More from Tuesday's day of plane spotting

NAURU AIRLINES BOEING 737-86N VH-8TG (MSN 33003)

QANTASLINK EMBRAER E190AR VH-UYE (MSN 19000034)
QF1904 ARRIVING FROM CANBERRA (CBR) 19 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8SA VH-IJW (MSN 44224)
VA366 ARRIVING FROM TOWNSVILLE (TSV) 10 YEARS

CHINA AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 B-18907 (MSN 105)
CI53 ARRIVING FROM TAIPEI (TPE) 8 YEARS

ASIANA AIRLINES BOEING 777-28E HL-7755 (MSN 30861)
OVER FLYING BRISBANE FROM SYDNEY TO SEOUL

AIR NEW ZEALAND BOEING 777-367 ZK-OKV (MSN 39237)
NZ145 ARRIVING FROM AUCKLAND (AKL) 12 YEARS

QANTASLINK EMBAER E190AR VH-XVT (MSN 19000072)
QF1964 ARRIVING FROM NEWCASTLE (NTL) 18 YEARS

AIR NEW ZEALAND BOEING 777-319 ZK-OKQ (MSN 40689)
OVER FLYING BRISBANE FROM AUCKLAND TO SINGAPORE

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRBUS A350-941 B-LQC (MSN 393)
CX165 ARIVING FROM HONG KONG (HKG) 3 YEARS

JETSTAR BOEING 787-8 VH-VKE (MSN 36230)
JQ53 OFF TO SEOUL (ICN) 11 YEARS

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBA (MSN 508)
QF51 OFF TO SINGAPORE (SIN) 22 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-251NX VH-OYW (MSN 12183)
JQ567 OFF TO MELBOURNE (MEL) 6 MONTHS

QANTASLINK AIRBUS A220-300 VH-X4A (MSN 55253)
QF1265 OFF TO MELBOURNE (MEL) 1 YEAR

EMBRAER PHENOM 300E VH-NJR (MSN 50500774) 1 YEAR

AERLINK ATR 72-500 VH-FVY (MSN 840)
HT783 ARRIVING FROM TOWNSVILLE (TSV) 16 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-YXS (MSN 5732)
JQ485 OFF TO NEWCASTLE (NTL) 11 YEARS
RETURNING TO THE GATE DUE TO A MEDICAL ISSUE

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-VYK (MSN 34183)
QF524 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 19 YEARS

GAM AIR AERO COMMANDER 500 VH-YJJ (MSN 3178)
ARRIVING FROM BARCALDINE (BCI) 51 YEARS

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRBUS A350-941 B-309W (MSN 334)
CZ382 OFF TO GUANGZHOU (CAN) 5 YEARS

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHQ (MSN 439)
SQ236 OFF TO SINGAPORE (SIN) 4 YEARS

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBN (MSN 1094)
QF535 OFF TO SYDNEY (SYD) 15 YEARS

ROYAL FLYING DOCTOR BEECH KING AIR 360 VH-8FD (MSN FM-111)

AIR NIUGINI BOEING 767-383 P2-PXW (MSN 25365)
PX 3 OFF TO PORT MORESBY (POM) 33 YEARS

NATIONAL JET EXPRESS DASH 8 Q400 VH-8QB (MSN 4323)
WO388 OFF TO MORANBAR (MOV) 15 YEARS

 

A rare visitor called into Brisbane

On Tuesday morning, Brisbane Airport welcomed a rare and remarkable visitor, an Atlas Air Boeing 747, affectionately known as the Queen of the Skies. N418MC, with a callsign of Qantas 7580, was scheduled to depart Sydney (SYD/YSSY) at 6.25 am local (20.25 UTC) but got away at 6.55 am, and arrived in Brisbane (BNE/YBBN) 1 minute early at 8.09 am (22.09 UTC). The queen was supposed to be on the ground for two hours before departing for Taipei (TPE/RCTP) and had a departure time of 10.10 am (00.10 UTC), but as freighters go, they don't usually run to schedule. Qantas 7580 finally got airborne at 11.47 am (01.47 UTC).

Now readers around the world might be thinking what's with all the fuss, we see Queens every day. 

Well, Brisbane doesn't get any 747's at all, and the last Queen we got, which again was an Atlas Air, was about 6 months ago, and it was late at night.

Sydney and Melbourne get 747 freighters daily, but we don't, so it was great to see this aircraft on Tuesday.

Following recent developments, a weekly 767-freighter service from Astral Aviation has commenced, which will increase to twice weekly starting in July. The freighter that come into Brisbane started its life with Qantas as VH-OGA.

Additionally, beginning Tuesday, the 17th of June, Brisbane will receive a weekly 747-8 service from Cathay Pacific. This freighter currently operates through Toowoomba's Wellcamp (WTB/YBWW) but will transition permanently to Brisbane from the 17th.

ATLAS AIR BOEING 747-47UF N418MC (MSN 32840)
QF7850 OFF TO TAIPEI (TPE) 22 YEARS

ASTRAL AVIATION BOEING 767-338 5Y-SVR (MSN 24146)
ACP7003 ARRIVING FROM HONG KONG (HKG) 36 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-MAX 8 VH-81E (MSN 66644)
VA45 OFF TO DENPASAR (DPS) 11 MONTHS

JETSTAR ABOEING 787-8 VH-VKH (MSN 36233)
JQ9 OFF TO TOKYO (NRT) 10 YEARS

QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q400 VH-LQM (MSN 4450)
QLK451D ARRIVING FROM MORANBAH (MOV) 11 YEARS

AIR NEW ZEALAND AIRBUS A321-271NX ZK-NNB (MSN 8542)
NZ142 OFF TO AUCKLAND (AKL) 6 YEARS

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES AIRBUS A321-271N RP-C9934 (MSN 8484)
PR221 ARRIVING FROM MANILA (MNL) 6 YEARS

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHQ (MSN 439)
SQ256 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN) 4 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-VGD (MSN 4527)
JQ834 OFF TO PROSERPINE (PPP) 14 YEARS

LINK AIRWAYS SAAB 340B VH-VEB (MSN 340B-425)
SP34 ARRIVING FROM BUNDABERG (BDB) 27 YEARS

ALLIANCE FOKKER 70 VH-NKU (MSN 11555)
QQ5940 OFF TO GROOTE EYLANDT (GTE) 29 YEARS

FIJI AIRWAYS AIRBUS A330-343 DQ-FJW (MSN 1692)
FJ921 ARRIVING FROM NADI (NAN) 9 YEARS

AIR CANADA BOEING 787-9 C-FVLU (MSN 38360)
AC36 OFF TO VANCOUVER (YVR) 7 YEARS 

ALLIANCE FOKKER 70 VH-NUU (MSN 11532)
QQ8510 OFF TO MORANBAH (MOV) 30 YEARS

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-303 VH-QPC (MSN 564)
QF81 OFF TO TOKYO (NRT) 21 YEARS

Terrifying reason why young woman suffered mystery stroke mid-air - warning to all

An international flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a young woman suffered a near-fatal stroke. Marciela Hernandez Quezada, 35, was on a 14-hour flight from Turkey to Mexico on the 30th of May when she realized she hadn't moved for almost 8 hours.

Soon after, she noticed she could no longer speak to the people sitting near her when they started asking questions. She then collapsed mid-flight, causing the doctor on board to give her oxygen and urge the crew to make an emergency landing in Houston.

Upon arriving at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, doctors found Hernandez Marciela was completely paralyzed in her right leg and partially paralyzed in her right arm.

She also 'could not comprehend what was being told to her.'

Doctors believe her failing to get up for several hours on the plane and not drinking water caused her blood to thicken and pool in her legs.

This most likely triggered a blood clot in her leg that traveled to her brain, cutting off blood flow and causing a stroke, which is on the rise in young healthy people like Hernandez Quezada.

She said in a video from the hospital: 'I was kind of in shock because I knew I was healthy and I don't smoke. I don't think. And I thought, "Wow, how is this possible?"

'I realized the problem was I didn't move in the airplane. I didn't even go to the toilet. I didn't stand up the whole flight.'

Experts believe sitting for four to six hours or more without getting up causes blood to collect in the legs instead of flowing back to the heart due to muscles not moving as much as they would from getting up and walking around.

Cramped airline seats also restrict blood flow to the legs.

Meanwhile, dehydration caused by either not drinking enough water or opting for soda or alcohol on a plane can thicken the blood. All of these factors make blood more prone to forming leg clots, called deep vein thrombosis, and travel to the lungs or brain.

Health authorities recommend getting up every two to three hours on a long-haul flight to regulate blood flow to the rest of the body.

British Airways cabin crew dances naked in toilet

BRITISH AIRWAYS AIRBUS A320-232 G-EUUF (MSN 1806)

A British Airways flight attendant was arrested after being found dancing naked in the business class toilet.

The incident occurred on the 24th of May 2025 on flight BA 284 from San Francisco (SFO/KSFO) to London Heathrow (LHR/EGLL)

According to the crew, the flight attendant went missing during meal service. The inflight supervisor went looking for him on the double-decker Airbus A380, which seats over 450 passengers, and found him in the business class restroom, completely naked and dancing.

Other crew members gave him spare pajamas and moved him to the First-Class cabin. The flight attendant is suspected of using drugs prior to the incident.

Upon arrival at London Heathrow, the flight attendant was arrested by police and removed from the aircraft in a wheelchair.

“We think the guy popped pills when he was meant to be working. It is an extraordinary thing to do,” one crew member who witnessed the incident said.

"The plane was cruising at 37,000 feet over the Atlantic, but this bloke seemed to be higher than anyone else,” they continued. “Not only is it really dangerous, but it is also a crazy way to end your British Airways career. This job can do ridiculous things to people, but staging a one-man disco in a Club World toilet is a new one on me.”

British Airways reportedly told the media that the employee has since been suspended while the investigation is ongoing.

Both police and British Airways are investigating.

Baby born on Jeju Air flight dies; police investigating

JEJU AIR BOEING 737-8JP HL-8336 (MSN 39016)

Police have launched an investigation after a newborn died aboard a flight from the Philippines to Incheon International Airport.

According to the Incheon International Airport Police on Sunday, a report was made to emergency services at 6:44 a.m. that “a baby born on the plane is not breathing.” The infant, a newborn boy, was found in cardiac arrest and rushed to a nearby hospital but was later pronounced dead.

The incident occurred on a Jeju Air flight that departed from Clark in the Philippines and landed at Incheon at 6:21 a.m.

Police said they plan to question the mother, a woman in her 30s and a Philippine national, about the circumstances of the birth and the cause of the baby’s death.

“As the baby was born and died on a Korean-flagged aircraft, Korean authorities will handle the investigation,” a police official said. “We will thoroughly examine the circumstances of the birth and what led to the child’s death.”

American Airlines flight attendants caught selling premium trips illegally

AMERICAN AIRLINES BOEING 737-823 N831NN (MSN 33211)

American Airlines has implemented a strict crackdown on flight attendants who use code words to unlawfully sell premium international trips. These unauthorized, often involving monetary transactions, have bypassed the airline's established seniority-based scheduling system.

The airline’s investigation revealed that some crew members were offering coveted trips like Paris (CDG), London (LHR), and Rome (FCO) to junior flight attendants at a price, undermining the fairness of the bidding process set by the Fort Worth-based carrier.

American Airlines utilizes a seniority-driven bidding system for assigning trips. Flight attendants with more years of service enjoy priority access to preferred international routes and schedules.

Flights to prominent destinations such as Paris (CDG), London (LHR), and Rome (FCO) are generally assigned to senior crew members. In contrast, junior flight attendants are often allocated less favorable domestic routes or placed on reserve status, with minimal control over their schedules.

In response, some have allegedly resorted to paying their senior colleagues for access to premium trips—an act explicitly prohibited by company policy.

To avoid detection, those involved reportedly used code words like “cookies,” “hugs,” “kisses,” or even “thanks” to discreetly signal that a trip trade involved monetary compensation. These terms were widely recognized within AA’s crew network as covert indicators of paid swaps.

An internal audit recently conducted by American Airlines specific patterns within the trip trading system. Consequently, airline issued a firm warning through an internal memo, emphasizing that "trips are not personal property" and "cannot be bought, sold, or brokered."

Remembering Air France Flight 447

AIR FRANCE AIRBUS A318-111 F-GUGQ (MSN 2972)

 

Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport (GIG/SBGL) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG/LFPG). On the 1st of June 2009, inconsistent airspeed readings led the pilots to inadvertently stall the Airbus A330 serving the flight. Unable to recover from the stall, the aircraft plunged into the mid-Atlantic Ocean at 02:14 UTC, claiming the lives of all 216 passengers and 12 crew members.

Within five days of the tragedy, the Brazilian Navy retrieved the first significant wreckage and two bodies from the ocean. However, the investigation by France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) faced early challenges due to the delayed recovery of the aircraft's flight recorders from the seabed in May 2011, almost two years post-accident.

On the 5th of July 2012, the BEA published its final report on the crash, corroborating earlier findings and adding further details and safety recommendations. The report concluded that the accident was a sequence of critical events: a temporary discrepancy in speed measurements, likely caused by ice crystals blocking the pitot tubes, which led to autopilot disconnection and a shift to "alternate law (ALT)" flight control mode. The crew's unsuitable control inputs destabilized the flight path. They did not adhere to the correct procedures for handling the loss of airspeed display, were slow to recognise and rectify the flight path deviation, lacked understanding of stall approach, and failed to realize the aircraft was in a stall, missing the opportunity to execute recovery maneuvers.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Air France

Code: AF/AFR

Aircraft: Airbus A330-203

Registration: F-GZCP

Serial Number: 660

Engines: 2 x General Electric CF6-80E1A3

First Flew: 25th February 2005

Age: 4.4 Years