So having finally seen the video of the crash that happened in Addison years ago (when I was only notified by my Younger sister of it after she saw the smoke at the time) and having a related video showing the Very aircraft with the curious tail registration OH-GOD (Which can be found
here), I got curious about something: Do any of the registration numbers from these crashed Aircraft get reused?
So I went about looking (Starting with the ones I am most familiar with, usually remembering the news coverage or having seen the footage in some of the old shows that used to air) and since the FAA site that
@wfooshee posted only gives me results for N numbers, I decided to for now focus on those. So far, I found 8 (5 that appear to not have an aircraft just yet) and there are 3 that had me do a double take:
VH-AWE: Now I did say that I went to focus on the N numbers (As the rest will follow that) but in googling this prior to said focus, I found a particularly interesting result as this was actually one of two registration numbers for the exact same aircraft: The Boeing 757-23APF of DHL Flight 611, The aircraft involved in the Überlingen mid-air collision with Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 over Überlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on July 1st, 2002. This was the first number it used the first time it was operated by DHL international before it was transferred over to another operator with the same number before then finding its way back to DHL where it was Reregistered as A9C-DHL. As for VH-AWE, its now found on a Beech G36 Bonanza that operates in Australia
N473DA: This number was first registered to the Boeing 727-232 of Delta Airlines Flight 1141, The plane which had the crew that decided during idle time to chat it up and joke about "Leaving something for our wives and children" before having a crash right after taking off in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas on August 31st, 1988. This number can now be found on a Cirrus SR20 that operated by a company in Sanford, Florida
N7711G: Unlike the numbers before (Or the ones after), this was not registered to a bigger Jet of a major Airline Operator but registered to something far smaller: The Cessna 172M that was struck by the Boeing 727-214 of PSA Flight 182 with both crashing down in San Diego, California on September 25th, 1978. This number can now be found on another Cessna, a P210N Operated by a company in Fort Myers Beach, Florida.
N1819U: This is the number that was registered to the Mcdonnell Douglas DC-10-10 of United Airlines Flight 232, the Aircraft that lost parts of its tail mounted engine due to a manufacturing defect of the fan disc which severed several hydraulic lines and had the subsequent emergency crash landing in Sioux City, Iowa on July 19th, 1989. Now this is one of five that don't have an immediate aircraft its attached to at present but was registered last year. Remember what I said about some of these making do a double take? Well here's the first of those because unlike the first three being reserved by smaller private operators, this was reserved by someone abit bigger:
So I guess this would pretty much go on a 737 of some kind knowing the company.
N612UA: Arguably, this might be the most famous of all these I have listed as it was registered to none other then the Boeing 767-200 of United Airlines Flight 175, one of the 4 Airplanes hijacked on September 11th, 2001, (and THE one that slammed right into the south tower with said event captured from what I've read was at least 50 different angles). Just based on that being attached to what might be one of the most captured and well-known terrorist acts in history, I was expecting no one to so much as even think about touching that number but someone did:
So there's the second one I had to double take upon finding it. Not only was it another big Airline Operator, but it was THE operator that had this number in the first place.
N526FE: This number was previously registered to the Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11F of Fed Ex Flight 80, the Aircraft that had attempted to land and bounced 3 times (The last one causing the landing gear to collapse and shear off the left wing) before rolling on its side in a fire ball in Tokyo Narita on March 23rd, 2009. Once again, we have another case of a once cancelled number being registered by the previous operator:
Can't imagine this going on another MD-11 considering there aren't many airworthy ones left (I believe they themselves are still operating only 1).
N739PA: Here is another one attached to a terrorist attack as it was registered to the Boeing 747-121 of Pan Am Flight 103, the Aircraft in which a bomb went off and sent it crashing down in Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21st, 1988 (And thus, "The Lockerbie Bombing" was what this incident would be called). Once again, a number I would've thought many would absolutely avoid but yet again someone actually went to register it.
No big names this time.
N736PA: Final one I have listed is another former Pan Am registration but instead of a terrorist attack, it was involved in the "Tenerife Airport Disaster" (The deadliest accident in Aviation History). This one was registered to the Boeing 747-121 of Pan Am Flight 1736, the plane that was stuck by KLM Flight 4805 that was not cleared to take off on the Canary Islands in Tenerlife, Spain on March 27th, 1977. This number was last seen on this Mooney M20:
As it currently looks, The number appears to have been Cancelled but weirdly not set to purge until 2027 so plenty of time for someone to come reserve it should there be interest.