alexf Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 I was invited to this year's exclusive visit inside the fence at Miami International (KMIA). This once-a-year tour has been done for a few years. It is organized by the Airport Director's office, and has been also done by the two previous directors before him whom although now retired, were there acting as Tour Guides. The tour takes photographers filling two buses. I was lucky to get in this year through a friend. They gave us badges to be worn at all times. Each bus had a tour guide (ex-director) and a badged employee. We were to stay with them by the bus at all times due to security issues. The tour had unprecedented access as I have never been inside the fence and in the ramp before. At some points we were allowed to get off (had stay next to the bus). At other points, near Customs or busy areas, the bus drove by slowly and we had to shoot through the windows. (phone-camera image) We toured all the passenger ramps, plus several cargo areas, and also the flight line, where we caught several landings and takeoffs. We were in time to catch Lufthansa, flying the only A380 coming in regularly to Miami. We also got here a couple of hour later taxiing for departure. Notice how they she is escorted due to her over-sized width. The cargo areas were very interesting. The major ones are full of Boeing 747F like these: The northern smaller cargo areas have beautiful old planes like this Metroliner and Convair 580 The maintenance hangars had two rare Boeing 707s in. Once was John Travolta's but she was inside and could not be seen. In this area, run by private contractors, security was tight so we could not get off. Just took these pictures on a slow drive-by, through the windows (excuse the window reflections and tint). This B707 belongs to the Government of Congo and will soon be departing. The day before this tour, there was a collision between two airliners. An arriving AerolÃneas Argentinas A340-312 took the wrong entry line to the ramp, going in the narrow body lane instead of the center-line for wide-bodies. An outgoing Air France B777-300 was coming out of the gate. The Argentina aircraft touched Air France and sheared the horizontal stabilizer tip. You can see the damage in these two pictures I took from the bus (sorry for the window glare) Here's a closeup of the damage to the horizontal stabilizer: Here is the article in The Miami Herald about the incident http://www.miamihera...anes-touch.html Did you know that arriving passengers can see the word "MIAMI" built into the design of the ramp-side of the new terminal? There are a lot more images in my gallery: http://www.alexfelds...27623442_p2Vgjs Hope you enjoyed the tour. I certainly did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Fantastic shots alex it looks like you had a special day mate and thank you for sharing it with us. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cessna pilot Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Amazing shots. Really enjoyed them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taph Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Nice shots sounds like a grand day, thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boetie Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Wow thanks for taking the time to post these Alex, with your commentary very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexf Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 Thanks. It was a great day. Here are more from the A380 landing sequence (more at my photo gallery) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyAndFight Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Excellent photo-story! Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek McAllan Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 More great photos Alex, love the A380 shots! Cheers, Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Great shots, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Harmes Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Wow! What a day you must have had. Thanks heaps for sharing these awesome photos. Great job with the A380 photos. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killa-kebab007 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Fantastic set of pics. Thankyou for all your work, and for sharing it with like mindded individuals. Best regards Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribou Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Thanks Alex - fantastic set once again. Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Thanks for shaing these pics! Really great to see that the Metroliner and the Convair are still in use... Those shots remind me of my "Sky Trucks" and "Classic Propliners" books Cheers Mallard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amentiba Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Great photos, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Great photos! And a great story too! Thank You very much for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sightseer Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Thanks, Alex. nice shots. I like the Lufthansa landing shots. I also enjoyed the 747 and 707 shots. I just saw one of those A380s the other day. They're not very pretty are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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