‘Ghost’ Plane Spotted On Google Maps

People have a knack for finding odd things on Google Maps, and this time around, an image of a downed passenger aircraft in Australia has left some people a little spooked. According to reports from Metro, the plane is located in the Australian rainforest. Several users of the website stated that the plane was sitting somewhere between Townsville and Cairns. The image shows the downed plane nestled in a clearing. After zooming in on the picture, one would see that it looks either like a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320.[1] 

But what seems to be quite interesting is that Google Maps shows the clearing to be quite undisturbed. If the plane were to have crashed, this probably wouldn’t be the case. Another fact that has baffled users has been the very presence of this flight. Apparently, this plane runs on an established flight route. It is also shown in a Western location, but it usually flies throughout the North Queensland coast. What seems to be the icing on the cake has been the response from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. They have confirmed that they are unaware of any missing passenger aircraft in that area. In a statement, CASA mentioned, “There appears to be a phenomenon called ghost images and that could be what this is.”

Google Maps Catches Sight Of Ghost Plane In Australia

Simple Flying has an answer to this Google Maps conundrum. “The reason ghost flights exist is so that they can keep their slots at airports. This is a rule that is enforced by the European Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States, known as the ‘use it or lose it’ rule. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines were required to abide by the 80:20 rule which means airlines will have to use at least 80% of their slot time to be entitled to keep their designated slots.” 

This isn’t the first time that Google Maps has been able to pick up a ghost flight. On the 8th of June, such an aircraft entered the airfields of Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Incidentally, the plane didn’t have prior permission with the transponder out of order.[2] 

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Later on, media outlets discovered that Bronius Zaromkis, the director of Nida Airfield, is the owner of this plane. The Director stated that he had sold this aircraft to an anonymous buyer in Northern Lithuania. “I cannot guess which country they were from. They might be Ukrainians, maybe Romanians or Bulgarians. I was speaking to one of them in the Russian language. But I don’t know the names of any of these men, I was not interested. I’ve been trying to sell that plane for years, I had nowhere to store it, so I’m glad somebody bought it. I don’t remember the name of the company which bought it.” 

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