VH-ECA "Pacific Electra"
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Type: L-188C / L-188CF Electra
Msn: 2002
Previous Identities:
| 01APR58 | Ordered by Qantas |
| 10AUG59 | Application for CofR and CofA by Qantas Empire Airways Ltd (Note:1) |
| 18AUG59 | Aircraft weighed at Burbank. (Note:1) |
| 17SEP59 | First flight |
| 30OCT59 | CofR 3276 and CofA 3276 issued (Note:1) |
| 08NOV59 | Arrived Sydney on delivery to Qantas as "Pacific Electra" |
| 21DEC59 | Operated inaugural service Sydney to Tokyo |
| 11OCT60 | T.T. 2289.11 hours (Note:1) |
| 13DEC60 | Departed Sydney to Lockheed, Burbank for wing and engine mount modifications |
| 19DEC60 | Entered LEAP as LEAP #45 QEA-1 |
| 18JAN61 | Completed LEAP |
| 09OCT61 | T.T. 4570.38 hours (Note:1) |
| 17AUG62 | Until 12SEP62 Carried the King and Queen of Thailand on a tour of Australia and N.Z. (Source: Qantas News July 1984) |
| 03OCT62 | T.T. 5979.52 hours (Note:1) |
| 27SEP63 | T.T. 7464.47 hours (Note:1) |
| 23SEP64 | T.T. 9774.24 hours |
| 29MAY67 | Sold to California Airmotive/Air California |
| 05JUN67 | Departed Sydney on delivery (Capt A.M. Bonney) |
| 09JUN67 | Change of ownership to Air California, Newport Beach, CA and handed over to Air California as VH-ECA. Cancelled from Australian register at 1200 hours AEST. (Note:1) |
| JUN67 | Re-registered N359AC (Note:1) |
| 01NOV68 | Sold to GATX-Booth Aircraft Corp and leased to Air California |
| 19MAR69 | Sold to Aircraft Holdings |
| 07NOV69 | Sold to F B Ayer and Assoc |
| 70 | Stored at Forth Worth, Texas |
| 71 | Stored at Tucson, Arizona |
| 07SEP71 | Leased to Ecuatoriana, Ecuador as HC-AVX |
| 06MAR72 | Ecuatoriana lease finished |
| 24MAR72 | Re-registered N359AC |
| MAR72 | Stored Miami, Florida until Dec 75 |
| 75 | Registered to Miguel C Acosta, Miami, Florida |
| 75-76 | To MCA Leasing Inc |
| APR76 | Operated by LACSA as TI-LRM named "Camaquire" |
| APR76 | Converted at Miami to L-188CF (rear door) |
| late 76 | Sold to LACSA, Costa Rica |
| 30AUG81 | Withdrawn from service at Miami, Florida |
| SEP81 | Registered N359AC to The FBA Corp, Miami, Florida |
| OCT82 | Registered to Turbo Power Inc, Miami, Florida |
| DEC83 | Registered to Qualley International Corp, Miami, Florida |
| MAY84 | Registered to James B Qualley, Miami, Florida |
| 13SEP84 | Seen at Montreal with TPI International Airways titles |
| MAR85 | To JBQ Aviation Corporation, Miami, Florida |
| MAY85 | Registered N359Q to JBQ Aviation Corp and operated by TPI International Airways |
| NOV86 | Seen at Miami in STAF titles |
| 26DEC86 | Seen at Ezeiza (Buenos Aires) with Servicios de Transportes Aereos Fueginos SA (STAF) |
| 11FEB87 | Re-registered F-OGST to STAF, Buenos Aires |
| 29MAR87 | Seen at Buenos Aires with STAF |
| 05OCT90 | Arrived East Midlands Airport on lease to Air Bridge Carriers |
| 09OCT90 | Seen at Amsterdam in STAF colour scheme with Air Bridge stickers |
| 25SEP92 | Departed Castle Donington for Keflavik and USA |
| 13OCT92 | Seen at Opa Locka, Florida with Air Bridge titles and minus one engine |
| OCT92 | Re-registered N359Q to JBQ Aviation Corp, Miami, Florida |
| 19FEB93 | Seen at Miami with ALM stickers |
| 08NOV93 | Arrived Coventry on delivery to Air Atlantique |
| FEB94 | Cancelled from US register |
| 10FEB94 | Registered G-LOFA to Atlantic Air Transport Ltd |
| 15FEB94 | Entered service Stansted/Cologne for TNT |
| 30JUL96 | After
take-off from Berlin while climbing through FL115, the aircraft experienced
an explosive decompression as the rear cargo door opened. The door, its
operating mechanism and the surrounding fuselage structure were extensively
damaged. The opening door had over-travelled upwards to such an extent that
part of the dorsal fin was flattened. [Extracted from AAIB Bulletin No:
5/97] Read the full incident report. The aircraft was subsequently repaired and returned to service. |
| 16MAY98 | Ferried to Coventry for overhaul but found to require extensive work. Retired as beyond economical repair and stripped for parts. |
| 06OCT02 | Photographed at Coventry by Ulrich Hoppe (see images above). It is reported that the hulk is to be used for fire-fighting training. |
| OCT02 | The aircraft was completely broken up at Coventry by the end of October 2002. (Confirmed by a source at Atlantic Airlines). |
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Note:
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Source: File C3905/2 VH/ECA Pts 1 & 2 (21) N.A.A., Chester Hill |
| Issue | Date | Remarks |
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| 7 | 08FEB04 |
Added
an image of the aircraft in STAF colours thanks to Peter Gates.
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| 6 | 06JAN04 |
Added
several new references extracted from file C3905/2 VH/ECA Pts 1 & 2 (21) N.A.A.,
Chester Hill by Chris O'Neill.
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| 5 | 21DEC02 |
It
is confirmed that this aeroplane was broken up during October 2002.
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