The last flying Boeing 747-SPs are still very popular with aviation fans, so the news is all the more sad that one of the two copies from Las Vegas Sands Corp. was already badly damaged in August 2020. As has now become known, the Boeing 1979SP-747 built for Pan Am in 21 with the construction number 21649-373 is said to have been hit by a Boeing business jet during maintenance work at Lake Charles (Louisiana) airport. There is no official statement from the company, according to the photos and insider reports, the BBJ N836BA, which is also under maintenance, is likely to have detached itself from its parking position in the maintenance hangar due to strong wind and hit the “Little Queen of Skies” on the bow. In the process, the Boeing 747 collided with the hall structure, which is why, in addition to a slashed bow, the wings were also badly affected. The trigger for this fiasco is suspected to be the hurricane “Laura”, which at this time was moving over the region with wind speeds of up to 240 km / h.

The future of the VQ-BMS, one of only six currently active Boeing 747-SPs, is highly uncertain; insider circles currently assume that the machine has already been irreparably eliminated. This means that only the sister machine VP-BLK would be in the fleet of Las Vegas Sands Corp. remain. The company, which specializes in the operation of luxury hotel and casino facilities in the USA and Asia, has been operating VP-BMS as a VIP aircraft for the management level as well as for special luxury customers since 2008. In addition, Las Vegas Sands Corp., which also operates Airbus A340-500, Boeing 767 and Gulfstreams, makes its aircraft available to Hollywood celebrities again and again.