Airline History Museum Loses ‘Derelict 727′ to Scrapper

Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 05:32 PM ET

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The 1978 Boeing 727, painted in American Airlines livery and carrying the number N874AA, was signed over to the Airline History Museum in 2016. King County International Airport–Boeing Field

Key Takeaways:

King County International Airport demolished a 1978 Boeing 727, previously intended for the Airline History Museum (AHM), after a court declared it a nuisance due to unpaid rent and failure to make it airworthy or remove it.
King County stated the AHM owed approximately $17,000 in back rent since 2018 and failed to comply with a 2020 court order for the aircraft's removal or restoration.
The AHM countered, alleging King County obstructed their efforts to pay rent and prepare the aircraft for relocation by denying access, not providing invoices, and rejecting valid FAA documents.
The museum's attempt to halt the demolition via a November 2021 subpoena was unsuccessful, as the county deemed it "too little, too late" against the existing court order authorizing the aircraft's destruction.

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It’s said that one person’s treasure is another person’s trash. This played out last week at King County International Airport (KBFI) in Seattle, where the county oversaw the demolition of what it describes in a media release as a “derelict 727.” According to the release, “A court action last year declared the aircraft a nuisance and allows King County to remove the airplane.”

The 1978 Boeing 727, painted in American Airlines livery and carrying the number N874AA, belonged to the Museum of Flight at KBFI until 2016, when it was signed over to the Airline History Museum (AHM) in Kansas City, Missouri.