40 Bewildering Abandoned Aircraft That Have Experts Scratching Their Heads

For years, it wasn’t that unusual to spot discarded airplanes and jets across Nigeria. That being said, it still didn’t make “graveyards” like this one any less shocking to look at. Each aircraft there seemed to be slowly decomposing. Since 2013, though, the African nation’s authorities have pushed for older planes to receive better treatment.

The discovery of a lost B-17G Flying Fortress in 2018 ended a decades-long mystery that stretched back to World War II. In late 1944, an American pilot named Ernest Vienneau seemingly disappeared over Europe. But the questions as to what transpired were finally answered once a swimmer uncovered the airplane’s wreckage. It’d been sitting beneath a bed of water in Croatia after being shot down.

The B-24 Liberator was described as a “heavy bomber” during its service to America in World War II. But the airplane you see here suffered a somewhat unusual fate. According to the website PastFactory, it crashed on Alaska’s Atka Island in 1942 and was never recovered. In fact, only the artillery was retrieved more than 30 years later. The remains have stayed there ever since.

Officially, this jaw-dropping area in Arizona is called the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. But it might be better known as “The Boneyard.” It’s a fitting moniker. You see, this is a base used by the U.S. Air Force to keep decommissioned airplanes. It’s roughly 2,600 acres in size, and the contents are said to be valued at $35 billion. That’s not a typo, folks. Wow.

The Burning Man festival is a multi-day event held across the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. But off the back of one of those gatherings, an abandoned Boeing 747 emerged. Huh? How? Well, the giant plane was converted into a club of sorts, which included its own dance floor. Once the party was over, though, the crowd apparently left it there. This takes littering to a whole new level!

The VVA-14 was a weird-looking airplane, to say the least! It was originally put together in the early 1970s in the Soviet Union, with its strange shape suiting water-based lift-offs. It also aided fast movement as well, as PastFactory reported that these planes could reach over 470 miles-per-hour. We wonder how many flights this one was part of before getting dumped in a Russian meadow?

With its red and silver paint job, it would’ve been hard not to notice this 1962 Lockheed Jetstar Jet in its heyday. Plus, it belonged to Elvis Presley. So there’s that. Mind you, that didn’t stop the plane from sitting alone on a New Mexico airstrip for around three decades. It was eventually auctioned off in 2017.

Who’d have thought that an abandoned Boeing 737 in Indonesia could become a big hit with overseas travelers? Well, that’s exactly what’s happened over the last 15 years. Sitting in a quarry close to Pandawa Beach, the area surrounding this jet can be accessed if you’re willing to hand a payment to the nearby guards.

There’s something quite unsettling about this shot of a downed C-47 aircraft. It looks as though it’s been laying in that mountainous region for years, becoming one with the environment. We can only hope that whoever was flying in it managed to escape with their lives when the accident happened.

To say that the Tornado ZA466 has had a lot of usage down the years would be a major understatement. According to PastFactory, these aircrafts were brought out for conflicts such as the Libyan Civil War, the Bosnian War, the Iraq War, and the Gulf War. This one here was involved in the latter, and got wrecked as a result. It couldn’t be fixed, so the remains were abandoned in Saudi Arabia.

Have you ever found anything using a drone? Well, something tells us that none of those discoveries can touch this! Yes, one such device uncovered a mysteriously abandoned air base in North Carolina. A lone plane sat inside one of seven hangars, while its airstrip remained unfinished. It was both fascinating and strange in equal measure.

If you dive deep enough into South Carolina’s Lake Murray, there’s a good chance you’ll uncover aircraft remains similar to the B-25 bomber here. Apparently, the U.S. Air Force frequently utilized that space for bombing practice, earning it the moniker of “Bomb Island.” This particular airplane was saved by a guy who intended to give it some love and show it off at a college.

In the past, the Antonov An-12 was one of the go-to options for the Soviet Union if soldiers needed to be transported across the skies. But this abandoned aircraft in Bagram, Afghanistan, isn’t going anywhere. It’s held up by tanks and smothered in spray paint at the town’s airstrip. A far-cry from its heyday, right?

A Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter was on a seemingly normal journey across Alaska in May 2004. Everything changed, though, when an engine stopped working mid-flight, before bursting into flames. Despite that terrifying scene, the pilot managed to take the plane down safely, saving both themselves and the other passenger on board. Thank goodness!

The Bell P-39Q Airacobra was frequently used by the Soviet Union during World War II, but this one couldn’t make it back to its base. Instead, the person behind the controls had to bring it down over a lake in Russia. Subsequently, the airplane disappeared beneath the watery surface. Yet someone managed to stumble across it in 2004, which resulted in its recovery. Talk about luck, right?

Yes, we know what you’re thinking — how on Earth did this Boeing 727 end up in an Oregon woodland? Well, thankfully it didn’t crash there. Instead, a guy named Bruce Campbell took the old airplane to that spot after buying it for around $100,000. He then transformed it into his new home, adding a kitchen, laundry room, bedroom, and office to the interior. That’s so cool!

We’re all for creative repurposing, but this takes the cake. And probably served it, too! You see, the giant Boeing 747 plane here was transformed into an eatery once its flying days were over in South Korea. But as awesome as it looked on the outside, the meals on offer apparently left a lot to be desired. In the end, it eventually shut-up shop.

Black sand beaches can be striking at the best of times, yet this one in Iceland has an additional factor. Yep, a DC-3 airplane went down there in 1973. According to HotCars, the person behind the controls managed to save everyone on board. As for the aircraft, it’s stayed in the same spot ever since. It makes for a pretty haunting sight.

The Ilyushin Il-76 Cargo Plane you see here is an absolute beast. But why is it sitting alone in the sands of the United Arab Emirates? Well, the answer could shock you. As it turns out, this aircraft belonged to Viktor Bout, an infamous figure who illegally transported weapons across Africa and Europe. Bout was eventually captured by authorities in 2008, and his plane has since stayed grounded.

No folks, that isn’t quicksand. For the last two decades or so, this alleged Colombian narco plane has been left to sink into a beach in Mazunte, Mexico. According to PastFactory, the nation’s armed forces disabled it. Mind you, no one really knows what the pilot’s intentions were — or what they were carrying.

Following a disastrous fire that destroyed her house, Joanne Ussery made a seemingly random decision. Yes, she splashed $2,000 on a decommissioned Boeing 727. Then, Joanne had the plane brought to her land near a lake in Mississippi. From there, she converted the interior into a new living space. And it looks great! Talk about creative thinking.

In the Cold War, just over 100 Convair B-58 Hustlers were built. And boy oh boy, were they fast. As per HotCars, these planes could reach in excess of 1,500 miles per hour. Despite all that, though, one of them sits unloved on a sandy landscape today, which is unfitting for its rare status.

Although Bristol Type 170 Freighters were originally conceived of to transport people and vehicles in World War II, they were never utilized during the conflict. Some late model changes put paid to that. But still, that didn’t stop the plane here from crashing in Canada in 1956. Due to the surrounding trees and water, no one’s been able to retrieve it since.

This remarkable photograph shows a diver exploring the eerie wreckage of a Japanese seaplane in Palau, an island complex in the Pacific Ocean. The watery graveyard is home to dozens of WWII wrecks lying frozen in time — a haunting reminder of the battles that once took place there.

Trust us, that’s not a still from a movie; it’s very much real. In the winter of 1946, that C-53 Skytrooper smashed into a glacier while flying across the Swiss Bernese Alps. Eight people were aboard the aircraft, with a little girl among their number. Miraculously, though, they all survived the ordeal and were rescued.

During the early 1970s, an unfortunate trio got quite the shock when their Curtiss C-46 plane suffered an oil issue. They had to return to their airstrip, but collided with utility poles along the way too. Due to that, it landed in Hudson Bay, Canada, with all three people making it out alive. The jet hasn’t been touched in the following years, but it was utilized for a film shoot. We’re serious!

After the WB-29 Superfortress was decommissioned in 1955, one of the planes was repurposed for “open water extraction training” at an Alaskan air base. There was just one problem, though. The water levels of the lake it was floating in eventually shot up, engulfing the craft. It’s been stuck there ever since, which earned it an interesting moniker: “Lady of the Lake.”

As World War II raged on, Dennis Copping of the British Royal Air Force was said to have engaged in a perilous pursuit above the Sahara Desert. Unfortunately for him, his Kittyhawk P-40 was then hit, causing him to crash. Dennis still hasn’t been found, while his plane is sitting in the sands today, minus its weapons.

How about this for a surprise? The Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber you see here wasn’t actually shot down in World War II. Instead, it was purposely dumped into the sea by America’s armed forces once the conflict ended. No joke! As per PastFactory, the higher-ups didn’t want to splash the cash required to get aircraft back home. So there’ll probably be a few more down there.

It isn’t every day that you stumble across an old airplane hiding in greenery, but it’s become a familiar sight to those passing through New Hampshire. Yep, a Beechcraft 18 plane has just been left on its lonesome out in the wild, watching the world go by. The poor thing!

Douglas C-47 airplanes played a crucial role throughout World War II, transporting both soldiers and important caches. But you wouldn’t know that by glancing at this one. As per the website HotCars, there’s no explanation as to how or why this particular craft was left at Croatia’s Zeljava Air Base. Hopefully it won’t disappear beneath all that greenery!

You’ll find it tough to name a rarer plane than the Tu-128UT Fighter Jet. According to PastFactory, only ten of them were constructed by the Soviet Union during the 1970s. So, to uncover one sitting alone in Izhevsk, Russia, was a pretty big deal. Might this be the last of its kind?

In the fall of 1970, the crew aboard a C-121 Lockheed Constellation experienced quite the fright. Due to some adverse weather conditions in South Antarctica, the airplane was forced into an emergency landing near a runway. Thankfully, everyone got out unscathed, but the same can’t be said for the C-121. It’s been there ever since, buried beneath the snowy landscape.

This tale might leave your jaws on the floor, so be prepared! When the American Navy no longer needed one of its PBY-5A Catalina sea jets, Thomas W. Kendall bought it to use as a yacht. PastFactory notes that he and his clan took it to Saudi Arabia, but following their arrival, a gang kidnapped them. The U.S. Embassy then played a big role in saving the family, who left the old plane behind.

Otherwise known as “Sonias,” Ki-51 dive bombers have quite the history behind them. Japan utilized these airplanes across World War II, despite realizing that they weren’t fast enough to compete with the enemy. Troops would ultimately use them on the ground and for suicide assaults. Now, plenty of abandoned Ki-51s can still be seen at an airstrip in South Korea.

For nearly 20 years, Saab J-35F Fighter Jets were seen as some of the most impressive planes around in Europe. The Swedish military even called upon them, as they zoomed across the skies throughout the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. Due to their costliness, though, no more were made from 1974 onwards. Quite how this one ended up in a Finnish forest is beyond us!

In another mystery with ties to World War II, the USAAF B-24D Liberator seemingly vanished without a trace above Libya. The airplane, which was nicknamed “The Lady Be Good,” housed nine passengers on board. But in 1958, its remains were uncovered in the nation’s desert. The belief is that the troops got caught in a sandstorm, which ultimately took them over 400 miles off course.

Do you know what happens if you fly an airplane above an erupting volcano? Well, you only need to look at this World Airways DC-10 jet. While Mount Pinatubo was causing chaos around the Philippines in 1991, the aircraft got caught up in it. The vapors and smoke absolutely ruined it, so it’s remained in a prone position on the ground ever since.

Hotel rooms don’t come much more unique than this! Yes folks, the Boeing 727 you’re looking at here was indeed transformed into one for Hotel Costa Verde in Costa Rica. You’ll find a pair of bedrooms and bathrooms on board, as well as an amazing wooden porch built over a wing. As for the price, PastFactory noted that it costs in excess of $2,700 per week.

The Bahamas is one of the most picturesque locations on the planet, yet it also houses an incredibly striking abandoned plane. Sitting beneath a bed of water, this Curtis C-46 Commando has an almost eerie quality to it. Apparently it was a “smuggling” aircraft before sinking. Pablo Escobar was said to have called on airplanes like this during his heyday. Could it be one of his?