PLANES

The Boeing 747 is a large, wide-body commercial jet airliner aircraft, with four wing-mounted engines. It is used as both a passenger carrier and cargo carrier. The 747 first flew in 1970 with Pan Am and was the first wide-body airplane to be manufactured by Boeing - it was the first plane to be dubbed a 'Jumbo Jet'.

On July 28, 2011, Asiana Airlines Flight 991, a 747-400F, caught fire and crashed in the sea near Jeju island, killing both crew members. On April 29, 2013, National Airlines Flight 102, 747-400BCF, stalled and crashed shortly after taking off from Bagram Airfield in Bagram, killing all seven crew members.

boeing 747

The boeing 747 is one of the biggest planes in the world it has had many crashes but still a very good plane.

Plane facts

Commercial jets are more fuel efficient than your car. The Concorde, a British-French turbojet, had a maximum speed of Mach 2.04, which is over twice the speed of sound. However, it’s heavily debated whether the Concorde or the TU-144, a Soviet supersonic airliner is faster. The TU-144 averaged Mach 1.6, but could fly up to Mach 2.29. The Concorde flew passengers from New York to London is a little over three hours, when it normally takes over seven hours. The TU-144 flew from Moscow to Alma-Ata, but both planes were retired due to fatal crashes and reliability issues.