This year has seen a number of startling images from around the world of aviation. From the BA Boeing 777 Heathrow incident at the start of the year, to Ryanair calendar girls and a MiG-25 stuck in sand, here is a list of the most popular images of the year from our community site AirSpace:
1. British Airways Boeing 777 Heathrow Incident
In January this year, 136 passengers from a British Airways Boeing 777 had to be evacuated after the aircraft, arriving from Beijing,came to rest at the threshold of runway 27L at Heathrow.
Middle Eastern carrier Emirates revealed the first images of the interior features on its Airbus A380 aircraft in July, showing that shower-spas will be among the facilities installed for first-class passengers.
This image, taken from the promotional material, was the first look at the interior of the aircraft.
- See more interior shots of the aircraft or more Airbus A380 images
This year's November launch was an unhappy coincidence of timing, with a Ryanair 737 landing heavy and overrunning in Rome following a bird strike happening on the same day. Never ones to be dismayed, Ryanair ploughed on, persuading a couple of the girls to shrug off their uniforms and brave the weather for charity.
- Here is the rest of this year's calendar pictures and last year's effort.
4.Ank Air with unfortunate branding!
If you’re Turkey's World Focus Airlines and you are going to rebrand your company to a name like ‘Ank Air’, you maybe should give the logo design a little more thought:
5. Mikoyan Mig-25 Foxbat Iraqi Air Force
The Russian made Mig-25 Foxbat being recovered by U.S.Air Force troops in this photo is an advanced reconnaissance version never before seen in the West. U.S.A.F. recovery teams had to use large earth-moving equipment to uncover the MiG, which is over 70 feet long and weighs nearly 25 tons.
6. Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Technical Diagram
It has been an extremely busy year for Virgin Galactic and its space program, from technical drawing like this to actual flight teats during December. For the latest news, read Hyperbola.
7. Qantas Airways 747-400 Emergency landing
In July, a Qantas Airways Boeing 747-400 was forced to make an emergency descent and diversion to Manila after a large section of its fuselage separated, resulting in a rapid decompression.
This Lufthansa Airbus A320 suffered a wing-tip strike before executing a go-around during an attempt to land at Hamburg International Airport during high winds on 1 March.
In April, a Hewa Bora Airways McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashed into a residential and commercial area of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The country's United Nations mission, MONUC, says its personnel helped locate the the devices from the wreckage of the jet
10. Boeing 757 in Open Skies colours
British Airways branded its European-US subsidiary carrier ‘OpenSkies’ and opened services in June with daily flights to New York from either Brussels or Paris Charles de Gaulle.
- See more Airline New Schemes Galleries
Source: FlightGlobal.com