DC-10 aircraft makes 'historic' final flight from Birmingham
DC 10 aircraft takes off for the last time from Birmingham
DC-10 Aviation Enthusiasts - Birmingham Airport
By E Birmingham
Published on 25 Feb 2014
Day 3 of Biman Bangladesh DC 10 S2-ACR Final Scenic Flight 24-02-14
DC-10 aircraft makes 'historic' final flight from Birmingham
Biman Bangladesh Airlines DC-10 lands. The aircraft will be flown back to Bangladesh and sold off, Birmingham Airport said
The final commercial passenger flight of a DC-10 aeroplane has been made from Birmingham Airport in front of enthusiasts from across the world.
The three-engined aircraft made its first appearance in Birmingham in a demonstration flight in 1972.
The last plane's operator, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, will now switch to using a Boeing 777.
About 1,000 fans bought tickets for one-hour pleasure flights run by the company to mark the aircraft's passing.
On Thursday, a group flew on the plane's final international journey from Dhaka to Birmingham Biman originally said the plane's final resting place would be Bruntingthorpe Aviation Museum in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, but the firm has since decided to return it to Bangladesh to be scrapped.
Graham Dinsdale has been running a merchandise stall for aviation enthusiasts at Birmingham Airport since Saturday. He said 1,000 people had bought models of the DC-10 and commemorative T-shirts.
"One customer from Singapore bought one of everything - it took me about half an hour to serve him," he said.
Bernie Leighton is managing correspondent of airlinereporter.com and travelled from the US to be on the last flight. He was also on board the DC-10's final international voyage from Dhaka on Thursday. "It's always sad to say goodbye to another aircraft type. The skies are getting less diverse," he said. "When the plane lands I'll be happy I was on it but also sad; there's really nothing like it left now."
Chris Sloan, founder and editor-in-chief of flight website Airchive, travelled from Miami to be on the flight. "I've been on a lot of first flights but I've never been on the last flight of an aircraft before," he said.
24 February 2014 Last updated at 21:37
