Aircraft PP-TPC Data

This aircraft was the third of an initial batch of three DC-8s for Air New Zealand, delivered brand new to the airline on September 22, 1965, ushering the airline into the jet age.
On 30 January 1974, this aircraft carried HM The Queen, HRH Princess Anne and Captn Mark Phillips from Rarotonga to Christchurch.
Leaving Air NZ service in December 1981, she went to store at Palm Springs for a short time, before long term storage at Marana Pinal Air Park. The aircraft was not bought until 1987, and was made airworthy and flew for Crown Air, registered C-FCRN in 1989. In 1991 the aircraft changed hands, going to FB Air, now registered N42920. The Aircraft was leased to Peru operator Faucett Aviation as OB-1421, then returned to FB Air and was, during this period, seized by US Custom Authorities after being used to carry drugs from Colombia. Another storage period ensued at Opa Locka, before the Aircraft was purchased and converted to a series 54 freighter for Brazilian freight operator Transportes Charter Do Brasil (TCB), registered PP-TPC, named ‘Daniel’, after the owner’s son, this name painted below the cockpit windows. It is believed that the aircraft started operation with TCB in 1997. By the new millennium, the 35 year old aircraft was the sole survivor of the one time Air New Zealand DC-8 fleet of seven. Sadly, in about May 2005, in her 40th year, and just 4 months shy of her 40th anniversary of delivery to Air New Zealand, the aircraft was withdrawn at Manaus Eduardo Gomes Airport in northern Brazil, and dumped in a remote corner with the airport, with other withdrawn jets, and to date has shed a few parts at the time of writing (July 2006).
It is hoped, before it is too late, that perhaps this very historically significant jet for New Zealand’s rich aviation history that has had such a long and distinguished career, outlasting most aircraft her age, can maybe be saved for preservation.