In 2019, the planes were stripped of their engines. The jets’ interiors still reflect the dominant beige and tan color scheme of the time, their wide bodies partitioned by two narrow aisles. Painted white with a stark red stripe, registration numbers indicate they were built to cart around Japanese government officials. Parked in the Pinal Airpark, among the sleeping Cessnas and whatnot, are a couple of worn Boeing 747-400s dating to 1991. There’s some recent history around these parts, too. Decommissioned and suspended commercial aircraft at Pinal Airpark. Today, visitors can peer at the resident airplanes from outside the chain link fence or, even better, hop on a grounds tour -just call or email to make an appointment. ![]() The largest commercial boneyard in the world (during the pandemic, when planes were grounded, the number of occupants ballooned from 89 to 400), Pinal Airpark comes with some serious history: During the Vietnam War, it functioned as the base for CIA front company Intermountain Airlines, now famous for their covert operations in Southeast Asia. Here, commercial planes interlock in rows, dormant, while on the single runway their smaller brethren fly off to explore new horizons. ![]() ![]() Near Tucson, Arizona, Pinal Airpark pulls double duty as both a boneyard and an airport. Therefore, long-term aviation parking lots are typically found in deserts-in the US, that usually means the Southwest. These spaces must be arid and dry, conditions conducive to preserving big metal things. They call it the airplane boneyard, where once high-flying craft are dropped off when they’re no longer needed, temporarily out of service, in need of refurbishing, or marked for cannibalization of their parts (RIP).
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