Ever wondered how intricate yet magnificent the job of aviation is. The wonderful science creation cutting through clouds is really a sight of admiration. Sometimes climatic conditions, new and better technology and even unlucky chances take a toll on these aerial miracles. We bring to you a catalog of these abandoned beauties.
With a whopping cost of 2 billion dollars, this B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber is till date the most expensive crashed aircraft in the history of US Air Force. On takeoff, moisture seeped in control system causing the system to go erratic. Both pilots were ejected safely. Stars didn’t work in favor of the bomber.
Beneath 105 feet of water lies the Corsair Fighter. The plane crashed near the Hawaiian cost in 1946. Luckily enough, the pilot was forced to eject from the aircraft after running out of fuel. Thankfully, he survived this horrific crash.
Nigeria’s commercial airports are known for their aircraft graveyards. in 2013 Nigeria was told to take measures regarding them. The commercial aircraft graveyard, occupying a neglected corner of the airfield on either side, constitutes the grounded fleet of Okada Air.
The aircraft, known as “Pegasus,” was attempting to navigate the ice runway with negligible visibility. This Lockheed Constellation crash-landed on a remote Antarctic airstrip in 1970.The airstrip was renamed Pegasus Field in honor of the plane, which can still be seen as it lies ensnared the ice.
The remnants of a fleet of World War II fighter planes rest and rot at an abandoned airplane graveyard in Ohio. The photograph beautifully captures the fading airplanes and shows how even though the planes are a remnant of war but has a tangible presence just like the war it was part of.
This Avro Shackleton lays abandoned and wrecked at the Nicosia International Airport in Cyprus. After Turkey marched in Cyprus in 1974, the airport was seen as a “no-mans land.” This left several aircrafts unattended on the runway and never able to take a flight again.
The P-40 Kittyhawk disappeared in 1942 and wasn’t rediscovered until 2012. Unfortunately, the crash took the pilot with it. While the wreck does offer clues about what caused the crash, the body of the pilot has yet to be found. Spooky, isn’t it?
This MiG-25 Foxbat was once joined by dozens of other aircraft in Moscow’s former Khodynka Aerodrome. The city is now developing on the ruins of its previous establishments. The abandoned aviation museum has now been reportedly cleared to make room for urban development.
YF-4M was used as a prototype for British Phantom FGR.2. This aircraft made an appreciable contribution to UK Airforce. It is now resting decommissioned in Scotland, waiting for nature’s forces of corrosion to act on it.
The Westland Wessex XT468 rests abandoned on the southern side of RNAS Culdrose. The helicopter is just one of many others strung out across the grounds. After it was stripped for parts, a shell was still found to lie in these complete ruins.
The faulty undercarriage switch forced this typhoon to make a wheels-up landing at NAS China Lake. One can imagine the damage that the plane took. It was the only one to be written off the RAF service.
The MiG-23 Flogger bears a historical connection with not just one but three nations- Russia, U.S.A., and Iraq. This is reason enough as to why this plane met the fate it did. This MiG-23 Flogger was found at the Iraqi Airforce base of Ballad. It’s one of the many Russian built aircraft wrecked by American troops.
Boeing 747-100 rests in Northwest Airline’s graveyard in North Carolina. It now waits to be scrapped. The aircraft took its first flight in 1970. The elements of Northwest Orient are still stuck to this corroding sight.
The crash took place near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada in 1979. Luckily all three crew members survived. Although it’s pretty easy to get to this crash, experts recommend otherwise. Since it’s a polar bear country, it’s not a healthy choice to feed yourself to summer starved bears.
This Lockheed PV-1 Ventura was hit in its starboard engine by a shell in 1944. The Ventura managed to make it safely to an airstrip in New Britain after the attack but a harsh landing effectively rendered it infertile. The bomber was then stripped for parts and abandoned.
East Russia harbors the corroding Tupolev 22-M Backfire. The Backfire is joined by several other Soviet bombers in a peculiarly deserted airbase. The landscape surrounding the bombers gives off a distinct dystopian vibe.