Most passengers ever in a 747?

[westwind]

I was looking for, but can't find the answer to this. I seem to remember a rescue flight from Africa to Israel with an almost unbelievable number brought back. Anyone, anyone, Bueller?

 

[bafanguy]

Don't know if it's the most ever, but many years ago a JAL 747 crashed with , I think, 523 people onboard. It was the one where the vertical stab blew off when the aft pressure bulkhead failed. The airplane flew around for a while before loosing directional control and crashing in Japan.

I think it was more or less a "commuter" flight, intra-Japan so they routinely would've had pax numbers like that. Only one FA survived IIRC.

 

[RipCurl]

I remember reading somewhere about an evac flight out of some wartorn nation with 1000+ on board. No cite or anything.

 

[Brett Hull]

Here's something that says around 1200.

Here's another that says two babies were born enroute.

The numbers don't quite jive, though.

 

[RipCurl]

Straight from the horse's mouth:

1991 May 24 An El Al Boeing 747 airlifts a record-breaking 1,087 passengers - Ethiopian Jews flying from Addis Ababa to Israel as part of Operation Solomon.

Link to cite on El Al's website.

 

[ultrarunner]

Straight from the horse's mouth:



Link to cite on El Al's website.

So they filled the baggage holds with seats? Is that right. Can't see how you could physically put 1000 sets in the wale with out the baggage level.

 

[Lead Sled]

So they filled the baggage holds with seats? Is that right. Can't see how you could physically put 1000 sets in the wale with out the baggage level.

Seats? Who said anything about each passenger having his/her own individual seat? It was probably SRO.

'Sled

 

[Jim]

So they filled the baggage holds with seats? Is that right. Can't see how you could physically put 1000 sets in the wale with out the baggage level.

Ever see an Ethiopian? You can easily get 2 or 3 to a seat - more if they're kids. (I know, I have a sick sense of humor...)

 

[ultrarunner]

Seats? Who said anything about each passenger having his/her own individual seat? It was probably SRO.

'Sled

..wow..

 

[RipCurl]

That geocities cite that Brett Hull posted got hosed on bandwidth already, but it said something like 700ish packed across the seat rows with the armrests folded up and the rest sitting or standing in the aisles. The El Al 767s and 757s were loaded similarly, and the IAI Hercs and 135s just jammed 'em in there like LS said.

Reminds me of a show I saw on the Military Channel about the Marine Corps 53s evacuating people out of Saigon (please correct me if I'm wrong on any of that). The footage I saw showed people just packing into the choppers; the pilot would pull the collective a bit to see if it could carry any more, and if it could, he would set it back down and a few more would jump aboard. Nuts.