Another 747 'Retires' To Tulsa

Another Lufthansa 747 made its final flight ever, to Tulsa this week.

The Boeing 747-400 came to Tulsa to be disassembled, with its usable parts sold and the rest recycled.

Lufthansa Technik Component Services calls the program Second Life Tear Down. The 747 that landed on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 was plane number 37 in the program, which started three years ago. Most of the other jets disassembled in the program were smaller jets. This is the 3rd 747-400 the company has brought to Tulsa this year.

This particular 747, tail number D-ABVL, went into service for Lufthansa on February 20, 1992. D-ABVL completed more than 14,600 takeoffs and landings, called cycles. It accumulated more than 121,000 flight hours, which means it spent almost 14 years of its life actually in the air.

8/11/2015: Related Story: 747s Put Out To Pasture In Tulsa

D-ABVL made its final flight all the way from Frankfurt, Germany, according to Andrew Simmons with Lufthansa Technik. The only people on board were three pilots and one employee to do all the paperwork. 

Simmons said the tower gave the crew permission to do three touch-and-goes, one for each pilot, before the plane landed for the last time. All three pilots were highly-experienced 747 crew members who never get the chance to do that sort of thing when they're flying passengers and have a schedule to keep.

Lufthansa is scheduled to bring in another retiring 747-400 on October 21.

Simmons said Lufthansa is replacing the 747-400s with brand new 747-8 Intercontinentals.