Aircraft graveyard

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309th AMARG in Tucson, Arizona
Temporarily preserved Lockheed Hercules , 309th AMARG

Areas (mostly airfields) are designated as aircraft graveyards on which aircraft are either parked during temporary non-use or are cannibalized and recycled.

purpose

The military uses aircraft cemeteries, on the one hand, to maintain a certain " reserve " of old but airworthy machines, and on the other hand - in the event of disarmament or modernization - to utilize limited recycling capacities in the long term. Fluctuating prices (e.g. for aluminum ) also play a role here. Civil airlines sometimes shut down their planes temporarily (e.g. during the post-9/ 11 aviation crisis ); the term “cemetery” is then misleading. Parking at aircraft graveyards is many times cheaper than parking fees at regular airports.

conditions

Aircraft in various decommissioning states, Pinal / Marana (Arizona) 2014

Aircraft graveyards should meet the following requirements for effective storage:

  • lots of space, which means cheap terrain
  • Protection against theft and vandalism through spatial seclusion and simple security
  • a hard, natural subsurface that allows aircraft to move without artificial surface sealing (e.g. asphalting)
  • warm and dry climate to avoid corrosion and water damage
  • a stable political environment (no risk of war or unrest).

These requirements are ideally met , for example, in the desert regions of the USA .

Infrastructure

The infrastructure results from the respective use (interim storage facility or scrapping site):

  • Fencing and guarding
  • Tractors (e.g. aircraft tugs, tractors)
  • Devices for refueling and defueling
  • Workshops or dismantling companies
  • Land transport links.

activities

Dozens of decommissioned Canadair Regional Jets , Kingman, Arizona 2013

The activities at aircraft cemeteries include - in addition to pure storage and guarding - four areas:

Decommissioning

When decommissioning, measures for conservation and avoidance of environmental damage must be taken. Airlines are reluctant to publish the shutdown of machines, as this allows conclusions to be drawn about the company's current market situation. Therefore, the logos and lettering of parked machines are sometimes made unrecognizable. The windows are masked to prevent the seat covers from fading due to the sun's rays. The fuel tanks are emptied and auxiliary materials such as lubricating oil , hydraulic oil and batteries are removed. The machine may also be jacked up. Finally, all openings (including engines) are closed.

Measures against pests such as insects or rodents may also be taken.

A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 from KLM , Victorville 2013
A disused Boeing 767-200 from the former Ansett Australia , Mojave Air & Space Port
A Boeing 737 of US Airways , Mojave 2012

Recommissioning

Failed maintenance and safety checks must be made up for, the measures taken for decommissioning must be reversed and, if necessary, further aging effects must be compensated:

  • Refueling
  • Equipping with auxiliary materials (hydraulic oil, water, batteries, etc.)
  • Chassis check, inflation or change of tires if necessary
  • Cleaning and removal of all seals
  • Documented tests of all safety-relevant systems, if necessary exchange of "expired" components such as first aid kits
  • If necessary, adaptation to a new owner (replacement of seats and galleys, painting, etc.)

Recovery

Usable components are removed and resold, raw materials are sorted and sent for recycling; in the case of airplanes, these are mainly large amounts of aluminum.

disposal

Components that are no longer usable are disposed of in accordance with local regulations - or the customer's environmental protection requirements.

Examples

The following list shows the majority of the largest aircraft graveyards.

Web links

Commons : Airplane Junk Yards  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Scrapped Airplanes  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Field Guide To Aircraft Boneyards , John A. Weeks (English); Retrieved June 2, 2015