Planes Have Retired Numbers
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
In sports, there is a tradition that players do not use the numbers of former players or coaches who have significantly contributed to the teams in the past ― so-called ``retired numbers.''
Some of these numbers include 4 previously owned by Henry Louis Gehrig of the New York Yankees; 23 by Michael Jordan; 32 by Earvin ``Magic'' Johnson; 10 by ``Pele'' Edson Arantes do Nasscimento and by Diego Armando Maradona; 18 by Sun Dong-yol of the Kia Tigers; and 21 by Park Cheol-soon of Doosan.
In aircraft registration, there exist retired numbers, also.
Aviation rules oblige every aircraft to have a national code and four-digit registration number.
South Korea's national code is HL. The first number is decided according to the type of engine the aircraft uses ― 1 and 2 for a piston engine, 5 for a turboprop engine, and 7 for a jet engine, to name a few. The second number indicates how many engines it uses.
For example, HL7459 means a South Korean jet plane with four engines. The last two numbers, 59, are serial numbers.
Designating retired numbers is not a rule or obligation, but the 10 numbers below are not used traditionally, as they belonged to planes involved in tragic accidents.
HL106:
A DC-3RL aircraft, operated by Korean National Airlines, the predecessor of Korean Air, was carrying 31 passengers and three crewmembers from Busan to Seoul on Feb. 16 in 1958 when North Korean spies hijacked it. It was the first hijacking in Korea. The kidnapped people were later returned to the South.
HL5208:
A Korean Air plane with 47 passengers and four crewmembers was hijacked on its way from Gangneung to Seoul on Dec. 11, 1969. Some of the hostages were later returned.
HL7429:
A Korean Air jetliner, from Paris to Seoul, violated the Soviet Union's territorial airspace due to a navigation malfunction on April 20, 1978. It was attacked by the Soviet air force and forced to make an emergency landing at Imandra Lake, killing two passengers out of a total 109.
HL7445:
On Nov. 19 in 1980, a Korean Air jumbo jet B747 from Los Angeles to Seoul was completely destroyed by fire after failing to make a proper landing. Sixteen people among the 198 onboard were killed.
HL7442:
A Korean Air flight from New York to Seoul was attacked by the Soviet air force in the skies above Sakhalin and crashed on Sept. 1, 1983. All 269 passengers, including a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, died.
HL7339:
On Dec. 23 in 1983, a Korean Air freighter from Anchorage to Los Angeles collided with South Central Air's Piper 31 when taking off. All aboard were killed.
HL7406:
The famous KE858 flight destroyed by bombs set up by North Korean spies, including Kim Hyon-hee. On Nov. 29, 1987, the spies blew up the Korean Air plane traveling from Baghdad to Seoul, killing all 115 people onboard.
HL7328:
On July 27 in 1989, a Korean Air plane traveling from Jordan to Libya crashed at Tripoli Airport due to poor visibility, killing 80 and injuring about 140.
HL7229:
An Asiana Airlines flight from Seoul to Mokpo crashed near Mokpo Airport on July 26, 1993, killing 68 among the 106 people onboard.
HL7468:
A Korean Air plane carrying 254 people from Seoul to Guam crashed at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on Aug. 6 in 1997, killing 228.