women on the flight deck Maine still outnumber women in the air yes I do but I think it's more and more attractive and there's a lot more women coming into aviation now I'm not sucking up to you but I feel more confident with a woman pilot I think women have a fine art for detail yes so you can do more than one thing at a time I think this is lucky it's good we can hello mr. Willy welcome 47 straight out there you're being way down [Music] this aircraft may be a quarter of a century old but being owned by Qantas means she's in excellent shape but that's not enough to save OGG and the other 767s the high cost of fuel has sealed their fate hence the most unusual air trip I've ever taken this is an all-economy flight and usually as the plane starts to fill up I would be worried that that fat man there is going to sit beside me or the woman with a screaming baby on this side but this is a flight to nowhere I've got the whole plane to myself [Music] a very good morning to our special passenger Charlie honest 6:02 one to do Southern California just about ready to go it's lovely man flying here in Sydney [Music] it seems today much of Sydney Airport is waiting to say goodbye as a mark of respect for the 767 the firefighters spray their best wishes [Music] well we have traffic controllers usually so business like glow in their price plus 60 21 on behalf bear services and spend an absolute pleasure looking after you in our scars runway one-six bright clear for takeoff and farewell tip attack on probably one because I thank you very much upon Dupree 21 and with that the always extraordinary marvel of flight begins as though GG a hundred and sixty tons of aircraft launches skywards [Music] after twenty seven thousand nine hundred and sixty third and last flight for Qantas this aircraft has been absolutely fantastic for us it's a little bit sad but it's probably like having a really really good car eventually it's time to get a new car I'm the only passenger on a flight into the twilight zone the novelty of having the plane to myself for 14 hours is amusing for about ten minutes Baima must confess it gets a little bit lonely captain good to see it's no one to talk to it back in stop for conversation it's going very well how's the plane going skank really well does she know where she's going no species gone she doesn't ride okay it's time absolutely not [Music] the next morning our final destination Victorville approaches and OGG makes another graceful arrive [Music] our work is now over [Music] Emma Smith bit of a sad moment over New Clothes whole thing down last time it's like a living being and what body is that to controls bitches [Music] Victorville in the middle of the Mojave Desert is the perfect place to store aircraft because a dry heat means less chance of corrosion it's why airlines from all over the world come here while they work out what to do with their old planes I'm saying something that I've never seen before because airlines don't actually like you looking at this oh I suppose we'd like you to see the new and but it's something it's healthy to have a look and be respectful of the old there might be half a world away from home it's like a Qantas Museum out here 20 retired Jumbo's 767s and 737s it's a strange place isn't it wandering around there just a eerie moan of the wind through the planes and nothing else a little bit of mechanical clanking loose plants but how do you feel about this place yeah mixed feelings I think Charlie there's a lot of history here we actually have a bit of a sentimental approach to aircraft I've just wandered around quietly here in my own time having a look at some of the aircraft that I flew here my first flight as a second officer in Qantas was on bed aircraft over there to London and the one behind it I flew the Queen so they have got a lot of history and just like georgina Satnam or Alan Milne Qantas as head of engineering has worked in most of these planes it's not hard to share the nostalgia train that's the story of my life I'd must have been everyone I think that chances are pretty high tales that most of these airplanes have been graced by your presence and I've outlived them having better maintained that's true but even though they look lost and abandoned the Qantas planes hopefully still have a flying future unlike some of the other aircraft here which are broken up for parts or end up on the scrap heap follow me up I've never got on this way let's get in say it's not the normal way we yet we let our customers board and once we climb up into the cockpit of this 747 Alan wants to show me these are all still viable aircraft which with the flick of a switch the Beast is going to come back to life she will come back to life they don't get powered up all that often that's a as you see now that the powers on yes I thought it was dead no just still got plenty of life in it so while they're too expensive for Qantas to operate perhaps they can still be a good deal for someone else and at just 30 or 40 million dollars a genuine bargain I'm a perspective buyer I want you to sell this plane to fantastic service history have been maintained like no other airplanes in the world one owner a one owner the one owner being treated care friendly driven by a little old lady in the sunday correct [Music] despite the recycling you might think that all of this looks a bit wasteful but if we want to understand why there are so many planes parked here in the baking heat we need to travel north the length of the United States because what we're seeing down here is the past and what we'll be seeing up there is the future in it Seattle Factory Boeing is flat out replacing all those retired aircraft we saw in the desert and more they're building 40 of these 737s alone every working month and still can't satisfy the demand as airlines everywhere including Qantas upgrade for fuel efficiency and greater passenger comfort I've seen the future and already I like it but before I could drift off to sleep in the 747 of tomorrow I had an appointment with Boeing's Randy kinseth the man you meet if you want to buy one of these things the history of aviation has been so short and look where we are yeah those first airplanes were made of wood and fabric and now the airplanes are actually made of a different type of fabric with the carbon fiber reinforced plastic or the composite material yeah technology has driven this business manufacturers like Boeing need to provide planes that are hugely more fuel-efficient these days over time fuel can cost more than the plane that they've been able to improve their efficiency 50 60 70 percent over the lifetime and I'll tell you every year in aviation we improve the efficiency of our products another one one and a half percent so I think we're doing all the right things [Laughter] there are so many planes parked here in the desert but I keep coming back to the familiar Qantas jets [Music] in the last five years the airlines bought a hundred and forty brand new planes to replace these old ones it seems filling the aircraft graveyard just might be the best way for Australia's national carrier to survive it's easy to have a kind of Disney spell or a Thomas the Tank Engine thing at me but I feel that these planes were a little sad well some of them will fly again why I look at it here they were their friends so maybe not so sad with their friends indeed hello I'm Charles Wooley thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 1,259,431

Rating: 4.73212 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter Overton, Ray Martin, Jana Wendt, Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Tracey Curro, Peter Harvey, Michael Usher, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, Sarah Abo, Jumbo jets, Aeroplanes, Hangar, airlines, A380, Boeing 777, Boeing 767, Boeing 747, Dreamliner, MH370, Plane, Graveyard

Id: AKzM9R21LZc

Length: 14min 34sec (874 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 11 2019