Mojave: a great graveyard where the giants of commercial aviation go to die

@ElentirENG ES 7·14·2022 · 23:18 0

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, commercial aviation suffered a serious downturn, which was accentuated by the 2008 crisis and the pandemic.

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Two old Spanish planes awaiting their end more than 1,800 km from Spain

As a result, larger aircraft, such as the famous Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet and the Airbur A-380, have been going into retirement, being replaced by smaller aircraft with fewer and more efficient engines. And where do commercial aircraft go when they are retired? Well, to places like the Mojave Commercial Airliner Storage, a former Marine air base built in World War II and located in Mojave, California.

In 1961 the base passed into the hands of Kern County, building what is now the Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV), which houses 60 companies related to the aerospace industry. Due to the dryness of the place (it is located in the Mojave desert), some airlines use this airport as a place to store those planes that they no longer use. Some of the aircraft are refurbished for reuse, while those that have reached the end of their useful life are scrapped. The youtuber Sam Chui had the opportunity to visit it and access the interior of some of the planes stored there:

One thing that draws a lot of attention about this place is the large number of FedEx planes that are stored there.

In the video you can see a few Boeing 747, already without their engines and some even without landing gear, waiting for the moment of scrapping, like these from Thai Airways.

In this video capture we see a Boeing 747 already without engines and with part of the landing gear removed.

The inside of one of the planes stored in Mojave. It looks like it was removed yesterday.