The last Qantas B747, VH-OEJ, departed Sydney, Australia on 22nd July 2020. It flew over Sydney Harbour twice, then flew south to Wollongong.
However the celebration was not done yet, it surprised many by drawing an iconic kangaroo in the sky on its final journey to the airplane boneyard in Mojave, California via Los Angeles.
Flight QF7474 arrived in Los Angeles Int'l (LAX) at 13:23 on July 22nd 2020. Being in the US, I was able to visit the Qantas B747-400/ER at both LAX and Mojave.
Last look Inside the Qantas B747
Let's have a tour of the last Qantas B747-400/ER, VH-OEJ, at the LAX Qantas maintenance base.
I must say the interior looks immaculate and looks fresh out of the factory. It is evident that Qantas have looked after their B747.
Qantas B747 A Zone Nose Area 
Qantas B747 A Zone Business Class
Qantas B747 B Zone Business Class 
Qantas B747 B Zone Business Class
The B747-400/ER has the Boeing signature interior on the overhead bins, providing extra head room for passengers.
Qantas B747-400/ER Economy Zone D 
Qantas B747-400/ER Economy Zone D
Some seats have been removed in the rear section and these seats were retained for future crew training use.
Mojave
The Qantas B747 made her final journey from Los Angeles to Mojave on July 24th 2020. It touched down at Mojave around 11:50, after a 30 minute flight and flew at 13,000 ft.
At Mojave, she joined 5 of her other B747-400/ER sister-ships in storage. Four of them are pictured here.
Once the engines were shut down, I was allowed to board and meet up the pilots in the cockpit.
The last B747-400/ER flight was operated by 6 Qantas pilots. They were:
- Captain Sharelle Quinn
- Captain Ewen Cameron
- Captain Greg Fitzgerald
- Captain Owen Weaver
- F/O Quin Ledden
- S/O Owen Zupp
The last LAX to Mojave leg was operated by Captain Ewen Cameron and Captain Greg Fitzgerald, who both will be retiring after this flight.
I took the opportunity to take pictures with them and present them with Qantas B747 T shirts, as memorabilia.
The daughter of the 747 Fleet Manager, Captain Owen Weaver, made this special Kangaroo mascot (with mask on!).
The 6 flight deck crew came down to pose for photos for the memorable occasion.
It was my honour to sign on her fuselage at LAX. So many emotions were going through my head, I was literally lost for words.
It was a bittersweet day with the last Qantas B747 at Mojave, Ca.
Not only will I miss the 747, I will also miss the human stories around this plane; sharing the stories, the passion, different cultures and experiences through the shared love of B747 that has brought us together! Thank you Qantas B747, forever Queen of the Sky!
Over the last 25 years, I've on a total of 16 times on Qantas B747 across all variants from the SP to the -400/ERs.
This Saturday a grand farewell vlog of Qantas B747 will be released on my YouTube Channel.
You can buy Qantas T-shirt on Skyshirts.
