Please join in on this question.
What is the maximum number of passengers ever moved on any model of the 747, anywhere in the world, on any scheduled, charter, or emergency flight, legal or not? An answer within ten or so will be correct.
A hint: it is over one.
1200
Interesting number..... I probably should have mentioned there were two seperate flights from the same area with different passenger counts but more or less the same. It will be interesting to see what other readers think.Originally Posted by AkPA/18
1200
675 ?
O K Ernie,
Give us a hint. Were they small Asians, large westerners or ferverant Muslims going to the Hadj?
John Scott
While I respect the folks that use Cubs to make a living, my uses are for recreation and leisure - AND I'M NOT ASHAMED!!!
Asians and not all adults. Another hint: I mentioned legal or not. Not everyone had a seat.
Im not sure about pasengers, however I was on the reciving end of a cargo 747-100 that arived with 40,000 lbs over max cargo weight. It was carrying 255,000 of cargo+ fuel etc. The crew was unaware and their only comment was to check the W&B because of slow climb rate and amound of runway used.
When the 737s came out and I was working with some Boeing guys on ours, they told me some unbelievable payloads the 737 could carry. Best not post them though. When the FAA came along and gave us a 10% upgrade in gross weight, it really helped the bush.
Than there was the 150 Super Cub out of Merrill Field that put on a demonstration of what the new Cub could do. Back seat removed, steel plate installed and through many flights, the payload of lead weights got up to 2500 pounds before the FAA made the Piper dealer stop.
We had flown in a load of lumber with an F-27 from Fairbanks to Bettles to be moved by one of our Skyvans to a private strip further in the bush. The Skyvan captain was told where the load was and all the details but somehow, the information didn't get down far enough to let him know it was two trips so they loaded everything. He was something like 4,000 over gross which is a lot for a 12.5 aircraft. His comment: a little sluggish on takeoff. I suspect the Twin Otter would do the same thing if required to. With our Porters, we always knew if it would fit inside, the aircraft would fly but we were a little more careful of tailwheel first landings.
Another hint: the number is over 1,000.
Ernie,
If memory serves, weren't 2 747's involved in an orphanage evacuation from Vietnam, and 1 crashed killing a lot of them? I don't recall the number of pax, but I do remember being amazed at how many were on board.
-Bob
You got the two flights correrct Bob. I suspect they really had a hard time pulling the boarding stairs away when they closed the door.
Are we sure we aren't mixing our airplanes here?
There were several orphanage flights, but I believe all utilized military aircraft, at least out of Vietnam. The "famous" orphanage flight that crashed was a C-5 Galaxy.
There was a record set for number of passengers carried on a World Airways 727 evacuating people from Hue or Da Nang to Saigon. I don't remember the number (I think it was around 500) and a couple of guys even survived the trip in the wheel wells (another couple didn't).
As a side note the 747 and the C-5 were competing designs from Boeing and Lockheed for the same 1960's military cargo plane competition. Boeing lost and went on to produce over 1200 747's. Lockheed won and there are less than 100 C-5's produced.
The prototype 747 didn't fly until 1969 and entered service with Pan Am several years later. I don't know of any 747 flights into Vietnam prior to the fall of the former country of South Vietnam in 1975. Interestingly, today, there are at least 5 747 flights each day in to Tan San Nhut airport in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).
John Scott
While I respect the folks that use Cubs to make a living, my uses are for recreation and leisure - AND I'M NOT ASHAMED!!!
These were civilian 747 flights John, not military.
April 4, 1975 from Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam
Pan Am 747 chartered by Holt International
409 orphan children
60 adult escorts
15 crew (guess)
484 total
John Scott
While I respect the folks that use Cubs to make a living, my uses are for recreation and leisure - AND I'M NOT ASHAMED!!!
Japan Airlines 747(SR) (short range)
Seating capacity of 550 plus crew.
I realize this is not the "ultimate" capacity you are asking for, but I tink it puts the Vietnam orphan flights out??
John Scott
While I respect the folks that use Cubs to make a living, my uses are for recreation and leisure - AND I'M NOT ASHAMED!!!
Consider the hint John. Number is over 1,000.
Although my geography may not be the best, here goes.
In 1991, an EI AI 747 out of Falasha carried 1087 passengers.
It is my understanding that it took 37 minutes to load the passengers and close the doors.
In Asia, a 747 carried 1054 passengers.
Both flights were emergency evacuation flights and seats were not available for everyone and on one flight, it is my understanding there were no seats at all. When a person considers the weight per passenger, mostly women and children, actually the aircraft were probably within reason of not being overgrossed but even so, Boeing built in such a safety factor. I was told by a Boeing VP that a 737 should be able to operate 40% over gross but it was never tried of course.
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