Amazing video of 747 lifting in place in extreme wind conditions

No, the plane isn’t haunted; this is apparently real…

This 747 is sitting in a boneyard in Mojave, CA and is in the process of being dismantled. On May 23rd, 2012 the area experienced extreme winds of 70+ miles per hour and reports of gusts up to 100 near the pass due to a low pressure zone. Without the weight of its engines, the slightly tail heavy 747 tries to take to the skies one last time. The next day the plane was found to have also rotated about 45 degrees from its original position. The same wind storm damaged many rooftops, cut power and sent huge clouds of sand and dust billowing into the sky. Mojave will occasionally experience this type of wind storm due to geography.

The comments on YouTube are for the most part predictably uninformed, but at Gizmodo (where I found the video), there is some interesting speculation about why other aircraft aren’t experiencing the same phenomena. The most plausible to me is that the aircraft’s flaps (and possibly slats) are extended, increasing its lift. Given that the 747 is empty, has no engines, and is improperly tied down, I suppose this seems reasonable (I hope I’m not wrong ;-p)…