The last Boeing 737/200 aircraft nicknamed ‘La Chancha’ (the pig) flight for Aerolineas Argentinas and Austral occurred yesterday. The plane landed at 7:10 pm in Jorge Newbery airport, Buenos Aires.
The legendary aircraft flew almost 40 years and traveled about 1,200 million miles.
Yesterday morning made their last landing two of the three which were still operating. And the last 737-200 flight, dubbed “sow” (female pig) for its rounded lines was identified as AR1442. It departed yesterday at 2:15 pm from Aeroparque bound for Catamarca and La Rioja, and returned to Buenos Aires at 7.37 pm.
“It was the most exciting flight of my life,” said Captain Fernando Carrea after landing.
There was also present a group of young fans of the computer game “Flight Simulator”, who came up to say goodbye to the iconic plane shouting and singing.
The first B 737/200 Aerolineas Argentinas incorporated touched the runway at Ezeiza on February 29, 1970 and during the next four years were added another 11 aircraft.
In those days aircraft were named after cities, so that the first four units were named city of Mar del Plata, Bariloche, Posadas and Buenos Aires.
The following year, four more aircraft joined the fleet and were named Comodoro Rivadavia, Trelew, Tucuman and Jujuy.
The fleet was completed in 1974 with four more B-737/200, in this case in the improved Advance version. The first two were aslo named after cities Esquel and Ushuaia.
Sad day for the 737, but plenty more in the pipeline 737 forever