the Boeing 707 had replaced them on the transatlantic passenger flights in 1960. Linee Aeree Italiane (LAI) ordered four Starliners, but did not take them up following the merger with Alitalia in October 1957. Alitalia had accepted the DC-7C and had no interest in the Starliners; they were delivered to TWA in 1958. Varig ordered two Starliners, but the order was switched to two L-1049Gs. The DC-7C ended up selling more airframes than the Starliner, which had greater range than its rival but was expensive ($3,000,000 USD) and entered service a year later. In the end, only 44 Starliners were built (including the prototype) compared to 121 DC-7Cs. Alaska Airlines used two Starliners for MATS operations in the 1960s. Other operators used Starliners for charter flights. A small number of Starliners were used as cargo aircraft in Alaska during the 1970s. By the early 1980s, all Starliners ceased commercial operations. Four Starliners still exist; after ten years of work Lufthansa abandoned restoring one to flying condition. Another was sent in 2018 for the TWA Hotel. Variants L-1649A Initial production version powered by four Wright R-3350 988 TC18-EA-2 engines. 44 Built. L-1649B Proposed turboprop version. None built. Accidents and Incidents June 26, 1959 - TWA Flight 891, crashed due to a lightning strike after taking off from Milan Malpensa Airport in Italy, with the loss of all 68 passengers and crew. May 10, 1961 - Air France Flight 406, named "De Grasse" broke up in flight after empennage failure over the Sahara Desert, thought to have been caused by an explosive device, killing all 78 passengers and crew. Surviving aircraft Four Starliners still exist: N7316C (c/n 1018) at Auburn-Lewiston Airport in Maine was planned to be restored to flying condition by Lufthansa; first flight of the restored aircraft was planned for sometime in 2017 to 2018, with the extensive restoration having been continuous since 2007. After putting 150 Million Euros into the project, Lufthansa announced in March 2018 that it was moving restoration to Germany. Decisions about further restoration where said to be made after it arrived in Germany, but they were no longer planning to provide commercial flights. In February 2021 the plane was relocated from its storage in Bremen harbour to Paderborn-Lippstadt airport due to shelter availability there. By July 2022 the aircraft was on Lufthansa Berlin Foundation's website. N8083H (c/n 1038), also at Auburn-Lewiston Airport, was being salvaged