General Demolition dismantles 71m-long plane in Bournemouth

These pictures show a 30-year-old jumbo jet being demolished by General Demolition at Bournemouth International Airport in Dorset.

The Boeing 747-236B, which is 71m long and 19m wide, was retired in 2004 after 26 years of service. Its Rolls-Royce RB211 engines and wings were removed and the internals of the plane stripped out before the main demolition.

After removal of the cockpit and tail and the salvage of the wheel assemblies, a 40-tonne Doosan DX420LC hydraulic excavator was used to demolish the main body and tail sections of the plane.

General Demolition was engaged by specialist aircraft decommissioning and asset recovery company GJD Services to help in the scrapping, which was undertaken for European Aviation Air Charter, the plane's owner since 2002. It had previously been in service with BA since 1978.

General Demolition are more commonly involved in the demolition of buildings including the main grandstand at Epsom and Abbey House in London.

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