Boeing 747-122, N4723U / 19882/175, United Airlines (UA / UAL)
This picture is © Martin Laycock and may not be used or published without permission.
Registration: N4723U
Construction Number: 19882/175
Model Boeing 747-122
Operator: United Airlines (UA / UAL)
Airport: London - Heathrow (LHR / EGLL), UK - England
Photographer: Martin Laycock
Date Taken: 1992
Date Submitted: 22/10/2009
Photographed from the Queen's Building on a typically smoggy Heathrow day, this 'Classic' 747 was delivered to United on the 6th January 1972. Named 'William A. Patterson' after a former head of the airline, she was involved in an incident shortly after departure from Tokyo's Narita Airport en route to Honolulu on the 28th December 1997. Whilst established in the cruise over the Pacific Ocean some 956 miles east southeast of Tokyo the aircraft encountered severe turbulence, over one hundred passengers were injured and one tragically killed. The aircraft diverted back to Narita so that medical assistance for the injured passengers could be sought. Although not very badly damged, the aircraft was declared damaged beyond repair and written off because she was due to have been withdrawn from use in early 1998 anyway. She was officially declared WFU at McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada in January of 1998 and was later ferried to Marana where she was parted out by the end of that year. The cockpit section ended up at The Museum of Flight's restoration centre at Paine Field, Everett in Seattle, Washington.
Picture ID:1199115