The last tour of SAS F28s An era is
over
Sunday the 31st of
October 1999, the F28 era within SAS came to an end. Last flights were a round trip
between Stockhom (STO) and Ängelholm (AGH) in the southern part of Sweden. Invited to
participate on this historical tour was a group of former and present employees who all
have played a role in the 26 years of F28 operation within Swedish domestic airline
Linjeflyg and SAS.
First aircraft to be delivered was SE-DGB, an F28-1000 that was ferried home to
Stockholm-Bromma airport the 25th of April 1973 by Captain P-O Olemyr. Captain
Olemyr who has been retired from his former position as V.P. Flight Operations - Linjeflyg
for a number of years, naturally participated in this event and observed the progress from
the flight deck jump seat on the way down to Ängelholm.
The 2 aircraft individuals ending
the F28 operation was:
SE-DGP operating as SK7545 STO-AGH and SK7546 AGH-STO with the following
crew:
Captain Rolf Wallin, Fleet Chief Pilot F28
Captain Roland Karlsson, Chief Pilot F28 at Base Stockholm
Air Hostess Inga Hammarstrand
Air Hostess Ann-Chatrin Karlsson
and
SE-DGL operating as SK 7449 STO-AGH and SK 7550 AGH-STO and flown by
Captain Bengt Rindå
Flight Officer Anders Åkerberg, Technical Pilot F28.
The first aircraft, SE-DGP, led the way
carrying all guests while the second aircraft, SE-DGL, joined up at Ängelholm with a
showoff "flyby" so that both the invitees and locals got a nice last view of the
F28.
After return to Stockholm-Arlanda airport, SAS Chief Executive Officer Jan Stenberg and
representatives from the manufacturer Fokker, made the formal speech before the farewell
party took over in the hangar, naturally with an F28 as the honored guest.
Some "Datamania":
Our fleet of F28s have, when the era ends, accumulated a total of more than 820.000
flighthours or 100 years airborne time and 1.192.000 landings.
* SE-DGL was delivered 30th August 1977 and has accumulated 48.585 flighthours
and 71.404 landings.
* SE-DGP was delivered 17th December 1982 and has accumulated 37.187
flighthours and 50.206 landings.
Out of the original fleet of 3 F28-1000 and 16 F28-4000 the following has happened:
The F28-1000 have all been taken out of service
The F28-4000 are still popular on the market and SAS have so far provided
- 4 aircraft have been provided to Air Botnia
in Finland
- 3 aircraft have been sold to Thailand
- 1 aircraft has been sold to Equador
- 1 aircraft has been sold to South Africa
The remainder of the fleet have, or will
be, flown to Holland awaiting new owners starting with SE-DGP that is leaving for Fokker
Overhaul Base in Woensdrecht, Holland, today 01NOV99.
Jens Ericsson |