Anyone lucky enough to be in the region of Kusadasi in Turkey’s Aydin province on Saturday afternoon will have had the opportunity to witness what was in every respect a genuine once in a lifetime sight. After all, it’s really not every day that you get to see a gigantic A300 Airbus being slowly but surely pulled out into the sea, in order to be deliberately sunk. 
Suffice to say, all the still images in the world really cannot do justice to the quite spectacular sight of the thing going down right there in front of you!
All of which begs the important and obvious question – why? Have the Turkish authorities gone barking mad, or is this their unique take on sensible scrapping and recycling?
Well, the answer may lie somewhere down the middle as rather than sending the plane away to be scrapped in the usual manner, it was instead decided to use it to create an artificial reef. Many aircraft and other vehicles have been previously sent to the bottom of the ocean to create artificial diving reefs – it’s just that this particular vehicle was spectacularly larger than any sunk to date!
Measuring in at 177 feet long and 144 feet wide, it is expected to become a magnet for underwater plant and animal life. The whole project is done toward creating an incredible offshore diving opportunity, which local authorities hope will drive international tourists to the area. Following a wave of terrorist attacks across the country, Turkey is investing heavily in a variety of creative projects to help boost its tourism industry.
And given the fact that they only paid £65,000 for this particular aircraft, you can’t help but think they got quite the bargain!
Hundreds of people turned up to watch the event which took somewhere in the region of 2 ½ hours in the end.
‘Our goal is to make Kusadasi a centre of diving tourism,’ said Aydin’s mayor Ozlem Cercioglu.
‘Our goal is to protect the underwater life. And with these goals in mind, we have witnessed one of the biggest wrecks in the world.’
‘Our main target to diversify tourism in Kusadasi and have a 12-month season.’
We’re sure you’ll agree – one of the most unusual, innovative and downright impressive uses of a scrap vehicle we’ve seen in some time!
Take My Scrap Car
As for us, we’re not exactly equipped to remove and deal with vehicles of these kinds of proportions – we’re more about cars, bikes and all other standard road vehicles. We’ve worked hard to put together what we believe is quite simply the most comprehensive service package currently available for UK customers, looking to rid themselves of their old scrap cars. We come to you, we take your car off your hands and we ensure that you are paid a fair price at the time of collection.
Admittedly, it’s not quite as exciting as dragging a commercial jet into the ocean and deliberately sinking it, but still…it’s just about the best deal you’re likely to find these days!
