It can provide seating for 16 passengers plus cabin crew. It is a Lockheed McDonnel 3-12 (fictional aircraft) and is past its best. 'It's only gaffer tape and hope holding it together'. Some of its faults include faulty lights (not all the non-smoking lights turn off and on, and there's one they can't turn on because it makes the cabin smell of fish). Gerti is so called because it is the registrat
ion of the aircraft, G-ERTI. The full callsign (Golf Echo Romeo Tango India, phonetic for the registration, G-ERTI) must be said when joining a new ATC region, or in the case of an emergency. At other times, it may be shortened (which is why it is sometimes heard as being Golf Tango India). G-ERTI is MJN’s only aircraft, which is the most likely reason for the registration also being the callsign. actual airlines) usually use their airline name or some other identifying word as their callsign, often alongside a number - British Airways are Speedbird, South African Airways are Springbok, and QANTAS are, wait for it, QANTAS. In general aviation, the aircraft registration doubles as the call sign. MJN’s callsign (although a company; civil not general aviation) is probably their registration because they are not technically an airline. They barely even qualify as a functional company most of the time. They only have one jet. They could (legally) go by their company name (some airlines do, Monarch Airlines and QANTAS are examples), but G-ERTI being called MJN-1 would make absolutely no sense and implies that they are a functional airline with at least two jets. Which they are most certainly not. [1]
There appears to be an alarmingly large number of things that make G-ERTI seemingly dilapidated, and it's considered a miracle that she still actually flies. When Linda remarks that she didn't think there were any Lockheed McDonnell 3-12s still flying, Douglas remarks "...those there are, barely do" (Newcastle). Lockheed McDonnell 3-12
A Lockheed McDonnell 3-12 is a fictional aircraft, created for the show. The Lockheed McDonnell 3-12 is a fictional aircraft model, and G-ERTI is said to be this type of aircraft. In the real world, Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas were two real aircraft manufacturers.
