The news that Putin’s… er, “chef” has been killed in a private plane “accident” is the top story of the moment, but private air travel seems fraught with peril even if you haven’t pissed off an under-endowed dictator, with a long list of celebrities lost to private air disasters over the years.

Of course it tends to be the rich and famous using private jets, a theme that French comic ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ explored way back in 1968 with ‘Flight 714 to Sydney’. Owned by a ‘millionaire who never laughs’, the fictional Carreidas 160 jet was hi-jacked by Tintin’s arch-nemesis Roberto Rastapopoulos in an effort to steal millions from the aircraft owner’s Swiss bank account. Also there was a volcanic eruption, telepathy, and aliens for some reason. 

Anyway, the plane ended up in the ocean, adding further weight to the cool-but-perilous argument, and Tintin flew commercial thereafter.

This lovely recreation of the aforementioned fictional jet – and the characters from the comic – comes from Stefan Johansson, who’s used some lovely techniques to capture the swoopy shape. An opening cabin door and detailed landing gear also feature, and there’s more to see at Stefan’s ‘Carreidas 160 – Flight 714 to Sydney’ album via the link above. It’s just probably best you don’t get on board…