One of just four remaining Boeing 747-400 passenger airlines remaining in the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines fleet, PH-BFB has been a loyal servant for the airline since 1989. We photographed this B744 on August 11, 2018 while plane spotting at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ).
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PH-BFB
Boeing 747-400
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
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PH-BFB KLM Boeing 747-400 Image Gallery
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PH-BFB
PH-BFB performed its first flight on May 23, 1989 and was delivered to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on June 20, 1989. 1989 was the year the Boeing 747-400 variant was first introduced. The jumbo jet is configured for a maximum total of 408 passengers with 35 seats in business class, 36 more in premium economy and 337 economy class seats. This is one of just four remaining B744 passenger airlines in the fleet.
On November 30, 2010, PH-BFB was involved in an incident while de-icing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Preparing for a flight that should have taken the Boeing 747-400 to Sint Maarten in the Caribbean, the airplane’s horizontal stabilizer hit the hydraulic lift of a de-icing vehicle and knocked that vehicle over. An operator of the de-icing equipment received serious injuries. The aircraft received substantial damage and the horizontal stabilizer assembly had to be replaced.
2016 was for the birds with PH-BFB. On January 27, 2016, the Boeing 747-400 came in as a replacement for PH-BFL after that aircraft sustained damage from a bird strike while taking off from Amsterdam for a flight to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
A few months later, it was PH-BFB’s turn to hit birds taking off from Amsterdam. On a flight that should have gone from Amsterdam to Los Angeles, California on April 24, 2016, the B744 had a bird strike just prior to rotation. The flight was continued for a while but at 32,000 feet and just over Norwich, England, crew decided to turn back. PH-BFG was brought in as a replacement.
Boeing 747-400
The first Boeing 747-400 flew in 1988 and was introduced with launch customer Northwest Airlines in 1989. Northwest later merged into Delta Air Lines and Delta recently retired their last Boeing 747-400 in 2017. In all, 440 were produced with the last delivered in 2005.
The B744 is 71 metres or 232 feet in length with a wingspan of 64 metres or 212 feet. At the tail, the jumbo jet stands 19 metres or 64 feet in height. The flight range is 13,490 kilometres.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, also known as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, was founded on October 7, 1919. This makes it the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, the airline has a fleet of 119 aircraft flying to 145 destinations around the world.
The airline merged with Air France in 2004 and is a has been a member of the SkyTeam Alliance since that year. SkyTeam was founded in 2000 and now has 20 full member airlines worldwide.
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