An incredible record was set during a rescue operation in Ethiopia on May 24, 1991. The Boeing 747 was able to take well over 1,000 passengers on board! Naturally, it wasn’t a comfortable flight with all the business class perks. All the seats in the plane were removed to accommodate this colossal crowd. The original plan was to load only 760 people on board. But the refugees had no luggage at all, and each person didn’t take up much space.

Guinness World Records put the official number at 1,088. But other sources say between 1,078 and 1,122 passengers boarded that plane. Hard to get an exact headcount when you’re squeezing as many people as you can into an aircraft. One thing’s certain: when this rescue plane arrived at its destination, there were 2 more passengers on board than when it took off – yes, two babies were born during the 4-hour flight! But that was back in ’91. Could the largest airplane in the world today break this record?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices