Southeast Airlines A310 | 1987

Airline - Southeast Airlines
Aircraft - Airbus A310-324 | N32292
Delivered to Southeast Airlines, 1987
Sold to Anglican Airways, 2005
Stored at Birmingham Airport, 2008
Stored at Teruel, 2010
Scrapped and partially preserved, 2011
Livery - Standard 1977
Country - United States of America

Southeast Airlines is a major legacy carrier based in the southeast United States, as the name suggests. Beginning operations in Florida and Georgia in the 1940s, it grew over the years, becoming one of the largest airlines in the country by the 80s, with hubs in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Charlotte, Atlanta, and New York. In the 1980s Southeast Airlines recognized the viability of Airbus as a widebody aircraft manufacturer, first leasing A300s for high-demand domestic trunk routes, then creating a massive fleet of over fifty A310s (mostly -324s) for transatlantic and South American operations. While Southeast Airlines was historically focused on South America, operating a massive route network into the continent, the A310's small size and fuel efficiency (for its time) allowed the exploitation of 'thin' routes into Europe, as prior to its introduction in the fleet only major cities - London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris - were served with 747-100s. The A310 continued to be an important part of Southeast's fleet for over twenty years, even after the introduction of larger, but more efficient, A330s. The first A310-324 joined the fleet in early 1987, and the last to leave it was retired in October 2011, after operating its final flight with the airline from Manchester to Fort Lauderdale.

The A310 did not have a completely disturbance-free life with Southeast Airlines. In April 1992 two aircraft - one flying from Houston to Miami and the other from Atlanta to Managua - were hijacked within just a few days of each other and flown to Havana. In both cases, the hijackers remained in Cuba, while the planes flew back to the United States with all passengers and crew on board and unharmed. There was also one more serious incident, where an A310-324 operating a flight from New York to Rome in 1999 encountered a microburst after takeoff and crashed into Idewild Park. Despite the complete destruction of the aircraft and some heavy injuries sustained during the accident and post-crash fire and evacuation, there were no fatalities. The aircraft shown here, N32292, was the second A310-324 (and the eighth A310 in total, as the first six were -222s delivered between 1985 and 1987) to join the fleet. It operated mostly out of Miami and Charlotte on South American routes, sometimes flying to Europe and/or from other hubs. It was sold to a British holiday carrier in 2005, but was abandoned after that airline's bankruptcy three years later. After some time in storage, the aircraft was scrapped, however the cockpit section as well as some interior outfittings and parts of the airframe were preserved and placed in the 'History of Southeast Airlines' exhibit in Miami.