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All the United States North Carolina Maxton Laurinburg-Maxton Aircraft Boneyard
Laurinburg-Maxton Aircraft Boneyard is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Laurinburg-Maxton Aircraft Boneyard

This airfield is home to a number of retired vintage planes in various states of disrepair.

Maxton, North Carolina

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Former Northwest Airlines aircraft being scrapped for parts of metal at Laurinburg-Maxton Airport in Maxton, North Carolina.   RadioFan on Wikipedia
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First 747 purchased by Northwest Airlines, now on display at NASM in Washington DC.   Shawn A Dorsch
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747’s, nose to nose   bruceincharlotte / Atlas Obscura User
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Think “aircraft boneyard” and you might picture a stretch of barren land out in Arizona or other parts of the American Southwest. It would be easy to overlook the assortment of abandoned jets quietly decomposing in an old Army Air Force field back East.

Laurinburg-Maxton Airport, about two hours from Charlotte, North Carolina, is currently home to a number of retired 727s, 747s, and DC-10s in various states of disrepair. All former Northwest Airlines planes, these vintage aircraft are now sold for scraps.

Many of the retired planes are missing their engines and rudders, which have been purchased from the Airport's salvage yard, which is owned by the Charlotte Aircraft Corporation. 

One of the planes, an abandoned Boeing 747-100, even had its nose cut off; the front of the plane was removed and transported to Washington DC, where you might recognize it as the 747 displayed in front of the National Air and Space Museum. The noble nose stands as a proud reminder of the time when these old birds ruled the skies.

Update February 2017: The Laurinburg-Maxton Aircraft Boneyard is no longer allowing people on property to photograph the planes due to people visiting without permission and stealing and breaking things. Visitors can be arrested for trespassing. 

Related Tags

Abandoned Airplane Graveyard Airplanes Airports Transportation

Know Before You Go

Due to trespassing and vandalism this place is 100% off limits to any public. People are being arrested for trespassing.

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Added By

douglasthayer

Edited By

ExploringTheObscure, Meg, bruceincharlotte, tg

  • ExploringTheObscure
  • Meg
  • bruceincharlotte
  • tg

Published

June 28, 2016

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Laurinburg-Maxton Aircraft Boneyard
16701 Airport Rd
Maxton, North Carolina, 28364
United States
34.796184, -79.369526
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