Kuala Lumpur airport seeks owner of 'abandoned' jets | Hacker News Reader

Kuala Lumpur airport seeks owner of 'abandoned' jets

bbc.com

23 pointsfinid14 comments

The scrap value of the jets is quite possibly less than the parking charges they've accumulated, unless there's a fair bit of life left on the engines and they can track down the technical records for them. Which if they can't track down the owner...

(In the last couple of years I actually did have to deal with a different airport client considering repossessing some 747-200Fs)

Would a thorough safety check on the parts make up for the lack of history? Or does it become a regulatory obstacle?

It's regulatory. You could overhaul the parts but it's cost-prohibitive.

> He added that in the past decade a few other planes, mostly smaller aircraft, have been abandoned, with one that was left in the 1990s eventually being bought and turned into a restaurant in a Kuala Lumpur suburb.

That sounds fun. I'd definitely visit.

My favorite was Bomber Gas in Oregon where a scrap B-17 was used as the canopy over the gas pumps. I'd go out of my way to refill at Bomber Gas :-) Last I heard the value of it had gone up so much it was taken down and is being restored.

Found it: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2968

If that sort of things appeal to you, you should definitely stay at this hotel: http://www.jumbostay.com/media/ next time you are in Stockholm.

Plane details:

http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-b747-22669.htm

http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-b747-22382.htm

http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-b747-22363.htm

All were owned at one time by Air Atlanta Icelandic. Air Atlanta Icelandic said they were returned to Boeing: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/12/08/air-atlanta...

> Hemannsson did not say who the owner of the aircraft was in 2010.

That seems strange. Can't they ask for proof?

If I park my car on someone's lawn, I can't just say "Nope, not my car anymore, I returned it to the rightful owner right before it ended up on top of your mailbox, and no, I won't tell you who that is."

How long have they been there? Couldn't find this basic fact in any news source I read.

The initial CNN article I saw, said: "Malaysia Airports general manager Zainol Mohd Isa told CNN the aircraft have been parked at KLIA for more than a year, having been abandoned at different times."

Which isn't clear. have all three been there more than a year? How long has the longest one been there?

Guess there's no DMV for airplanes?

http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-b747-22304.htm

Yeah there is, but maybe its not regulated as well.

Maybe they were rented/bought by scammers that needed an airplane in their scam.

There are aircraft registries and commercial databases, but the picture is complicated somewhat by these aircraft having been deregistered for some time and the last known operator having returned them off lease even before that.

Plus most of the time aircraft are worth actual money so people have an incentive not to let them rot. Of course, that's not always true.

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