I’d like to think that OMAAT readers collectively know just about everything, so I’m curious if anyone has any theories here…
In this post:
Google Maps shows strange planes that don’t exist
Someone with the username Brick made a fascinating observation on airliners.net. This person was looking at Google Maps for Detroit Metro Airport (DTW), and as you’d expect, most of the aircraft parked at gates are Delta planes, given what a big hub it is for the carrier.
However, if you look at gates A29 and A31, you’ll notice something strange. There are two Boeing 717s parked there… in the Lufthansa livery?!?
Lufthansa doesn’t operate the Boeing 717, and never has. Delta does, however, operate this aircraft. This user concludes with the following:
“I’ve worked in the mapping industry for over 20 years, so I know all about DEMs, ortho image rectification, and ortho photo mosaicking. I can’t explain this however.”
Does anyone want to take a crack at this?
I’m a pretty low tech guy, so this is certainly outside my area of expertise. But here’s how Google Maps describes how it captures imagery, which is exactly how I thought it worked:
“Google Maps uses satellite imagery to create detailed maps of the world. Satellites orbiting the earth capture high-resolution images of the surface, which are then stitched together to create a complete map of an area.”
We sometimes see strange things on Google Maps that capture something out of the ordinary, since it’s based on what was somewhere at a specific point in time. So it wouldn’t be totally out of the question to capture a Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 or Qatar Airways A350 at Tampa Airport, if the imagery was captured at a time when aircraft diversions were happening.
But to capture a plane that an airline doesn’t fly, and/or to repaint an aircraft flown by another airline, is a little strange. I’m starting to understand how people become conspiracy theorists… 😉
Bottom line
If you believe Google Maps, you’d think that Lufthansa flies Boeing 717s to Detroit Airport. Lufthansa has never flown Boeing 717s, though Delta does fly them. But how did Delta aircraft get repainted as Lufthansa aircraft?
Any guesses?
Maybe Delta sold some Boeing 717’s to Lufthansa but didn’t announce it yet.
The truth is no fun. they are Russian covert espionage planes.
The image is the same plane mirrored. The bottom image shows the shadow of the jet way up against the plane. If upu look at the top image the shadows are identical. Cracks in the tarmac have been washed in the image in an attempt to remove them from the photo
Who honestly cares?
Israel is at war after being attacked, the US Navy is off their coast and we are potentially getting into another war in the middle east … we have a mass shooting in Maine with 18 people confirmed dead … seriously!
It's Google Earth, not maps.
A possibility is Delta sold the aircraft to Lufthansa and repaint was done in USA. Sitting at location that doesn’t cost extra, the gates Delta own at Metro. I don’t believe Lufthansa main line will/would operate them but likely regional contacted with them? Rare photo indeed.
This probably is no different than seeing multiple Class 1 locomotives on all Class 1 railroad tracks. They share trackage rights to save big bucks. Been going on forever.
Fossil fuel companies do the same with pipeline transfers.
The easiest explanation is that Luft leased a couple of 717s for a short time. A record search will probably reveal the history. Or, someone could ask them
Bombardier CRJ
It is interesting that although the planes look like clones the shadows are different.
Agree, there is no point to this article. You could ask someone or research the answer on your own.
Also, before the Evans Terminal was built, complete with its own USCBP facilities, LH did use DL’s terminal. They never would have used those exact gates, but they’re directly across from the ones with CBP diversions where they would have been at the time. So Google wouldn’t have had to look very far for the LH livery in an older image.
They are Lufthansa CRJ-900s.
Lufthansa Cityjet CRJ900 either being used by SkyWest or flying over to Germany in some deal
Look at the shadows. The jetway shadow is vivid and dark, the jet wing shadows are fussy and gray. These plane images were placed there for some reason.
I don't know if that's the case but I know by personal experience that Google Street view sometimes mixed a new picture with an old one.
This is proof that even pictures are not what they seem. It's going to be a very troubled future. I think it has already started. Brace for surprises. Be fit and react should you need to. Good luck !
As many have stated before me, Bob is absolutely correct.. Look at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int'l Airport at Ramp 20 (northside of the airport, west of the FBO ramp) and you will see five Japan Airlines (J-Air) EMB-175's!! Even more interesting is each one is the size of a 787! Use the Delta 757-200 parked on the other side of the ramp for comparison. The EMB-175's are parked where Delta parks their widebodies.
This will explain a bit about what's going on with Lufthansa: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/lufthansa-scales-up-cargo-operations-at-detroit-metro-airport
They're expanding their cargo here and the planes are most likely being leased, repurposed planes of their own, or they've bought a couple to help with quick expansion of their shipping capabilities.
never heard of a Boeing 717 ??
Where did the 717’s come from!
Could be that Lufthansa is going to lease 2 B717’s from Delta airlines and because Lufthansa hasn’t taken possession of the aircraft, Delta is still flying them.
Germanwings which was a subsidiary of Lufthansa used the 717 so is it possible these are their former aircraft that may have been reliveried ? I know Lufthansa is not listed as an operator in their own right but it would be more logical that assets would be absorbed in to the parent company than theories that computers have repainted the aircraft in the mapping process!
No. It's a composite image.
There's absolutely no reason that former Germanwings aircraft would be painted in LH livery. There's even less reason those aircraft would then be at DTW. There's zero reason that they then would be parked at the exclusively DL terminal.
There's not even two difference planes in this image - its a repeat of the same composite image.
It's definitely a juxtaposition of various images, if you focus on the tale (in both cases) the horizontal stabilizer comes from the body, whilst in the 717 and it's predecessors the DC-9 and the MD-80 the horizontal stabilizer comes from the top of the vertical stabilizer, to make a visual analogy the stabilizers in this type looks like a "T".
I think the are headed for the
LH training Center
In PHX
for LH student pilot's
Undergoing 4 year
Training.
In my opinion you have the wrong plane. They are not Boeing 717s they are Bombardier CRJ900s, which Lufthansa does fly. They are probably brand new planes being delivered from Canada getting ready to be ferried to Germany.
Delta is a big operator of the 717. I'm sure these are new buys from Lufthansa.
What? No LH is not buying 717s from Delta. That'd be all over the av geeks news sites.
And even if they were...they wouldn't be sitting at DL gates in LH livery.
I respectfully differ. First, those turbines are no where near close to the ones in the CRJ900 (GE CF-34...). Second, you'll have to explain why the horizontal stabilizer is mounted on the tale of the body and not on the top of the vertical stabilizer, which is the case of the CRJ900.
Take a look very closely, you'll se a bit of blue in both sides between the horizontal and vertical stabilizers which are both...
I respectfully differ. First, those turbines are no where near close to the ones in the CRJ900 (GE CF-34...). Second, you'll have to explain why the horizontal stabilizer is mounted on the tale of the body and not on the top of the vertical stabilizer, which is the case of the CRJ900.
Take a look very closely, you'll se a bit of blue in both sides between the horizontal and vertical stabilizers which are both white, that little bit of blue is the body which you wouldn't be able to spot in a T shape like the CRJ and 717. Also, Lufthansa's CRJs have the whole tale painted in blue, that includes back of the body and both stabilizers fully (the top of the horizontals is blue).
I would bet an AI program is creating the images we see. That would mean they are not actual, but altered representations. I think it will not belong before we can no longer believe what we see digitally ever again.
What about MD-195's? Aren't they virtually the aircraft?
Look at the shadows on the ground - the tail shadows are clearly in the wrong place. (Unlike the Delta planes in the first image where the shadows look real). This is a composite image that stitches photos taken from different times using AI magic.
BOB is probably right. Similarly, I visited SEA southterminal looking at another oddities and found 777 with half painted QATAR and half painted Delta, split along the airframe. DELTA is not a partner with QATAR and Delta has never painted their fuselage with two different brand since the Northwest/klm alliance on its DC10.
Jiburi
Boeing 717 has fuselage engines mounted aft like a md 11. These look like 73 or wing mounted engines?
No they don't.
Bob has answered this - I was going to post that it might have been like the "ghost rivers" or the fake towns that map makers use for copyright purposes - if another map shows that non-existent town (etc) they know it was copied from their map.
is it possible that these planes aren’t 717’s and it looks similar to a different plane that lufthansa operated?
Hmm... I can't say specifically. However, one point that should be kept in mind:
The United States is busy importing as many third world refugees as possible, from all sources, in order to drive wages and living standards down for the many, and rents and profits up for the few. The southern border is effectively open, but there are also many hundreds of thousands of these refugees being flown in directly. Exactly how many and...
Hmm... I can't say specifically. However, one point that should be kept in mind:
The United States is busy importing as many third world refugees as possible, from all sources, in order to drive wages and living standards down for the many, and rents and profits up for the few. The southern border is effectively open, but there are also many hundreds of thousands of these refugees being flown in directly. Exactly how many and from where is a secret - but it will be as many as practically possible, and these will be off-register. Given these extraordinary circumstances, perhaps unusual confluences of airplanes and airports etc. should not surprise?
This has to be the dumbest thing I’ve read today. Aside from the complete factual inaccuracies what the hell does US immigration have to do with the logo in the side of a plane? You found a round hole and were determined to make your custom sized peg fit in it. This isn’t a wild take, it’s just silly logic.
His logic is completely rational. If you want to sneak in as many illegals as possible, pick a relatively small plane, and then disguise it as a well known carrier that doesn't fly that plane. Voila, you sneak the fewest people in, get a lot of attention, and also likely get sued by a giant airline group. Genius!
As a provider of historical aerial photos taken consecutive years back to the 1960s, I can tell you that so many court cases I've been involved with involved google images.
Attorneys and others take them as gospel when they should be using certified original images with flight logs and expert testimony to introduce as evidence.
Several big cases went south and were embarrassing to those relying on Google lol.
It's just a...
As a provider of historical aerial photos taken consecutive years back to the 1960s, I can tell you that so many court cases I've been involved with involved google images.
Attorneys and others take them as gospel when they should be using certified original images with flight logs and expert testimony to introduce as evidence.
Several big cases went south and were embarrassing to those relying on Google lol.
It's just a pretty picture not something you want to bet on for sure.
R
It's more likely that it's a Lufthansa Charter using a LH cityline. Or the aircraft are being ferried somewhere for maintenance. The rendering thing while not fully impossible misses the point that planes fly all over everywhere for many different reasons.
Completely incorrect. LH/cityline doesn't operate any 717s. And even if they did - such a charter/maintaince ferry would not be operating from the exclusively DL terminal at DTW.
Oh, and real 717s don't have jet bridge doors grafted on to them, as the leftmost plane in this image does.
It's an algorithmically generated composite.
Big happy is right about one thing and one thing only, that the article is stupid. The rest of what is said by big happy is thoroughly incorrect. Particularly between Delta and Lufthansa.
That terminal is also exclusively delta.
The photo has been updated in Google maps to show delta livery
I just saw the incorrect livery.
Nope, they're still there
Those are Lufthansa Cityline CRJ-900 aircraft. Not Boeing 717...
I agree, they are not MD80/717s. too short.
They definitely look like 717s - look at the tail shape and relative size
this whole article is stupid. It's well known Delta and many other airlines, contract with each other to provide regional support. So the 717's with the Lufthansa name is 100% possible and likely, as Delta likely operates the planes as part of a support agreement with Lufthansa. I wouldn't be surprised if they even carry over and support their sky miles. I really wish the writer of this article could have done a 30 second...
this whole article is stupid. It's well known Delta and many other airlines, contract with each other to provide regional support. So the 717's with the Lufthansa name is 100% possible and likely, as Delta likely operates the planes as part of a support agreement with Lufthansa. I wouldn't be surprised if they even carry over and support their sky miles. I really wish the writer of this article could have done a 30 second google search before trying to make it seem like some conspiracy issue.
This is probably the dumbest comment I've ever read. Why would Lufthansa, who has a codeshare agreement with and is a Star Alliance member with United, contract, and even go as far as paint Delta planes at Detroit? This makes 0 sense
If you had taken 30 seconds to check you wouldn’t have posted such nonsense. Lufthansa is part of Star Alliance, Delta is part of Skyteam. They do not Co-operate, Delta has never had any of its, or it’s subsidiary airlines aircraft painted in Lufthansa colours and Lufthansa does not have short haul aircraft of their own, or operated by anyone on their behalf, in the USA.
BigHippy need a snickers? You're not you when you're hungry.
Tell me you don’t follow the aviation industry without telling me you don’t follow the aviation industry closely.
There's also an American Airlines that can be seen at gate A64 McNamara Terminal. American only goes to the Evans (North) Terminal.
There was a Qatar airways A340 parked at DTW for a bit recently. That was interesting to there.
Lufthansa never had 717 in their fleet..<<<
Bob is absolutely right, it is the way Google processes the images.
If there are grainy images Google will use a clearer image and replace it, if you look at a DL plane top down the color scheme isn't that far off from LH (dark blue tail and dark blue lettering). Google saw this image and replaced it with a clearer image it had in its catalog.
The other thing Google does is...
Bob is absolutely right, it is the way Google processes the images.
If there are grainy images Google will use a clearer image and replace it, if you look at a DL plane top down the color scheme isn't that far off from LH (dark blue tail and dark blue lettering). Google saw this image and replaced it with a clearer image it had in its catalog.
The other thing Google does is it mixes different images (satellite and aerial) to create a composite. Google software generally things images are static (which for the most part they are), you get interesting situations with these composites when it is something that moves and is clearly identifiable. Google has a good blog post here about it https://support.google.com/earth/answer/6327779?hl=en#zippy=
You can sometimes see this creating interesting aircraft sometimes:
FRA examples
-gate A58 there is a plane that is half Star Alliance livery and half Lufthansa livery.
-A36 a plane in half Lufthansa and half Agean livery
-B42 plane in half Ethiad half Turkish livery
-V117 half RyanAir half Lufthansa
-J8 (Cargo ramp) a half LH half China Eastern plane
-J6 a narrowbody with LH Cargo livery.
SFO
-G13 UA 777 in half CO livery and new UA livery (also F22, F15,
-G10 plane in half UA and half NH
-half a plane at F22
DEN
B38 - a 777 with a left 737 winglet
LHR
Not a single plane at any gate
LAX
TBIT - 3 QR planes next to each other with the same error near the tail
-Behind those QR planes a UA plane in half old and new livery (Also 21A near Maintenance)
-69A half AC half AS livery
JFK
-Narrowbody LH at T7
-T8 half AA half OW livery
This was maybe 10min of spot checking but basically you find it everywhere if you look
Wow LHR looks like a ghost airfield.
Lhr stn lgw all photographed during the height of covif lockdowns in the UK. Makes for interesting viewing
The picture shows gate A-29 which is a Delta gate at the Midfield terminal. Lufthansa flies out of the D-gates at the North Terminal.
It would have been funnier if they had a Baltia livery!
This is photoshopping.
Wait til AI gets started.
There is a good reason it’s called Artificial Intelligence.
It's a algorithmically generated overlap of multiple images. The algorithm had a partial shot of an airplane at the gate, matched it with another partial shot of an airplane in it's database and put them together. One of those shots happened to be of a 717, that other happened to have Lufthansa livery. Resulting in a composite. You can see the composite nature of the image, as the leftmost "717" appears to have part of...
It's a algorithmically generated overlap of multiple images. The algorithm had a partial shot of an airplane at the gate, matched it with another partial shot of an airplane in it's database and put them together. One of those shots happened to be of a 717, that other happened to have Lufthansa livery. Resulting in a composite. You can see the composite nature of the image, as the leftmost "717" appears to have part of a jetbridge grafted on it. Also - there aren't two separate planes here, Google has just used the same composite image twice.
This!
Germanwings (the now-defunct Lufthansa subsidiary) did operate two 717s (EC-HNY and EC-HNZ).
Take a look at TBIT at LAX, 3 QR planes parked next to each other but it’s clear that 2 of them are exact copies of the top one (cargo door and missing L2 door that was obstructed by the jetbridge). I think it’s just used to make the gates look occupied? For a while LAX had ANA aircraft that looked like a 777 or 787, but sized comparable to 737s scattered about.
TIL how common it is for people to scrutinize Google maps photos of airports!
Atlanta airport has some great shadow goofs - Austin airport also has what looks like photoshopped planes. Maybe this is commonplace to make airports look less chaotic?
The jetbridge in the second photo appears to be cut apart right before it connects to the planes, which lends credibility to this being AI-generated. I'm pretty sure the door of a jetbridge was never stuck to the side of a plane without the associated jetbridge attached. :)
I think this is their CRJ-900. Although not sure why it was there though.
I agree, these look like they are CRJ-900LR, not 717s.
https://staralliancevirtual.org/fleet/models/lufthansa-bombardier-crj-900lr
Yes I agree.
It could be an A.I. enhancement of the original image, and the A.I. started "dreaming" and created the Lufthansa livery.
Also maybe an Easter egg, to identify picture theft.
This is clearly a case of one image being imposed on top of another. Another example for those interested as at O'Hare's terminal 5. Gate M17 has a British airways plane with an Air India wings and tail!
This is fascinating! If you use the 3D view the left side of the fuselage and tail has the British Airways livery while the right side has the Air India paint. Then the gate at M18 is mixing British Airways, Air India, and Japan Airlines on the same plane.
"Lufthansa doesn’t operate the Boeing 717, and never has"
How can you make this claim with certainty
What a stupid comment. Lufthansa has NEVER operated a Boeing 717. Only 3 airlines fly them presently.
Airlines make it known to the public how many aircraft they own, and what types, as the Lufthansa Group website does.
And even if they didn't publicize that information, there would still be both industry services and aviation hobbyists who would keep records of that sort of thing.
Locals refer to the airport as “Detroit Metro Airport.” Some also call it “Metro Airport” or just “Metro.” Never “Detroit Airport.” Metro Airport is in the suburb of Romulus.
There’s also a small airport in the city of Detroit. Locals refer to it as “City Airport” or “Coleman Young Airport.”
Easy answer. Somebody at google was bored on a Friday and decided to have some fun with the system
Maybe it’s a 2023 equivalent of phantom settlements? A plane that doesn’t exist in a place it couldn’t exist would be a small, inconsequential detail but a big tell if someone was lifting your satellite imagery without permission
That 1L Door on the left "LH 717" is clearly indicating that is not an actual satellite shot.
How can you tell they are B717s?
Also, I think that terminal is SkyTeam only, so that is another question.
@ NateNate -- Hah, because some of us are pretty good at identifying planes. The only other type of aircraft this remotely looks like is the CRJ-700, but there are some distinct differences.
Google maps does add mistakes on purpose (e.g. an extra street) to their maps so that they can see if someone copied it.
Doesn’t make sense here, does it?
This and the “easter egg” tradition of Silicon Valley.
Inserting extras to catch competitor duplication is also a long standing map industry practice.
Maybe Goog chooses not to have actual geographic highlights altered but does this.
Or it’s just an avgeek engineers easter egg.
In Google maps images often overlap / are combined to create a final rendering. Obvious for instance in the case of boats in ports, where you always have many boats that seem floating on top of the water or sunk under the water...
Unless it is a Google tech guy who decided to play with CGI : https://forums.tfdidesign.com/uploads/monthly_2020_08/2020-8-14_2-1-47-877.jpg.853ace9a6207ea7b555e61e78fb80483.jpg