Plane spotting at Brisbane airport

As mentioned in Mondays post, on Saturday Brisbane received four Qatar Boeing 777's. I did not want to miss out on this, so I quickly gathered my things and bolted for the airport.

While I was there, I took a few of the other movements at Brisbane.

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-YXQ (MSN 5618)
JQ569 OFF TO MELBOURNE (MEL) 12 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-YVC (MSN 40997)
VA1395 ARRIVING FROM ADELAIDE (ADL) 14 YEARS

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHU (MSN 469)
SQ236 OFF TO SINGAPORE (SIN) 5 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-231 VH-VWW (MSN 3916)
JQ816 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 16 YEARS

U.S. AIR FORCE LOCKHEED C-130J 16-5843 (MSN 5843)
OPERATED BY THE 36th AIRLIFT SQUADRON 

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-303 VH-QPD (MSN 574)
QF53 OFF TO SINGAPORE (SIN) 22 YEARS

QANTASLINK EMBRAER E190AR VH-XVL (MSN 19000106)
QF1930 ARRIVING FROM ADELAIDE (ADL) 19 YEARS

VISTAJET BOMBARDIER GLOBAL 600 9H-VJW (MSN 9728)
VJT968 ARRIVING FROM CHRISTCHURCH (CHC) 10 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-251NX VH-OFP (MSN 11102)
JQ59 ARRIVING FROM DENPASAR (DPS) 3 YEARS

AIR NEW ZEALAND AIRBUS A320-271N ZK-NHE (MSN 10569)
NZ147 ARRIVING FROM AUCKLAND (AKL) 4 YEARS

QANTAS BOEING 737-8SA VH-XZQ (MSN 44227)
QF713 ARRIVING FROM CAIRNS (CNS) 10 YEARS

AIR NEW ZEALAND AIRBUS A321-271NX ZK-NNH (MSN 12513)
NZ203 ARRIVING FROM CHRISTCHURCH (CHC) 10 MONTHS

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHK (MSN 369)
SQ265 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN) 6 YEARS

QANTAS BOEING 787-9 VH-ZNE (MSN 63391)
QF126 ARRIVING FROM AUCKLAND (AKL) 7 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-VFY (MSN 6362)
JQ484 ARRIVING FROM NEWCASTLE (NTL) 11 YEARS

QANTAS AIRBUS A321-271NY VH-OGC (MSN 12594)
QF532 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 4 MONTHS

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-203 VH-EBG (MSN 887)
QF6154 FERRY FLIGHT FROM MELBOURNE (MEL) 18 YEARS

 

Flight attendant ejected 100mts from crashed Air Canada jet still strapped to her seat.

A flight attendant on the Air Canada Jazz flight that collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia airport on Sunday survived in what her daughter called a “complete miracle”, when she was ejected more than 100 metres from the plane while still strapped to her seat.

The CRJ-900 jet, operated by Jazz Aviation, collided with a fire truck as it landed, killing both the pilot and co-pilot. Nine people were sent to the hospital with injuries, including Solange Tremblay, a flight attendant.

“It’s a complete miracle. At the moment of impact, her seat was ejected more than 100 metres from the plane. They found her and she was still strapped into her seat,” her daughter Sarah Lépine told Quebec’s TVA News. “She had a guardian angel watching over her. It could have been much worse.”

Lépine said her mother suffered multiple bone fractures and was taken to the hospital for surgery to mend a broken leg.

According to her social media profile, Tremblay began working for Jazz 26 years ago as a flight attendant.

Jazz Aviation, owned by Chorus Aviation, is an independent regional airline that operates short-haul flights on behalf of Air Canada under the Air Canada Express brand.

Montreal-based Air Canada did not provide a statement on Tremblay, but several staff members confirmed details of the incident to the Guardian.

TVA identified one of the pilots as Antoine Forest, 30, of Coteau-du-Lac, a city south-west of Montreal. He joined Jazz Aviation in 2022.

“The loss of our two fellow crew members onboard Flight 8646 is a profound tragedy,” said Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, the largest airline pilot union in the world.

“These pilots dedicated their careers to the safe transport of passengers, and we are all thinking of their families, loved ones, and colleagues at Jazz Aviation during this devastating time.”



Story sourced from here
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/23/canadian-flight-attendant-survives-new-york-plane-crash-laguardia

Remembering Germanwings flight 9525

Germanwings flight 9525 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN/LEBL), Spain to Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS/EDDL), Germany.

The flight was operated by Germanwings, a low-cost carrier owned by the German airline Lufthansa. On the 24th of March 2015, the aircraft, an Airbus A320-211, crashed 100 km (62 miles) north-west of Nice in the French Alps. All 144 passengers and all six crew members were killed. It was the only fatal crash involving a Germanwings aircraft during the company's 18 years in operation.

The crash was deliberately caused by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, who had previously been treated for suicidal tendencies and declared unfit to work by his doctor. Lubitz kept this information from his employer and instead reported for duty. Shortly after reaching cruise altitude and while the captain was out of the cockpit, Lubitz locked the cockpit door and initiated a controlled descent that continued until the aircraft hit a mountainside.

The collision with the ground was due to the deliberate and planned action of the co-pilot who decided to commit suicide while alone in the cockpit. The process for medical certification of pilots, in particular self-reporting in case of decrease in medical fitness between two periodic medical evaluations, did not succeed in preventing the co-pilot, who was experiencing mental disorder with psychotic symptoms, from exercising the privilege of his licence.
The following factors may have contributed to the failure of this principle:

• the co-pilot's probable fear of losing his ability to fly as a professional pilot if he had reported his decrease in medical fitness to an AME.
• the potential financial consequences generated by the lack of specific insurance covering the risks of loss of income in case of unfitness to fly 
• the lack of clear guidelines in German regulations on when a threat to public safety outweighs the requirements of medical confidentiality.

Security requirements led to cockpit doors designed to resist forcible intrusion by unauthorized persons. This made it impossible to enter the flight compartment before the aircraft impacted the terrain in the French Alps.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Germanwings

Code: 4U/GWI

Airline: Airbus A320-211

Registration: D-AIPX

Serial Number: 0147

Engines: 2 x CFMI CFM56-5A1

First Flew: 29th November 1990
Age: 24 years 4 months

It made its first flight on the 29th of November 1990 and was delivered to Lufthansa on the 5th of February 1991. The aircraft was leased to Germanwings from the 1st of June 2003 until mid-2004, then returned to Lufthansa on the 22nd of July 2004 and remained with the airline until it was transferred to Germanwings again on the 31st of January 2014. The aircraft had accumulated about 58,300 flight hours on 46,700 flights.

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE FAMILIES AND FRIENDS AS THEY REMEMBER LOVED ONES TODAY

Air Canada plane hits fire truck at La Guardia

                                         BREAKING NEWS

An Air Canada flight traveling from Montreal (YUL/CYUL) to New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA/KLGA) has crashed into a firetruck on Sunday night — leaving four firefighters critically injured, according to sources.

Emergency vehicles swarmed Runway 4 at the Queens airport after a regional hit the fire truck just before 11:40 p.m., according to the FDNY and footage captured by the Citizen App.

Images showed the front of the commuter plane smashed and tilting in the air. The injured firefighters are from the Port Authority Police Department, sources said.

One hundred passengers were on the jet — a Bombardier CRJ-900 — and their conditions are being evaluated. Sources said the plane was carrying a group of Orthodox Jews from the New York area

The flight was an Air Canada flight 8646 coming in from Montreal.

                                               UPDATED 7.45PM

Aviation officials have now confirmed two Air Canada pilots were killed when their flight from Montreal crashed into a rescue vehicle on a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport. Kathryn Garcia with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says 41 people were taken to hospital and that 32 have since been released. She says nine people remain in hospital and that some are in serious condition.

Sending our thoughts and prayers to the family, friends, and staff at Jazz (Air Canada Express) during this difficult time.

Qatar moves its Australian fleet to Brisbane.

Over the past week, Brisbane Airport, which usually is a quiet airport for international airlines, has had some pretty exciting activity. First came the Western Global Express Boeing 747 on the 16th, then the next day we got the Aero Trans Cargo (ATC) Boeing 747, which came in both the 17th and 18th.

Well, Saturday afternoon Brisbane welcomed four Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300 aircraft. Two arrived from Perth, Western Australia, in their standard livery, one came from Melbourne, Victoria, sporting the old Formula One livery, and another flew in from Sydney, New South Wales, featuring the latest Formula One livery.

They arrived over the course of three hours, with the first, A7-BEM, touching down from Perth at 2:42 p.m. After a two-hour wait, the rest showed up, all within the same hour.

The second arrival, also from Perth, was A7-BAQ, touching down at 5:02 p.m. The third, A7-BEL, featuring the old Formula One livery, came in from Melbourne at 5:35 p.m.
Saving the best for last, the fourth and final 777 was A7-BEG, sporting the current Formula One livery, arriving from Sydney at 5:58 p.m.

This brought the total to six Qatar Airways 777s parked in Brisbane, well for a short time anyway.

At 11:50 p.m. Saturday night, A7-BEI, which had been here for the last four weeks, departed for Doha as QR56U, carrying the entire crew home.

While the exact reason for their presence is unclear, speculation suggests it could be linked to Qatar Airways’ recent 25% stake in Virgin Australia on the 26th of February 2025, and with Brisbane being Virgin Australia’s home base, the aircraft might be here for ongoing maintenance.

QATAR AIRWAYS BOEING 777-3DZ A7-BEM (MSN 64088)
QR3011 ARRIVING FROM PERTH (PER) 8 YEARS

QATAR AIRWAYS BOEING 777-3DZ A7-BAQ (MSN 38247)
QR3227 ARRIVING FROM PERTH (PER) 15 YEARS

QATAR AIRWAYS BOEING 777-3DZ A7-BEL (MSN 64063)
QR3171 ARRIVING FROM MELBOURNE (MEL) 8 YEARS

QATAR AIRWAYS BOEING 777-3DZ A7-BEG (MSN 60333)
QR3253 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 8 YEARS

Before the four arrived on Saturday, we previously had three Qatar 777's, parked on the ground.

They were:

A7-BEI, A7-BEQ and A7-BER.

A7-BEQ (MSN 64085) departed Brisbane on the 18th of March at 11.16 p.m. as QR899

A7-BEI (MSN 60335) departed Brisbane on the 21st of March at 11.55 p.m. as QR56U

Leaving the following 5 aircraft here:

• A7-BEG (MSN 60333)
• A7-BEL (MSN 64063)
• A7-BEM (MSN 64086)
• A7-BEQ (MSN 38247)
• A7-BER (MSN 64088)

British Airways to relaunch London-Melbourne route

BRITISH AIRWAYS BOEING 787-8 G-ZBJF (MSN 38613)

British Airways has announced plans to resume daily flights between Melbourne Airport (MEL/YMML) and London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) starting on the 11th of January 2027. 

The British flag carrier, which has been connecting Australia and the UK for more than 90 years, will operate the route using a four-class Boeing Dreamliner 787-9, featuring First, Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy), and World Traveler (economy) cabins. 

The new same-aircraft service, which will operate via Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL), marks British Airways’ return to Melbourne after 20 years. It last flew the route in March 2006.

The route’s resumption is expected to provide travelers and exporters from Victoria, Tasmania, regional New South Wales, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory with a new option to reach London and connect to the airline’s global network.

British Airways’ Chief Planning and Strategy Officer Neil Chernoff expressed confidence in the new route’s popularity.

“We have a long history of connecting Britain and Australia, and we’re excited to be returning to this great city,” Chernoff said.

Plane spotting at Brisbane's Archerfield airport

Yesterday I thought I'd try spotting at Archerfield airport as I hadn't been there for about 6 months. 

Archerfield Airport is a leased federal airport located in Archerfield, 12 km (7.5 miles) to the south of Brisbane city, and 7.6 km (4.7 miles) from my home. It opened on the 1st of April 1931. For over 50 years it was the primary airport in Brisbane, but it is now the secondary airport. On the 19th of March 1988 Brisbane International Airport (BNE/YBBN) was opened.

During World War II, it was used as a Royal Australian Air Force station. Airport traffic peaked in the 1980s. In December 2010, a development plan was released for public comment and included a new parallel runway.

ARCHERFIELD AIRPORT INFORMATION
IATA: none
ICAO: YBAF
Elevation AMSL: 63 ft / 19 m

The radio frequencies for Archerfield Airport include:

• Archerfield ground: 119.9 MHz
• Archerfield tower: 118.1 or 123.6 MHz
• Archerfield ATIS: 120.9 MHz
• Brisbane approach: 125.7 MHz
• Pilot activated lighting: 125.1 MHz

Archerfield Airport has four runways: two sealed runways and two grassed runways.

 
Sealed runways
10/28: Parallel, east-west runways that are sealed and can accommodate larger aircraft
10L/28R: 1,471 meters long
10R/28L: 1,100 meters long

Grassed runways
04/22: Parallel, northeast-southwest runway that are grassed and can accommodate light aircraft
04L/22R: 1,245 meters long

FLIGHT ONE PIPER SEMINOLE VH-FMA (4496560) 3 YEARS

YAKOVLEV YAK-52 VH-YYC (MSN 855909) 41 YEARS  

CESSNA CUTLESS RG VH-RQU (MSN 172RG0695) 46 YEARS

AIRWAYS AVIATION CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-NHE (MSN 17280920) 26 YEARS

NORTH AMERICAN P-51D MUSTANG VH-FST (MSN 45-11526) 81 YEARS

BASAIR CESSNA 206H STATIOAIR VH-VKN (MSN 20608263) 20 YEARS

AIRWAYS AVIATION CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-VVP (MSN 172S10027) 21 YEARS

LIFEFLIGHT LEONARDO AW139 VH-XIJ (MSN 41405) 11 YEARS

ROBINSON R44 II VH-HIP (MSN 13062) 16 YEARS

CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-ASK (MSN 17280202) 29 YEARS

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS H125 VH-MIX (MSN 4067) 20 YEARS

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS H125 VH-JVC (MSN 1516) 45 YEARS

AIR RTP ROCKWELL COMMANDER 114 VH-RNS (MSN 14312) 49 YEARS

SLING 2 24-8489 (MSN 151) 12 YEARS

CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-AZQ (MSN 17275569) 44 YEARS

FLY PELICAN BAe JETSTREAM 32 VH-OTQ (MSN 975)
PE709 OFF TO NARRABRI (NAA) 34 YEARS

FLIGHT ONE CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-SIH (MSN 172S10874) 18 YEARS

VAN'S RV 10 VH-BUY (MSN 40156) 12 YEARS

POLAIR BELL 429 GLOBALRANGER VH-XP8 (MSN 57481) 2 YEARS

CESSNA 210N VH-TQC (MSN 21063325) 47 YEARS