I was asked to provide an algorithm for checking the history of a specific aircraft. I'll bring it.
So, for some reason, you have decided to move your precious body from point A to point B via air freight. You are a risky person and would not mind using the services of domestic aircraft carriers. Make sure that the company you choose is not also an office for accepting international scrap metal.
After choosing an airline and a ticket, you will need registration number sides. (Take for example the Chelyabinsk-Sochi flight via UTair - such a dubious choice)
We look and select the flight number - UT-556: 
Next, we go to the flight radar to find out the registration numbers of the aircraft that the company uses on this flight
www.flightradar24.com/flight/ut556
A normal carrier (Aeroflot for example), as a rule, sends two planes, back and forth. But our garbage carrier uses as many as four different aircraft. (For one thing, we note that the planes are assigned to Bermuda. You didn’t think that UTair would register its equipment in Russia?) 
This is problem. We have two options. Already at this stage, burn the ticket and go on foot. And the second is to try to understand which particular aircraft is used in our direction more often.
By clicking on the vessel number here, we will see the geography of its flights. 
Having understood the logic of the chaotic flight of planes between cities (or not understanding it at all, we’ll just check all four), go here:
www.airframes.org/
We stock up on validol and begin to see where our air bucket flew before it hospitably opened its doors for us.
enter reg. board number in the Registration/ field
We are horrified to discover that this winged box was built back in 1998 (Built field)
Now let's see who exploited it before. You didn’t think that UTair would stoop to buying a new plane for us, did you?
Click on the number in the prev.reg field
Ten years of operation in the COA office!
Well, the USA, it’s all right. This is not Libya or Syria. Just think, the company has gone bankrupt twice in the past. This probably did not affect the quality of aircraft service, we reassure ourselves.
What about breakdowns (incidents) on this aircraft?
We will be interested in the Remarks field.
Bad remarks, it will look like the crashed Kogalym Avia plane
Or like this: 
Ours seems to have nothing:
So let's take a risk!
After tossing a coin and drinking four bottles of cognac, we bravely make the flight)))
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PS.
People in the comments are indignant - why do I consider a plane with 18 to be obviously unreliable? summer history operation.
I answer.
1. Have you ever heard of a company like Kogalym Avia transferring its aircraft to a company like Lufthansa after 10 years of operation?
2. Have you ever heard of a company like Lufthansa taking a plane after 16 years of operation in countries like Syria, Libya and other hellish places?
3. Why, despite all the authoritative statements about long term aircraft operation - 25, 30, 50 (who is more?) years, and also that they are installed even stronger over time (well, everything got used to it in 20 years), in practice, everything in the world has somehow settled down so that Do air carriers from civilized countries prefer to use an aircraft for 8-12 years, and then still send it to Congo, Nigeria or Russia?
4. Would you like to fly on a plane that, for example, damaged its tail during landing?
After you answer these questions honestly, I think the problem will disappear by itself. If it doesn’t disappear, all I have to do is add that the point here is not entirely in the period of operation (although of course it is also in that), but also in the place where this operation took place, as well as exactly how it took place. You can find out this by using this post. Well, then it’s up to you to decide.
On the websites planecrashinfo.com and airsafe.com, aviation enthusiasts collected all the statistics on aviation incidents over 50 years and drew conclusions. The Boeing 767 and Airbus 340 are considered the most reliable so far.
Find your board
Go to flightradar24.com and find your flight, indicated by a code of letters and numbers (for example, TK0415). Now look at the history of this flight for a week. Typically, several aircraft fly on the same flight with different registration numbers that look like a set of letters (for example, TC-JTK, TC-JSP). You will fly on one of these planes.
Check your board
Go to airframes.org and enter your aircraft's possible registration number in the Registration box. Find the Built and Remarks fields in the information that appears. This way you will find out how old the plane is and, most importantly, where it used to fly and be serviced - carrying burghers from Oktoberfest or refugees from Mogadishu.
Check your board again
Now go to planespotters.net and enter the registration number into the search. In the results, look for the Remarks field. The incidents in which the plane was involved are noted there. If his tail was damaged, this is a bad sign. There have been cases when such devices repeatedly ended up in serious alterations.
Aeroflot - MGA USSR
In the Soviet Union, the transportation of passengers on a commercial basis was carried out by the Ministry Civil Aviation - MGA.
Structurally, the MGA consisted of several Directorates ( UGA), mainly tied to certain territories. Each of the republics of the USSR had its own Directorates, and in Russia there were several of them, due to the large size of the country.
Each of the Directorates consisted of air squads (JSC or OJSC), and those, in turn, consisted of flight squads (FL). In the register, operators are indicated hierarchically: MGA-> Tajik UGA-> Dushanbe OJSC -> 186 LO.
Aeroflot is the collective name for the MGA along with all its departments and air squads.
Each air squad existed and developed relatively independently of the others. The approximate analogue of air squads these days are airlines - of course, adjusted for time.
When Aeroflot broke up into independent airlines in 1991-93, most of them became the heirs of those same OJSC or LO. For example, Saratov OJSC Privolzhsky UGA turned into an airline" Saratov Airlines", and Sheremetyevsky OJSC- to "Aeroflot - Russian Airlines" (assigning the general brand "Aeroflot").
This page presents the structure of the MGA in the form of a diagram. It should be borne in mind that during the existence of the MGA, many of the departments were reformed, created and reassigned.
The presented diagram does not reflect the structure of the MGA on any specific date; rather, it shows the most extensive “tree” of all divisions that existed throughout the history of the MGA. This was done, among other things, for the convenience of quick search and clarity. More detailed history each of the departments and air squads is located in the corresponding sections using the links. The names of UGA and JSC in this table are given mainly as of the late 1980s.
About tail numbers Aeroflot airplanes and helicopters. All aircraft operated by the MGA bore the tail number of the type USSR-85005; five digits were unique at any given time. From time to time, onboard aircraft from decommissioned aircraft could be assigned to new aircraft.
The first two digits, in general, determined the type of aircraft. For example, 85xxx - Tu-154, 42xxx - Yak-42 (and previously Tu-104), for a complete list of such ranges, see the corresponding section.
About departmental boards. Registration numbers of the type USSR-xxxxxx were used not only in Airfolot, but also in the Air Force, KGB, MAP and other ministries and departments. Often, for the purpose of secrecy, such aircraft were even painted in a white and blue livery and bore the inscription “Aeroflot” with the symbols of the Moscow Aviation Administration. There are no strict rules on this matter, the sideboards were out of the general sequence, and for many sides the affiliation can only be determined from the registry data. Such sides
When preparing to travel by plane, many are tormented by such questions as the make of the airliner on which they will fly and its age. Many people would like to know the answers to them, both to be sure of their safety and to choose comfortable spot During registration. It is not always possible to find accurate information on the airline website. But don’t be upset, knowing the flight number can clarify a lot. For example, get an answer to the question: “How to find out which plane is by flight number.”
Having booked a ticket and received it electronically by email, you can find out the flight number from it; it will look something like QF 8132 or SU 0102. Another way to find out your flight number is by going to the Yandex Schedule service. You need to enter the departure/arrival city in the appropriate form and the system will give you options. Knowing the time, you can accurately determine the flight number. You can also find it out by looking at the scoreboard online desired airport on his official website. As a last resort, you can find out your route number by calling the airport information service. Now let's find out how to find out the type of aircraft by flight number
Determining the type of aircraft by flight number
Each airline tries to attract as many passengers as possible to its flights, offering them new services, dispelling their doubts. Knowing that most passengers are concerned about their safety and want to find out what kind of plane it will be by flight number, airlines are developing special additional services. For example, Aeroflot airline developed new option online scoreboard, where it became possible to find out by flight number:
- departure/arrival time;
- type of liner;
- number of seats in different classes of service and other information.
In the form, select the date of our flight and enter the flight number, in the window that opens we will see the details of the flight: type of car, number of seats in different classes, name of the aircraft (at Aeroflot all airliners are named after some outstanding person etc.).
Aeroflot online scoreboard
Other services for determining aircraft type
If you don’t find the service you need on the official website of your airline and don’t understand how to find out the type of aircraft by flight number, then we advise you to turn to other resources. For example, on http://avia.pro you can find out the type of aircraft by flight number and airline. To do this, the resource has a simple form in which you need to enter the airline type, flight number and click the “Search” button. The system will issue detailed information about this flight:
Real-time surveillance
Knowing the flight number, you can monitor it in real time on services such as Flaigtradar 24, Plane Finder, Flaigt Aware, if the appropriate navigation equipment is installed on the aircraft. You can find out not only the type of car, but also the speed and altitude of the flight, but this can already be done if the airliner is in flight.
Today we will start talking about the most important sites that every advanced airline passenger should know. We will leave such network resources as airline websites, ticket search engines and online agencies for later, but now we will talk about how to find out the maximum details about your current, upcoming or past flight.
– a unique online radar that shows in real time where, when and where which aircraft is flying. Aircraft data is taken from ADS-B system transponders, which are equipped on quite a few a large number of sides (alas, not all, but at least most modern ones). These transponders transmit the aircraft's registration number, flight number, route, current coordinates including altitude, and speed. All this data is displayed on the map; you can click on each moving aircraft and additionally view the flight path up to the current moment and information about the aircraft itself (its photo is immediately loaded from one of the spotter resources). You can also view this data about flights taken in the recent past. Among the interesting functions, the ability to view “from the cockpit” should be highlighted. No, unfortunately, you won’t see the broadcast from the camera there, but satellite images of the Earth in an isometric projection, taking into account height and speed, look beautiful. Since the ADS-B receivers from which the data is taken are installed by enthusiasts, coverage of different areas globe Flightradar24 has heterogeneous. However, in most “civilized” places it is.
Practical benefits: find out which aircraft usually fly on the route you need. Find out when the plane you're supposed to be on arrives and why it's late. Make sure that your relatives have a great flight. See what's so beautiful you saw out the window shortly after takeoff.
– an extensive database of aircraft: both completely new and long-decommissioned. A plane's registration number can tell you all the details about it, from its age and operating history with various airlines (including details such as direct purchase or leasing) to the types of engines installed on it and the cabin layout (number of economy and business class seats). Recently completed flights are also displayed, however, this data is entered manually by spotters who noticed the board, and is not automatically taken from the same Flightradar24, so their relevance is not always one hundred percent. In addition, there is information about air accidents in which the aircraft was involved - usually with a link to an article with details. And, of course, photographs – where would we be without them?
The site also maintains a database of airlines, allowing you to see how many aircraft each of them has and which ones. Airfleets.net works on the principle of crowdsourcing, that is, like in Wikipedia, anyone can add or clarify this or that information. But if on Airfleets.net the databases are maintained mainly for foreign cars (of the Russian ones there is only the Superjet), then Russianplanes.net – a similar site dedicated to domestic aircraft.
Practical benefits:find out how old the plane you are flying on is, so you can casually throw “ ” to your aerophobe neighbor and watch his reaction. Compare the age of the aircraft and the condition of the cabin to form your opinion about the airline’s attitude towards its passengers. Figure out where there might be good seats in the cabin. Tweet: “I’m flying on a plane that just arrived from the factory yesterday.”
– website with live broadcasts of negotiations between pilots and air traffic controllers. It is supported by enthusiasts who live near airports and have installed radio receivers tuned to the required frequencies. In this regard, not all airports in the world are supported, but the largest ones, including Russian ones, are in the database. You can listen to the broadcast directly on the website through a browser with Flash support or transfer the stream to any media player. There are also archives of negotiations.
As a rule, for each airport, several streams from different frequencies (“Circle”, “Tower”, “Approach”, etc.) are combined into one, and voice messages from them are broadcast one after another, which creates some confusion on the air. For some airports (for example, Sheremetyevo), the streams are divided into stereo channels, allowing you to partially filter what you hear. However, hearing conversations is not enough - in order to understand something, you need to at least approximately know the basic principles of radio communication and basic terminology, as well as have some experience of talking on a walkie-talkie in order to understand the text.
For many airports, the current weather is also transmitted in METAR format - an ordinary person will not understand anything in such a report, but it is enough to read any article on this topic to learn a set of simple abbreviations.
Practical benefits:be aware of why the departure or arrival of a flight is delayed. If an unusual situation occurs during a flight, find out what actually happened.
– website with detailed plans of aircraft cabins of various airlines. Moreover, in addition to the actual map of places, you can also see particularly convenient ones and, conversely, uncomfortable places: It’s clear that stretch your legs emergency exit always nicer than huddling near the toilet.
In addition, the database contains information about the distance between the rows and the width of the seats themselves, the availability of sockets and an entertainment system, which is especially important on long-haul flights. Moreover, if you enter your flight information (date, number), the site will try to predict what type of aircraft will be used on it - this will help you select good seats in advance. However, if an airline has many variations of the same type (for example, Airbus A319/A320/A321), then the predictor is usually wrong, so you cannot trust him blindly.
In addition, not many airlines are represented on the SeatGuru website (of the Russian ones - only Aeroflot), and for those that are presented, not all actual layout options are available, so as an alternative, you should definitely visit SeatExpert – here the range of airlines is somewhat different and there is, for example, Transaero.
Practical benefits:Choose a convenient seat when checking in online or at the airport. Compare different airlines in terms of comfort level in the cabin.
ExpertFlyer – a multifunctional site for advanced passengers, on which most functions (for example, searching for mileage tickets) are paid - by the way, we will talk about searching for such tickets separately - and for free, you can view current cabin plans in real time, indicating occupied and free seats . At the same time, data on the attractiveness of a particular place is downloaded from SeatGuru. You can also subscribe to notifications that a particular place you are interested in has suddenly become available. Of course, not all airlines are supported.
Practical benefits:choose a good seat when checking in at the airport: you know exactly which one good places freely and call it to the operator. Assess the occupancy of the cabin before departure and figure out whether you can count on an upgrade when overbooking or immediately go and lie down in an empty row.
– a site that allows you to keep statistics of your flights, display on a map the places where you have been and the routes between them, and count how many segments you have already flown this year. But the main thing is the “bell”: you can compete with your friends to see who has flown the most.
The main advantage of JetLovers compared to other similar sites is that all flight statistics are accumulated automatically based on your “check-ins” in in social networks– Foursquare or Facebook. True, you can add flights manually, but, firstly, you cannot add more of them than are automatically determined (i.e., for each flight with check-ins you can add only one without check-ins), and secondly, is it possible to remember all your flights, say, the year before last?
For a raid, certain “ranks” and “levels” are awarded – from “fly” to “UFO”, turning airplane flights into an exciting game - now you won’t want to travel even 300 kilometers by train! But if you want to be first in the ranking, do not add as friends those who work as commercial airline pilots 😉
Practical benefits:check whether you have been credited with miles for all flight segments. Show your friends and colleagues who is the biggest flyer here.
