173-610: Pan Am Flight 103 ( PA103/PAA103 ) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by Clipper Maid of the Seas , a Boeing 747 registered N739PA. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, while the aircraft was in flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie , it
346-497: A Boeing 727 and the flight number PA103-A. Both Pan Am and Trans World Airlines routinely changed the type of aircraft operating different legs of a flight. PA103 was bookable as either a single Frankfurt–New York or a Frankfurt–Detroit itinerary, though a scheduled change of aircraft took place in London's Heathrow Airport. After the bombing, the flight number was changed, in accordance with standard practice among airlines after disasters. The Frankfurt–London–New York–Detroit route
519-558: A Samsonite suitcase believed to have contained the bomb were recovered, together with parts and pieces of circuit board identified as components of a Toshiba 'Bombeat' RT-SF16, radio cassette player, similar to that used to conceal a Semtex bomb seized by West German police from the Palestinian militant group PLO-GC two months earlier. Items of baby clothing, which were subsequently proven to have been made in Malta, were thought to have come from
692-511: A Semtex bomb. The timer was allegedly traced through its Swiss manufacturer, Mebo , to the Libyan military, and Mebo employee Ulrich Lumpert identified the fragment at al-Megrahi's trial. Mebo's owner, Edwin Bollier , testified at the trial that the Scottish police had originally shown him a fragment of a brown eight-ply circuit board from a prototype timer which had never been supplied to Libya. Yet
865-420: A "727-00" pattern. Aircraft were delivered for United Airlines as 727-22, for American Airlines as 727-23, and so on (not -122, -123, etc.) and these designations were retained even after the advent of the 727-200. Convertible passenger cargo version, additional freight door and strengthened floor and floor beams, three alternative fits: QC stands for Quick Change. This is similar to the convertible version with
1038-458: A "program that will screen passengers, employees, airport facilities, baggage, and aircraft with unrelenting thoroughness"; the security team in Frankfurt found the warning under a pile of papers on a desk the day after the bombing. One of the Frankfurt security screeners, whose job was to spot explosive devices under X-ray, told ABC News that she had first learned what Semtex (a plastic explosive)
1211-645: A Libyan intelligence officer and the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah , the LAA station manager in Luqa Airport , Malta. UN sanctions against Libya and protracted negotiations with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi secured the handover of the accused on 5 April 1999 to Scottish police at Camp Zeist, the Netherlands, which was selected as a neutral venue for their trial. Both of
1384-600: A Pan Am Clipper flight to New York in 1942, passengers were served a drink today known as Irish coffee by Chef Joe Sheridan. The growing importance of air transport in the post-war era meant that Pan Am would no longer enjoy the official patronage it had been afforded in pre-war days to prevent the emergence of any meaningful competition, both at home and abroad. Although Pan Am continued to use its political influence to lobby for protection of its position as America's primary international airline, it encountered increasing competition – first from American Export Airlines across
1557-506: A connection to Northwest's DC-7C totaled 24 hours and 13 minutes from San Francisco, but Pan Am was not allowed to fly that route.) The Stratocruisers' double-deck fuselage with sleeping berths and a lower-deck lounge helped it compete with its rival. "Super Stratocruisers" with more fuel appeared on Pan Am's transatlantic routes in November 1954, making nonstop eastward and one-stop westward schedules more reliable. In June 1947, Pan Am started
1730-674: A connection to the United States, which the Air Corps viewed as a precursor to a possible German aerial threat to the canal. In the spring of 1927, the United States Post Office requested bids on a contract to deliver mail from Key West, Florida to Havana , Cuba before 19 October 1927. Arnold and Spaatz drew up the prospectus for Pan American after they learned that SCADTA hired a company in Delaware to obtain air mail contracts from
1903-445: A crater 47 m (154 ft) long and with a volume of 560 m (20,000 cu ft; 730 cu yd). The property was completely destroyed and its two occupants were killed. Their bodies were never found. Several other houses and their foundations were destroyed, and 21 others were damaged beyond repair. A family of four was killed when their house at 15 Sherwood Crescent exploded. A couple and their daughter were killed by
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#17328699772872076-410: A few large airlines. Faced with higher fuel costs, lower passenger volumes due to the post- 9/11 economic climate, increasing restrictions on airport noise, and the extra expenses of maintaining older planes and paying flight engineers ' salaries, most major airlines phased out their 727s; they were replaced by twin-engined aircraft , which are quieter and more fuel-efficient. Modern airliners also have
2249-511: A few months, the concept was developed into the Boeing 7N7 design, which eventually became the Boeing 757 . Faw-727 This Boeing 727 was reportedly modified by Iraq in early 1988 to serve as an ELINT platform. It was used during the invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Shield. As of October 2024 , 9 Boeing 727s were in commercial service, operated by the following companies: In addition,
2422-505: A flight attendant and several first-class passengers were found still strapped to their seats inside the nose section when it crashed in Tundergarth. A flight attendant was found alive by a farmer's wife, but died before help could be summoned. Some passengers may have remained alive briefly after impact; a pathologist's report concluded that at least two of these passengers might have survived if they had been found soon enough. Thirty-five of
2595-501: A flight from Miami to Buenos Aires took 71 hours and 15 minutes in a Pan Am DC-3 , but the following summer, DC-4s flew Idlewild to Buenos Aires in 38 hours and 30 minutes. In January 1958, Pan Am's DC-7Bs flew New York to Buenos Aires in 25 hours and 20 minutes, while the National –Pan Am–Panagra DC-7B via Panama and Lima took 22 hours and 45 minutes. Convair 240s replaced DC-3s and other pre-war types on Pan Am's shorter flights in
2768-443: A former American Airlines 727-100 with a dining room, a bedroom, and shower facilities known as Trump Force One before upgrading to a larger Boeing 757 in 2009; Peter Nygård acquired a 727-100 for private use in 2005. American financier Jeffrey Epstein owned a private 727 nicknamed the "Lolita Express". The Gettys bought N311AG from Revlon in 1986, and Gordon Getty acquired the aircraft in 2001. As of March 2024 ,
2941-629: A four-engine aircraft for its flights to high-altitude airports, especially its hub at Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado . American Airlines, which was operating the four-engined Boeing 707 and Boeing 720 , requested a twin-engined aircraft for efficiency. Eastern Airlines wanted a third engine for its overwater flights to the Caribbean, since at that time twin-engine commercial flights were limited by regulations to routes with 60-minute maximum flying time to an airport (see ETOPS ). Eventually,
3114-523: A huge fire on the ground. The explosion punched a 50 cm (20 in) hole on the left side of the fuselage. Investigators from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concluded that no emergency procedures had been started in the cockpit. The CVR, located in the tail section of the aircraft, was found in a field by police searchers within 24 hours. No distress call was recorded; a 180-millisecond hissing noise could be heard as
3287-469: A hush kit for $ 8.6 million (but loses the thrust reverser) (2000): fuel consumption is reduced by 10-12%, range and restricted airfield performance are improved. A single 727-212 aircraft was operated by the USAF. A proposed 169-seat version was developed in consultation with United Airlines in 1972, which initially expressed an interest in ordering 50 aircraft. Also, interest was shown from Indian Airlines for
3460-512: A hush kit) are banned from some Australian airports because they are too loud. In addition to domestic flights of medium range, the 727 was popular with international passenger airlines. The range of flights it could cover (and the additional safety added by the third engine) meant that the 727 proved efficient for short- to medium-range international flights in areas around the world. The 727 also proved popular with cargo and charter airlines. FedEx Express introduced 727s in 1978. The 727s were
3633-514: A known bomb-maker, Marwen Khreesat. "Later US intelligence officials confirmed that members of the group had been monitoring Pan Am's facilities at Frankfurt airport. On Dalkamoni's account bombs made by Khreesat were at large somewhere." A deep-cover CIA agent was told by up to 15 high-level Syrian officials that the PFLP-GC was involved and that officials interacted with Jibril "on a constant basis". In 2014, an Iranian ex-spy asserted that Iran ordered
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#17328699772873806-481: A large fleet of Boeing 747s, expecting that air travel would continue to increase. It did not, as the introduction of many wide-bodies by Pan Am and its competitors coincided with an economic slowdown. Reduced air travel after the 1973 oil crisis made the overcapacity problem worse. Pan Am was vulnerable, with its high overheads as a result of a large decentralized infrastructure. High fuel prices and its many older, less fuel-efficient narrow-bodied airplanes increased
3979-600: A maximum altitude of 10,000 ft (3,000 m). The airline's West Berlin operation consistently accounted for more than half of the city's entire commercial air traffic during that period. For years, more passengers boarded Pan Am flights at Berlin Tempelhof than at any other airport. Pan Am operated a Berlin crew base of mainly German flight attendants and American pilots to staff its IGS flights. The German National flight attendants were later taken over by Lufthansa when it acquired Pan Am's Berlin route authorities. Over
4152-526: A molecular biologist. and Jonathan White, 33, an American accountant, son of David White , American actor who played Larry Tate on Bewitched . Aboard the flight were Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Special Agents Daniel Emmett O'Connor and Ronald Albert Lariviere. Matthew Gannon , the Central Intelligence Agency 's (CIA) deputy station chief in Beirut , Lebanon, was sitting in seat 14J, which
4325-563: A number of ailing or defunct airlines in Central and South America and negotiated with postal officials to win most of the government's airmail contracts to the region. In September 1929 Trippe toured Latin America with Charles Lindbergh to negotiate landing rights in a number of countries, including Barranquilla on SCADTA's home turf of Colombia, as well as Maracaibo and Caracas in Venezuela . By
4498-474: A one-class version with 180 seats. The fuselage would have been lengthened by 18 feet (5.5 m) and the undercarriage strengthened. The three engines would have been replaced by two more powerful JT8D-217 engines under the T tail. Many cockpit components would have been in common with the 737-200 and improved engine management systems would have eliminated the need for the flight engineer . United did not proceed with its order and Indian Airlines instead ordered
4671-469: A parish priest of the town. Keegans' house at 1 Sherwood Crescent was the only one on the street that was not either destroyed by the impact or gutted by fire. According to a BBC article on the fire published in 2018, Keegans had gone upstairs to make sure that he had hidden his mother's Christmas present, and recalls, "Immediately after that, there was an enormous explosion". The same source claims that, following this, "the shaking stopped and to his surprise he
4844-742: A plane in Sydney, while the Australian carrier, Qantas , paid only $ 178 to land a jet in Los Angeles. The ad also contended that the United States Postal Service was paying foreign airlines five times as much to carry US mail in comparison to Pan Am. Finally, the ad questioned why the Export-Import Bank of the United States loaned money to Japan, France, and Saudi Arabia at 6% interest while Pan Am paid 12%. Boeing 727 The Boeing 727
5017-701: A possible role in the attack. Some relatives of the dead, including Lockerbie campaigner Jim Swire , believe the bomb was planted at Heathrow Airport , and not sent via feeder flights from Malta, as per the US and UK governments. A sleeper cell belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command had been operating in West Germany in the months before the Pan Am bombing. In 2020, US authorities indicted
5190-674: A prototype, it was later sold to United Airlines, which donated it to the Museum of Flight in Seattle in 1991. The jet was restored over 25 years by the museum and was ferried from Paine Field in Everett, Washington to Boeing Field in Seattle, where it was put on permanent display at the Aviation Pavilion. The Federal Aviation Administration granted the museum a special permit for the 15-minute flight. The museum's previous 727-223, tail number N874AA,
5363-619: A result of an agreement among the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union at the end of World War II which prohibited Germany from having its own airlines and restricted the provision of commercial air services from and to Berlin to air transport providers headquartered in these four countries. Rising Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the three Western powers resulted in unilateral Soviet withdrawal from
Pan Am Flight 103 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5536-427: A retractable tailskid that is designed to protect the aircraft in the event of an over- rotation on takeoff. The 727's fuselage has an outer diameter of 148 inches (3.8 m). This allows six-abreast seating (three per side) and a single aisle when 18-inch (46 cm) wide coach-class seats are installed. An unusual feature of the fuselage is the 10-inch (25 cm) difference between the lower lobe forward and aft of
5709-406: A roller-bearing floor for palletised galley and seating and/or cargo to allow much faster changeover time (30 minutes). QF stands for Quiet Freighter. A cargo conversion for United Parcel Service , these were re-engined with Stage 3 -compliant Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans. A stretched version of the 727-100, the -200 is 20 feet (6.1 m) longer (153 feet 2 inches;46.69 m) than
5882-404: A series of higher gross weights and more powerful engines were introduced along with other improvements, and from line number 881, 727-200s are dubbed -200 Advanced. The aircraft gross weight eventually increased from 169,000 to 209,500 pounds (76,700 to 95,000 kg) for the latest versions. The dorsal intake of the number-two engine was also redesigned to be round in shape, rather than oval as it
6055-477: A service from San Francisco to Honolulu and on to Hong Kong and Auckland following steamship routes. After negotiating traffic rights in 1934 to land at Pearl Harbor , Midway Island , Wake Island , Guam , and Manila , Pan Am shipped $ 500,000 worth of aeronautical equipment and construction crews westward in March 1935 using the S.S. North Haven , a 15,000-ton merchant ship chartered to provision each island that
6228-622: A single class. Launched in 1965, the stretched 727-200 flew in July 1967 and entered service with Northeast Airlines that December. The 20 ft (6.1 m) longer variant typically carries 134 passengers in two classes over 2,550 nmi (4,720 km; 2,930 mi), or 155 in a single class. A freighter and a "Quick Change" convertible version were also offered. The 727 was used for domestic flights and on international flights within its range. Airport noise regulations have led to hush kit installations. Its last commercial passenger flight
6401-446: A small airline established in 1926 by John K. Montgomery and Richard B. Bevier as a seaplane service from Key West to Havana. A third company, Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways, was established on October 11, 1927, by New York City investment banker Richard Hoyt to bid for the contract. The Postal Service awarded Pan American Airways the US mail delivery contract to Cuba, at the end of
6574-547: A smaller flight deck crew of two pilots, while the 727 required two pilots and a flight engineer. Delta Air Lines , the last major U.S. carrier to do so, retired its last 727 from scheduled service in April 2003. Northwest Airlines retired its last 727 from charter service in June 2003. Many airlines replaced their 727s with either the 737-800 or the Airbus A320 ; both are close in size to
6747-456: A viable payload in both directions. Pan Am was a Boeing 747 launch customer, placing a $ 525 million (equivalent to $ 3.77 billion in 2023) order for 25 in April 1966. On January 15, 1970 First Lady Pat Nixon christened Pan Am Boeing 747 Clipper Young America at Washington Dulles and during the next few days, Pan Am flew 747s to major airports in the United States where the public could tour them. Pan Am's inaugural 747 service on
6920-464: A windowless cabin. Fifteen of these aircraft were built, all for Federal Express. This was the last production variant of the 727 to be developed by Boeing; the last 727 aircraft completed by Boeing was a 727-200F Advanced. Certificated by Valsan Partners in December 1988 and marketed by Goodrich from 1997, the side engines are replaced by more efficient, quieter JT8D-217C/219, and the center engine gains
7093-652: A year or so in 1975–76, Pan Am finally completed the round-the-world trip, New York to New York. In January 1950, Pan American Airways Corporation officially became Pan American World Airways, Inc. (The airline had begun calling itself Pan American World Airways in 1943.) In September 1950 Pan Am completed the $ 17.45 million (equivalent to $ 175.32 million in 2023) purchase of American Overseas Airlines from American Airlines . That month Pan Am ordered 45 Douglas DC-6Bs . The first, Clipper Liberty Bell (N6518C), inaugurated Pan Am's all- tourist class Rainbow service between New York and London on May 1, 1952, to complement
Pan Am Flight 103 - Misplaced Pages Continue
7266-542: Is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes . After the heavier 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airports. On December 5, 1960, the 727 was launched with 40 orders each from United Airlines and Eastern Air Lines . The first 727-100 rolled out on November 27, 1962, first flew on February 9, 1963, and entered service with Eastern on February 1, 1964. The only trijet aircraft to be produced by Boeing,
7439-513: The Yankee Clipper , piloted by Harold E. Gray , made the first-ever trans-Atlantic passenger flight. The first leg of the flight, Baltimore to Horta , took 17 hours and 32 minutes and covered 2,400 miles (3,900 km; 2,100 nmi). The second leg from Horta to Pan Am's newly built airport in Lisbon took 7 hours and 7 minutes and covered 1,200 miles (1,900 km). The Boeing 314 also enabled
7612-636: The Dixie Clipper piloted by R.O.D. Sullivan. The Eastbound trip departed every Wednesday at Noon and arrived at Marseilles on Friday at 3 pm GCT with return service leaving Marseilles on Sunday at 8 am and arriving at Port Washington on Tuesday at 7 am. The Northern transatlantic route to Britain was inaugurated for Air Mail service on June 24, 1939, by the Yankee Clipper piloted by Harold Gray flying via Shediac (New Brunswick), Botwood (Newfoundland), and Foynes (Ireland) to Southampton . Passenger service
7785-623: The Atlantic to Europe, and subsequently from others including TWA to Europe, Braniff to South America, United to Hawaii and Northwest Orient to East Asia, as well as five potential rivals to Mexico. This changed situation resulted from the new post-war approach the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) took toward the promotion of competition between major US carriers on key domestic and international scheduled routes compared with pre-war US aviation policy. American Overseas Airlines (AOA)
7958-540: The Caribbean and South America. Pan Am also acquired a few Curtiss C-46s for a freight network that eventually extended to Buenos Aires. In January 1946, Pan Am had no transpacific flights beyond Hawaii, but they soon resumed with DC-4s. In January 1958, the California to Tokyo flight was a daily Stratocruiser that took 31 hours 45 minutes from San Francisco or 32 hours 15 minutes from Los Angeles. (A flight to Seattle and
8131-776: The InterContinental Hotel chain and had a financial interest in the Falcon Jet Corporation, which held marketing rights to the Dassault Falcon 20 business jet in North America. The airline was involved in creating a missile-tracking range in the South Atlantic and operating a nuclear-engine testing laboratory in Nevada . In addition, Pan Am participated in several notable humanitarian flights. At its height Pan Am
8304-526: The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global airline industry association. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Pan Am began facing a series of challenges both internal and external, along with rising competition from the deregulation of the airline industry in 1978. After several attempts at financial restructuring and rebranding throughout the 1980s, Pan Am gradually sold off its assets before declaring bankruptcy in 1991. By
8477-661: The Lockerbie bombing and the Lockerbie air disaster in the UK, it was described by Scotland's Lord Advocate as the UK's largest criminal inquiry led by the smallest police force in Britain, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary. After a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the US FBI, during which 15,000 witness statements were taken, indictments for murder were issued on 13 November 1991 against Abdelbaset al-Megrahi ,
8650-657: The Rolls-Royce RB163 Spey used by the Trident. Boeing and de Havilland each sent engineers to the other company's locations to evaluate each other's designs, but Boeing eventually decided against the joint venture. De Havilland had wanted Boeing to license-build the D.H.121, while Boeing felt that the aircraft needed to be designed for the American market, with six-abreast seating and the ability to use runways as short as 4,500 feet (1,400 m). In 1960, Pratt & Whitney
8823-813: The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) for his conviction to be reviewed, and on 28 June 2007, the SCCRC announced its decision to refer the case to the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh after it found he "may have suffered a miscarriage of justice". Megrahi served just over 10 years of his sentence (beginning 5 April 1999), first in Barlinnie prison, Glasgow, and later in Greenock prison, Renfrewshire, throughout which time he maintained that he
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#17328699772878996-565: The Tunisia resident and Libyan national Abu Agila Masud , who was 37 years old at the time of the incident, for participating in the bombing. He was taken into custody in December 2022, pleading not guilty in February 2023. A federal trial was set for May 2025. The aircraft operating Pan Am Flight 103 was a Boeing 747-121 , MSN 19646, registered as N739PA and named Clipper Maid of the Seas. Before 1979, it had been named Clipper Morning Light . It
9169-629: The U.S. Navy and five years in the Massachusetts Air National Guard , where he held the rank of major. First Officer Raymond R. Wagner (52), a pilot with Pan Am since 1966 with almost 5,500 hours in the 747 and a total of nearly 12,000 hours, had previously served eight years in the New Jersey National Guard . Flight Engineer Jerry D. Avritt (46), who joined Pan Am in 1980 after 13 years with National Airlines , had more than 8,000 hours of flying time, with nearly 500 hours in
9342-575: The US government . Also competing for the contract, Juan Trippe formed the Aviation Corporation of the Americas (ACA) on June 2, 1927, with $ 250,000 (equivalent to $ 3.53 million in 2023) in startup capital and the backing of powerful and politically connected financiers including Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and W. Averell Harriman . Their operation had the all-important landing rights for Havana , having acquired American International Airways,
9515-592: The Vietnam War . These flights carried American service personnel for R&R leaves in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and other Asian cities. In August 1953 PAA scheduled passenger flights to 106 airports; in May 1968 to 122 airports; in November 1978 to 65 airports (plus a few freight-only airports); in November 1985 to 98 airports; in November 1991 to 46 airports (plus 14 more with only "Pan Am Express" prop flights). Pan Am had invested in
9688-572: The Yucatan Peninsula to connect with Pan Am's Caribbean route network. Pan Am's holding company , the Aviation Corporation of the Americas, was one of the most sought after stocks on the New York Curb Exchange in 1929, and flurries of speculation surrounded each of its new route awards. In April 1929 Trippe and his associates reached an agreement with United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) to segregate Pan Am operations to
9861-711: The number two engine location were prohibitive. Current regulations require that a 727, or any other Stage 2 noise jetliner in commercial service must be retrofitted with a hush kit to reduce engine noise to Stage 3 levels to continue to fly in U.S. airspace. These regulations have been in effect since December 31, 1999. One such hush kit is offered by FedEx , and has been purchased by over 60 customers. Aftermarket winglet kits, originally developed by Valsan Partners and later marketed by Quiet Wing Corp. have been installed on many 727s to reduce noise at lower speeds, as well as to reduce fuel consumption. In addition, Raisbeck Engineering developed packages to enable 727s to meet
10034-719: The quadripartite Allied Control Commission in 1948, culminating in the division of Germany the following year. These events, together with Soviet insistence on a very narrow interpretation of the post-war agreement on the Western powers' access rights to Berlin, meant that until the end of the Cold War air transport in West Berlin continued to be confined to the carriers of the remaining Allied Control Commission powers, with aircraft required to fly across hostile East German territory through three 20 mi (32 km) wide air corridors at
10207-406: The -100 (133 feet 2 inches;40.59 m). A 10-ft (3-m) fuselage section ("plug") was added in front of the wings and another 10-ft fuselage section was added behind them. The wing span and height remain the same on both the -100 and -200 (108 and 34 feet (33 and 10 m), respectively). The original 727-200 had the same maximum gross weight as the 727-100; however, as the aircraft evolved,
10380-445: The 40-degree flap setting could result in a higher-than-desired sink rate or a stall on final approach. These carriers' Pilots' Operation Handbooks disallowed using more than 30° of flaps on the 727, even going so far as installing plates on the flap lever slot to prevent selection of more than 30° of flaps. The 727 is one of the noisiest commercial jetliners, categorized as Stage 2 by the U.S. Noise Control Act of 1972, which mandated
10553-460: The 727 has seen sporadic government use, having flown for the Belgian , Yugoslav , Mexican , New Zealand , and Panama air forces, along with a small group of government agencies that have used it. A number of 727s have been outfitted for use as private aircraft, especially since the early 1990s, when major airlines began to eliminate older 727-100 models from their fleet. Donald Trump traveled in
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#173286997728710726-469: The 727 is powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofans below a T-tail , one on each side of the rear fuselage and a center one fed through an S-duct below the tail. It shares its six-abreast upper fuselage cross-section and cockpit with the 707 that was also later used on the 737 . The 133-foot-long (41 m) 727-100 typically carries 106 passengers in two classes over 2,250 nautical miles [nmi] (4,170 km; 2,590 mi), or 129 in
10899-434: The 727-200 Advanced, a total of 935 were delivered, after which it had to give way to a new generation of aircraft. A freighter version of the 727-200 Advanced became available in 1981, designated the Series 200F Advanced. Powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D -17A engines, it featured a strengthened fuselage structure, an 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) by 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) forward main deck freight door, and
11072-411: The 727-200 was introduced in 1970. It featured powerful engines, fuel capacity and MTOW (185,800–210,000 lb or 84.3–95.3 t) increased the range from 1,930 to 2,550 nmi (3,570 to 4,720 km; 2,220 to 2,930 mi) or by 32%. After the first delivery in mid-1972, Boeing eventually raised production to more than a hundred per year to meet demand by the late 1970s. Of the passenger model of
11245-435: The 727-200. As of July 2013 , a total of 109 Boeing 727s were in commercial service with 34 airlines; three years later, the total had fallen to 64 airframes in service with 26 airlines. On March 2, 2016, the first 727 produced (N7001U), which first flew on February 9, 1963, made a flight to a museum after extensive restoration. The 727-100 had carried about three million passengers during its years of service. Originally
11418-402: The 747. The cockpit crew was based at John F. Kennedy International Airport . Six of the 13 cabin crew members became naturalized U.S. citizens while working for Pan Am. The cabin crew was based at Heathrow and lived in the London area or commuted from around Europe. All were originally hired by Pan Am and seniority ranged from 9 months to 28 years. The captain, first officer, flight engineer,
11591-454: The Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 , as well as aging propeller airliners such as the DC-4 , DC-6 , DC-7 , and the Lockheed Constellations on short- and medium-haul routes. For over a decade, more 727s were built per year than any other jet airliner; in 1984, production ended with 1,832 built and 1,831 delivered, the highest total for any jet airliner until the 737 surpassed it in the early 1990s. The airliner's middle engine (engine 2) at
11764-563: The British Department for Transport concluded that the nose of the aircraft was blown off and separated from the main fuselage within three seconds of the explosion. The nose cone was briefly held on by a band of metal, but facing aft, like the lid of a can. It then sheared off, up, and backwards to starboard, striking off the number-three engine and landing some distance outside the town, on a hill in Tundergarth. The fuselage continued moving forward and down until it reached 19,000 ft (5,800 m), when its dive became nearly vertical. Due to
11937-564: The Caribbean. In 1964, Pan Am began a helicopter shuttle between New York's John F. Kennedy , LaGuardia, and Newark airports and Lower Manhattan , operated by New York Airways . Aside from the DC-8, the Boeing 707 and 747, the Pan Am jet fleet included Boeing 720Bs and 727s (the first aircraft to sport Pan Am rather than Pan American – titles ). The airline later had Boeing 737s and 747SPs (which could fly nonstop from New York to Tokyo), Lockheed L-1011 Tristars , McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s , and Airbus A300s and A310s . Pan Am owned
12110-422: The DC-8. The combined order value was $ 269 million. Pan Am's first scheduled jet flight was from New York Idlewild to Paris Le Bourget , stopping at Gander to refuel, on October 26, 1958. The Boeing 707-121 Clipper America N711PA carried 111 passengers. 320 "Intercontinental" series Boeing 707s delivered in 1959–60, and the Douglas DC-8 in March 1960, enabled non-stop transatlantic crossings with
12283-546: The JT8D, as it was about 1,000 lb (450 kg) heavier than the RB163, though slightly more powerful; the RB163 was also further along in development than the JT8D. Boeing reluctantly agreed to offer the JT8D as an option on the 727, and it later became the sole powerplant. With high-lift devices on its wing, the 727 could use shorter runways than most earlier jets (e.g. the 4800-ft runway at Key West International Airport ). Later 727 models were stretched to carry more passengers and replaced earlier jet airliners such as
12456-653: The Manila route, while PA 1 shifted to Tokyo and Shanghai. All Pan Am round-the-world flights included at least one change of plane until Boeing 707s took over in 1960. PA 1 became daily in 1962–63, making different en-route stops on different days of the week; in January 1963, it left San Francisco at 09:00 daily and was scheduled into New York 56 hours and 10 minutes later. Los Angeles replaced San Francisco in 1968; when Boeing 747s finished replacing 707s in 1971, all stops except Tehran and Karachi were served daily in each direction. For
12629-737: The North Atlantic began. Pan Am Clipper III , a Sikorsky S-42 , landed at Botwood in the Bay of Exploits in Newfoundland from Port Washington, via Shediac, New Brunswick . The next day Pan Am Clipper III left Botwood for Foynes in County Limerick , Ireland. The same day, a Short Empire C-Class flying boat, the Caledonia , left Foynes for Botwood, and landed July 6, 1937, reaching Montreal on July 8 and New York on July 9. Trippe decided to start
12802-702: The Pacific route: in China, passengers could connect to domestic flights on the Pan Am-operated China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) network, co-owned with the Chinese government . Pan Am flew to Singapore for the first time in 1941, starting a semi-monthly service that reduced San Francisco–Singapore travel times from 25 days to six days. Six large, long-range Boeing 314 flying boats were delivered to Pan Am in early 1939. On March 30, 1939,
12975-589: The Pan Am China Clipper route, from San Francisco, leading to Manila, Hong Kong, Shanghai. On August 6, 1937, Juan Trippe accepted United States aviation's highest annual prize, the Collier Trophy , on behalf of PAA from President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the company's "establishment of the transpacific airline and the successful execution of extended overwater navigation and the regular operations thereof." Pan Am also used Boeing 314 flying boats for
13148-523: The Seas approached the corner of the Solway Firth at 19:01, and crossed the coast at 19:02 UTC. On scope, the aircraft showed transponder code , or "squawk", 0357 and flight level 310. At this point, the Clipper Maid of the Seas was flying at 31,000 feet (9,400 metres) on a heading of 316° magnetic, and at a speed of 313 kn (580 km/h; 360 mph) calibrated airspeed . Subsequent analysis of
13321-508: The Stage 3 noise requirements. These packages managed to get light- and medium-weight 727s to meet Stage 3 with simple changes to the flap and slat schedules. For heavier-weight 727s, exhaust mixers must be added to meet Stage 3. American Airlines ordered and took delivery of 52 Raisbeck 727 Stage 3 systems. Other customers included TWA, Pan Am, Air Algérie, TAME, and many smaller airlines. Since September 1, 2010, 727 jetliners (including those with
13494-502: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), arrest warrants were issued for two Libyan nationals in November 1991. After protracted negotiations and United Nations sanctions, in 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi handed over the two men for trial at Camp Zeist, the Netherlands . In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi , a Libyan intelligence officer, was jailed for life after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder in connection with
13667-496: The United States and Europe. Pan Am reached an agreement with both countries to offer service from Norfolk, Virginia , to Europe via Bermuda and the Azores using the S-42s. A joint service from Port Washington, New York , to Bermuda began in June 1937, with Pan Am using Sikorskys and Imperial Airways using the C class flying boat RMA Cavalier . On July 5, 1937, survey flights across
13840-439: The United States. The government further helped Pan Am by insulating it from its US competitors, seeing the airline as the "chosen instrument" for US-based international air routes. The airline expanded internationally, benefiting from a virtual monopoly on foreign routes. Trippe and his associates planned to extend Pan Am's network through all of Central and South America. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Pan Am purchased
14013-581: The West Coast of the United States to London and Paris, with a fuel stop in Canada or Greenland. The introduction of the faster Bristol Britannia turboprop by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) between New York and London on December 19, 1957, ended Pan Am's competitive leadership there. In January 1958 Pan Am scheduled 47 flights a week east from Idlewild to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and beyond;
14186-466: The accused chose not to give evidence in court. On 31 January 2001, Megrahi was convicted of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, and sentenced to life imprisonment, but Fhimah was acquitted. Megrahi's appeal against his conviction was refused on 14 March 2002, and his application to the European Court of Human Rights was declared inadmissible in July 2003. On 23 September 2003, Megrahi applied to
14359-548: The aft stair could be opened in flight, the Central Intelligence Agency used them to drop agents and supplies behind enemy lines in Vietnam . In early 1988, The Iraqi Air Force modified a Boeing 727 by fitting it with Thomson-CSF TMV-018 Syrel pods for ESM and Raphael-TH pods with side looking radar . Known as 'Faw-727', it was reportedly used as an ELINT platform in the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 (during which it
14532-490: The aircraft undetected and distributed rag mags in the passenger accommodation as a publicity stunt. Pan Am carried 11 million passengers over 20 billion miles (3.2 × 10 km; 1.7 × 10 nmi) in 1970, the year it introduced widebodied airline travel. Pan Am was one of the first three airlines to sign options for the Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde , but like other airlines that took out options – with
14705-451: The airline offered first-class seats on such flights, and the style of flight crews became more formal. Instead of being leather-jacketed, silk-scarved airmail pilots, the crews of the "Clippers" wore naval-style uniforms and adopted a set procession when boarding the aircraft. In 1940 Pan Am and TWA both received and began using the Boeing 307 Stratoliner , the first pressurized airliner to enter service. The Boeing 307's airline service
14878-671: The airline's operating costs. Federal route awards to other airlines, such as the Transpacific Route Case , further reduced the number of passengers Pan Am carried and its profit margins. On September 23, 1974, a group of Pan Am employees published an advertisement in The New York Times to register their disagreement over federal policies that they felt were harming the financial viability of their employer. The ad cited discrepancies in airport landing fees, such as Pan Am paying $ 4,200 (equivalent to $ 20,194 in 2023) to land
15051-447: The airstair could not be lowered in flight. The design included an auxiliary power unit (APU), which allowed electrical and air-conditioning systems to run independently of a ground-based power supply, and without having to start one of the main engines. An unusual design feature is that the APU is mounted in a hole in the keel beam web, in the main landing gear bay. The 727 is equipped with
15224-558: The all- first President Stratocruiser service. From June 1954, DC-6Bs began replacing DC-4s on Pan Am's internal German routes. Pan Am introduced the Douglas DC-7C "Seven Seas" on transatlantic routes in summer 1956. In January 1958 the DC-7C nonstop took 10 hours and 45 minutes from Idlewild to London, enabling Pan Am to hold its own against TWA's Super Constellations and Starliners . In 1957, Pan Am started DC-7C flights direct from
15397-605: The attack. Acceptance of responsibility was part of a series of requirements laid out by a UN resolution for sanctions against Libya to be lifted. Libya said it had to accept responsibility due to Megrahi's status as a government employee. During the First Libyan Civil War in 2011, former Minister of Justice Mustafa Abdul Jalil claimed that the Libyan leader had personally ordered the bombing, while investigators have long believed that Megrahi did not act alone, and have been reported as questioning retired Stasi agents about
15570-527: The attack. On 22 February 2011, during the Libyan Civil War , former Minister of Justice Mustafa Abdul Jalil stated in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Expressen that Gaddafi had personally ordered the bombing. Jalil claimed to possess "documents that prove [his allegations] and [that he is] ready to hand them over to the international criminal court." In December 2013, the original prime suspects in
15743-437: The attack. The Iranian foreign ministry swiftly denied any involvement. The initial investigation into the crash site by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary involved many helicopter surveys, satellite imaging, and a search of the area by police and soldiers. The wreckage of the crash was scattered over 2,000 square kilometres (770 sq mi), and AAIB investigators were confronted by a massive jigsaw puzzle in trying to piece
15916-516: The backbone of its fleet until the 2000s; FedEx began replacing them with Boeing 757s in 2007. Many cargo airlines worldwide employ the 727 as a workhorse, since, as it is being phased out of U.S. domestic service because of noise regulations, it becomes available to overseas users in areas where such noise regulations have not yet been instituted. Charter airlines Sun Country , Champion Air , and Ryan International Airlines all started with 727 aircraft. The 727 had some military uses as well. Since
16089-517: The bidding process, but Pan American lacked any aircraft to perform the job and did not have landing rights in Cuba. Just days before the 19 October deadline, the three companies decided to form a partnership. ACA chartered a Fairchild FC-2 floatplane from a small Dominican Republic carrier, West Indian Aerial Express, allowing Pan Am to operate the first flight to Havana on 19 October 1927. The three companies formally merged on June 23, 1928. Richard Hoyt
16262-576: The bombing were revealed to have been the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), a Syria-based group led by Ahmed Jibril . A flood of warnings immediately preceding the disaster had included one that read: 'team of Palestinians not associated with PLO intends to attack US targets in Europe. Time frame is present. Targets specified are Pan Am Airlines and US military bases.' Five weeks before this warning, Jibril's right-hand man, Haffez Dalkamoni, had been arrested in Frankfurt with
16435-513: The bombing. In August 2009, he was released by the Scottish government on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with prostate cancer . He died in May 2012 as the only person to be convicted for the attack. In 2003, Gaddafi accepted Libya's responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the families of the victims, although he maintained that he had never given the order for
16608-533: The bonds forged then continue to this day. Two alerts were released shortly before the bombing. On 5 December 1988 (16 days prior to the attack), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a security bulletin saying that, on that day, a man with an Arabic accent had telephoned the US Embassy in Helsinki , Finland, and told them that a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt to the United States would be blown up within
16781-571: The claims from the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution as the most credible one received so far," but the analysis concluded, "We cannot assign responsibility for this tragedy to any terrorist group at this time. We anticipate that, as often happens, many groups will seek to claim credit." Muammar Gaddafi took responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the victims' families in 2003, though he maintained that he had not ordered
16954-455: The clippers would stop at on their 4- to 5-day flight. Pan Am ran its first survey flight to Honolulu in April 1935 with a Sikorsky S-42 flying boat. Construction crews, including Bill Mullahey who would later oversee Pan Am's Pacific operations, cleared coral from lagoons, constructed hotels, and installed the radio navigation equipment necessary for the clippers to island hop from Pearl City Seaplane Base , Hawaii , to Asia. The airline won
17127-455: The contract for a San Francisco– Canton mail route later that year and operated its first commercial flight carrying mail and express (no passengers) in a Martin M-130 from Alameda to Manila amid media fanfare on November 22, 1935. The five-leg, 8,000-mile (13,000 km) flight arrived in Manila on November 29 and returned to San Francisco on December 6, cutting the time between the two cities by
17300-478: The crater confirmed the initial impression that the complete wing box structure had been present at the main impact." The British Geological Survey 23 kilometres (14 mi) away at Eskdalemuir registered a seismic event at 19:03:36 measuring 1.6 on the moment magnitude scale , which was attributed to the impact. According to the report, the rest of the wreckage composed of "the complete fuselage forward of approximately station 480 to station 380 and incorporating
17473-410: The defense during the original trial, stated that on 19 April 1999, four days before identifying al-Megrahi for the first time, Gauci had seen a picture of al-Megrahi in a magazine that connected him to the bombing, a fact that could have distorted his judgement. Gauci was shown the same magazine during his testimony at al-Megrahi's trial and asked if he had identified the photograph in April 1999 as being
17646-597: The eight-passenger S-38, began flying for Pan Am in 1931. Carrying the nicknames American Clipper , Southern Clipper , and Caribbean Clipper , they were the first of the series of 28 Clipper s that symbolized Pan Am between 1931 and 1946. During this time, Pan Am operated Clipper services to Latin America from the International Pan American Airport at Dinner Key in Miami, Florida . In 1937 Pan Am turned to Britain and France to begin seaplane service between
17819-419: The end of the year, Pan Am offered flights along the west coast of South America to Peru. Following government favors for the denial of mail contracts to their competition, a forced merger was created with New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line , giving a seaplane route along the east coast of South America to Buenos Aires , Argentina, and westbound to Santiago , Chile. Its Brazilian subsidiary NYRBA do Brasil
17992-476: The evening of January 21, 1970, was delayed for several hours by engine failure affecting the scheduled Clipper Young America . Clipper Victor was substituted for the flight from New York John F. Kennedy to London Heathrow ( Clipper Victor was destroyed seven years later in the Tenerife air disaster , in a collision with a KLM 747-200). While on the tarmac at Heathrow, two students from Aston University boarded
18165-440: The exception of BOAC and Air France – it did not purchase the supersonic jet . Pan Am was the first US airline to sign for the Boeing 2707 , the American supersonic transport (SST) project, with 15 delivery positions reserved; these aircraft never saw service after Congress voted against additional funding in 1971. Pan Am commissioned IBM to build PANAMAC, a large computer that booked airline and hotel reservations, which
18338-504: The explosion destroyed the aircraft's communications center. The explosion in the aircraft hold was magnified by the uncontrolled decompression of the fuselage – a large difference in pressure between the aircraft's interior and exterior. The aircraft's elevator- and rudder-control cables had been disrupted and the fuselage pitched downwards and to the left. Investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of
18511-556: The explosion in their house at 16 Sherwood Crescent. Their son witnessed a fireball engulfing his home from a neighbor's garage, where he had been repairing his sister's bicycle. The other Lockerbie residents who died were two widows aged 82 and 81, who also both lived in Sherwood Crescent; they were the two oldest victims of the disaster. Patrick Keegans, Lockerbie's Catholic priest, was preparing to visit friends around 7:00 that evening with his mother, having recently been appointed
18684-439: The extreme flutter, the vertical stabilizer disintegrated, which in turn produced large yawing movements. As the forward fuselage continued to disintegrate, the flying debris tore off both of the horizontal stabilizers, while the rear fuselage, the remaining three engines, and the fin torque box separated. The rear fuselage, parts of the baggage hold, and three landing gear units landed at Rosebank Crescent. The fuselage consisting of
18857-474: The fastest scheduled steamship by over two weeks. (Both the United States and the Philippine Islands issued special stamps for the two flights.) The first passenger flight left Alameda on October 21, 1936. The fare from San Francisco to Manila or Hong Kong in 1937 was US$ 950 one way (equivalent to $ 20,135 in 2023) and US$ 1,710 (equivalent to $ 36,242 in 2023) round trip. This later became known as
19030-513: The first circumnavigation of the globe by a commercial airliner. Another first occurred in January 1943, when Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first US president to fly abroad, in the Dixie Clipper . During this period Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was a Clipper pilot; he was aboard the Clipper Eclipse when it crashed in Syria on June 19, 1947. While waiting at Foynes, Ireland, for
19203-683: The first scheduled round-the-world airline flight. In September, the weekly DC-4 was scheduled to leave San Francisco at 22:00 Thursday as Flight 1, stopping at Honolulu, Midway , Wake , Guam, Manila, Bangkok , and arriving in Calcutta on Monday at 12:45, where it met Flight 2, a Constellation that had left New York at 23:30 Friday. The DC-4 returned to San Francisco as Flight 2; the Constellation left Calcutta at 13:30 Tuesday, stopped at Karachi , Istanbul , London, Shannon , Gander , and arrived LaGuardia Thursday at 14:55. A few months later, PA 3 took over
19376-448: The flight deck and nose landing gear was found as one piece in a field approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) east of Lockerbie." This field, located opposite Tundergarth Church , is where the wreckage most easily identified with images of the accident in the media fell, having fallen "almost flat on its left side, but with a slight nose-down attitude." All 243 passengers and 16 crew members were killed, as were 11 residents of Lockerbie on
19549-588: The flight's transatlantic leg, pushed back from the terminal at 18:04 and took off from runway 27R at 18:25, bound for New York JFK Airport and then Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport . Contrary to many popular accounts of the disaster (though repeated, with reference, below ), the flight, which had a scheduled gate departure time of 18:00, left Heathrow airport on time. At 18:58, the aircraft established two-way radio contact with Shanwick Oceanic Area Control in Prestwick on 123.95 MHz. Clipper Maid of
19722-552: The flight, with no response. Then a loud noise was recorded on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) at 19:02:50. Five radar echoes fanning out appeared, instead of one. Comparison of the CVR to the radar returns showed that, eight seconds after the explosion, the wreckage had a 1-nautical-mile (1.9 km) spread. A British Airways pilot, flying the London–Glasgow shuttle near Carlisle , called Scottish authorities to report that he could see
19895-477: The following August there were 65. Pan Am considered purchasing the world's first jetliner , the British De Havilland Comet , but instead waited to become Boeing 707 launch customer in 1955 with an order for 20. It also purchased 25 Douglas DC-8 , which could seat six across. The 707 was originally to be 144 inches (3.66 m) wide with five-abreast seating but Boeing widened their design to match
20068-462: The gradual introduction of quieter Stage 3 aircraft. The 727's JT8D jet engines use older low-bypass turbofan technology, whereas Stage 3 aircraft use the more efficient and quieter high-bypass turbofan design. When the Stage 3 requirement was being proposed, Boeing engineers analyzed the possibility of incorporating quieter engines on the 727. They determined that the JT8D-200 engine could be used on
20241-456: The ground. Of the 270 total fatalities, 190 were American citizens and 43 were British citizens. Nineteen other nationalities were represented, with four or fewer passengers per country. Flight 103 was under the command of Captain James B. MacQuarrie (55), a Pan Am pilot since 1964 with almost 11,000 flight hours, of which over 4,000 had been accrued in 747 aircraft. He previously served three years in
20414-457: The initial -100 (originally only two figures as in -30), which was launched in 1960 and entered service in February 1964, and the -200 series, which was launched in 1965 and entered service in December 1967. The first 727-100 (N7001U) flew on February 9, 1963. FAA type approval was awarded on December 24 of that year, with initial delivery to United Airlines on October 29, 1963, to allow pilot training to commence. The first 727 passenger service
20587-451: The inner wing and extendable leading edge slats out to the wingtip) and trailing-edge lift enhancement equipment (triple-slotted, Fowler flaps ) could be used on the entire wing. Together, these high-lift devices produced a maximum wing lift coefficient of 3.0 (based on the flap-retracted wing area). The 727 was stable at very low speeds compared to other early jets, but some domestic carriers learned after review of various accidents that
20760-405: The larger Airbus A300 , so the project was cancelled in 1976. A concept with a 155-foot (47 m) fuselage and two high-bypass turbofan engines under the wings (but retaining the T tail) was proposed in 1977. More compact systems, a redesign of the internal space, and removing the need for the flight engineer would have increased the capacity to 189 seats in a two-class configuration. After only
20933-408: The late 1950s and early 1970s, Pan Am was known for its advanced fleet, highly trained staff, and amenities. In 1970, it flew 11 million passengers to 86 countries, with destinations in every continent except Antarctica. In an era dominated by flag carriers that were wholly or majority-owned by governments, Pan Am became the unofficial national carrier of the United States. It was a founding member of
21106-534: The late 1960s and early 1970s, Pan Am advertised under the slogan, the "World's Most Experienced Airline". It carried 6.7 million passengers in 1966, and by 1968, its 150 jets flew to 86 countries on every continent except for Antarctica over a scheduled route network of 81,410 unduplicated miles (131,000 km). During that period, the airline was profitable, and its cash reserves totaled $ 1 billion (equivalent to $ 6.69 billion in 2023) . Most routes were between New York, Europe, and South America, and between Miami and
21279-416: The main wing box structure landed in Sherwood Crescent, destroying three homes and creating a large impact crater. The 200,000 lb (91,000 kg) of jet fuel ignited by the impact started fires, which destroyed several additional houses. Investigators determined that both wings had landed in the Sherwood Crescent crater, saying, "the total absence of debris from the wing primary structure found remote from
21452-623: The mid-20th century, Pan Am enjoyed a near monopoly on international routes. It led the aircraft industry into the Jet Age by acquiring new jetliners such as the Boeing 707 and Boeing 747 . Pan Am's modern fleet allowed it to fly larger numbers of passengers, at a longer range, and with fewer stops than rivals. Its primary hub and flagship terminal was the Worldport at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City . During its peak between
21625-542: The next two weeks by someone associated with the Abu Nidal Organization ; he said a Finnish woman would carry the bomb on board as an unwitting courier. The anonymous warning was taken seriously by the US government and the State Department cabled the bulletin to dozens of embassies. The FAA sent it to all US carriers, including Pan Am, which had charged each of the passengers a $ 5 security surcharge, promising
21798-491: The outside columns of the terminal below by 32 sets of steel posts and cables. The terminal was designed to allow passengers to board and disembark via stairs without getting wet by parking the nose of the aircraft under the overhang. The introduction of the jetbridge made this feature obsolete. Pan Am built a gilded training building in the style of Edward Durell Stone designed by Steward-Skinner Architects in Miami. At its peak in
21971-689: The passenger victims was the 50-year-old UN Commissioner for Namibia (then South West Africa ), Bernt Carlsson , who would have attended the signing ceremony of the New York Accords at the UN headquarters the following day. James Fuller , CEO of Volkswagen of America, was returning home together with marketing director Lou Marengo from a meeting with Volkswagen executives in Germany. Also aboard were Irish Olympic sailor Peter Dix , rock musician Paul Jeffreys and his wife, Rachel Jeffreys (née Jones) Dr. Irving Sigal,
22144-646: The passengers were students from Syracuse University , who participated in the university's Division of International Programs Abroad (abbreviated as "DIPA Program" and renamed to "Syracuse University Abroad" in 2006, while also known as "Syracuse Abroad" and "Study Abroad Program") and were returning home for Christmas following a semester in Syracuse's London and European campuses. Ten of these students were from other universities and colleges (including but not limited to Colgate University and University of Colorado ) having collaborative relationships with Syracuse. Several of
22317-453: The person who purchased the clothing; he was then asked if that person was in the court. Gauci then identified al-Megrahi for the court, stating, "He is the man on this side. He resembles him a lot". A circuit board fragment, allegedly found embedded in a piece of charred material, was identified as part of an electronic timer similar to one found on a Libyan intelligence agent who had been arrested 10 months previously for carrying materials for
22490-410: The plane back together. In total, 4 million pieces of wreckage were collected and registered on computer files. More than 10,000 pieces of debris were retrieved, tagged, and entered into a computer tracking system. The perpetrators had apparently intended the plane to crash into the sea, destroying any traceable evidence, but its explosion over land left a trail of evidence. The fuselage of the aircraft
22663-470: The radar returns by RSRE concluded that the aircraft was tracking 321° (grid) and traveling at a ground speed of 803 km/h (499 mph; 434 kn). At 19:02:44, Alan Topp, the airways controller at Scottish Air Traffic Control Centre , transmitted its oceanic route clearance on behalf of Shanwick. The aircraft did not acknowledge this message. Clipper Maid of the Seas ' "squawk" then flickered off. Air traffic control tried to make contact with
22836-516: The risk of foreign object damage . A military version, the Boeing C-22, was operated as a medium-range transport aircraft by the Air National Guard and National Guard Bureau to airlift personnel. A total of three C-22Bs were in use, all assigned to the 201st Airlift Squadron , District of Columbia Air National Guard . At the start of the 21st century, the 727 remained in service with
23009-447: The same suitcase. The clothes were traced to a Maltese merchant, Tony Gauci , who became a key prosecution witness, testifying that he sold the clothes to a man of Libyan appearance. Gauci was interviewed 23 times, giving contradictory evidence about who had bought the clothes, that person's age and appearance, and the date of purchase, but later identified Abdelbaset al-Megrahi . As Megrahi had only been in Malta on 7 December, that date
23182-475: The sample he was asked to identify at the trial was a green 9-ply circuit board that Mebo had indeed supplied to Libya. Bollier wanted to pursue this discrepancy, but was told by trial judge Lord Sutherland that he could not do so. Bollier claimed that in 1991 he had declined an offer of $ 4 million from the FBI (equivalent to $ 8 million in 2023 dollars) in exchange for his support of the main line of inquiry. Known as
23355-495: The south of the Mexico – United States border , in exchange for UATC taking a large shareholder stake (UATC was the parent company of what are now Boeing , Pratt & Whitney , and United Airlines ). The Aviation Corporation of the Americas changed its name to Pan American Airways Corporation in 1931. Pan Am started its South American routes with Consolidated Commodore and Sikorsky S-38 flying boats . The S-40 , larger than
23528-423: The start of scheduled weekly contract Foreign Air Mail (F.A.M. 18) service and later passenger flights from New York (Port Washington, L.I.) to both France and Britain. The Southern route to France was inaugurated for airmail on May 20, 1939, by the Yankee Clipper piloted by Arthur E. LaPorte flying via Horta, Azores, and Lisbon, Portugal to Marseilles. Passenger service over the route was added on June 28, 1939, by
23701-515: The students were due to connect to Pan Am Express Flight 4919 to Syracuse Hancock International Airport at JFK Airport later that evening. Many of their bodies were found at Rosebank Crescent, 1 ⁄ 2 mi (0.8 km) from Sherwood Crescent. The rear fuselage of the plane, where many of them sat, destroyed one of the houses of Rosebank Crescent, 71 Park Place, the home of Lockerbie resident Ella Ramsden, who survived. The bodies of two of these students were never recovered. Prominent among
23874-617: The then-ongoing dialogue between the United States and the PLO. On the day of the bombing, the French Directorate-General for External Security was informed by their British counterpart MI6 that the UK suspected the Libyans to be behind the bombing. According to a CIA analysis dated 22 December 1988, several groups were quick to claim responsibility in telephone calls in the United States and Europe: The list's author noted, "We consider
24047-482: The three airlines agreed on a trijet design for the new aircraft. In 1959, Lord Douglas , chairman of British European Airways (BEA), suggested that Boeing and de Havilland Aircraft Company (later Hawker Siddeley ) work together on their trijet designs, the 727 and D.H.121 Trident , respectively. The two designs had a similar layout, the 727 being slightly larger. At that time Boeing intended to use three Allison AR963 turbofan engines, license-built versions of
24220-539: The time it ceased operations, the airline's trademark was the second most recognized worldwide, and its loss was felt among travelers and many Americans as signifying the end of the golden age of air travel. Its brand, iconography, and contributions to the industry remain well known in the 21st century. The airline's name and imagery were purchased in 1998 by railroad holding company Guilford Transportation Industries, which changed its name to Pan Am Systems and adopted Pan Am's logo. Pan American Airways, Incorporated (PAA)
24393-454: The town washed, dried, and ironed every piece of clothing that was found once the police had determined they were of no forensic value, so that as many items as possible could be returned to the relatives. The BBC 's Scotland correspondent, Andrew Cassell, reported on the 10th anniversary of the bombing that the townspeople had "opened their homes and hearts" to the relatives, bearing their own losses "stoically and with enormous dignity", and that
24566-454: The two side-mounted pylons. The JT8D-200 engines are much quieter than the original JT8D-1 through -17 variant engines that power the 727, as well as more fuel efficient due to the higher bypass ratio, but the structural changes to fit the larger-diameter engine (49.2 inches (125 cm) fan diameter in the JT8D-200 compared to 39.9 inches (101 cm) in the JT8D-1 through -17) into the fuselage at
24739-471: The very rear of the fuselage gets air from an inlet ahead of the vertical fin through an S-shaped duct . This S-duct proved to be troublesome in that flow distortion in the duct induced a surge in the centerline engine on the take-off of the first flight of the 727-100. This was fixed by the addition of several large vortex generators in the inside of the first bend of the duct. The 727 was designed for smaller airports, so independence from ground facilities
24912-402: The wing as the higher fuselage height of the center section was simply retained towards the rear. Nosewheel brakes were available as an option to reduce braking distance on landing, which provided reduction in braking distances of up to 150 m (490 ft). The 727 proved to be such a reliable and versatile airliner that it came to form the core of many startup airlines' fleets. The 727
25085-492: The winter on October 5 while transatlantic service to Lisbon via the Azores continued into 1941. During World War II, Pan Am flew over 90 million mi (140 million km) worldwide in support of military operations. The "Clippers" – the name hearkened back to the 19th-century fast-sailing clippers – were the only American passenger aircraft of the time capable of intercontinental travel. To compete with ocean liners,
25258-524: The word " Clipper " in its aircraft names and call signs , and the white uniform caps of its pilots. Founded in 1927 by two U.S. Army Air Corps majors, Pan Am began as a scheduled airmail and passenger service flying between Key West , Florida, and Havana , Cuba. In the 1930s, under the leadership of American entrepreneur Juan Trippe , the airline purchased a fleet of flying boats and focused its route network on Central and South America, gradually adding transatlantic and transpacific destinations. By
25431-519: The years other local flight attendant bases outside the US included London for intra-Europe and transatlantic flying, Warsaw, Istanbul and Belgrade for intra-Europe flights, a Tel Aviv base solely staffing the daily Tel Aviv-Paris-Tel Aviv service, a Nairobi base solely staffing the Nairobi-Frankfurt-Nairobi service as well as Delhi and Bombay bases for India-Frankfurt flights. Pan Am also operated Rest and Recreation (R&R) flights during
25604-456: Was added on the Northern route on July 8, 1939, by the Yankee Clipper . Eastbound flights left on Saturday at 7:30 am and arrived at Southampton on Sunday at 1 pm GCT. Westbound service departed Southampton on Wednesday at Noon and arrived at Port Washington on Thursday at 3 pm. After the outbreak of World War II in Europe on September 1, 1939, the terminus became Foynes until the service ceased for
25777-514: Was an important requirement. This led to one of the 727's most distinctive features: the built-in airstair that opens from the rear underbelly of the fuselage, which initially could be opened in flight. Hijacker D. B. Cooper used this hatch when he parachuted from the back of a 727, as it was flying over the Pacific Northwest . Boeing subsequently modified the design with the Cooper vane so that
25950-450: Was assumed to be the purchase date. This date is in doubt, as Gauci had testified that Malta's Christmas lights had not been on when the clothes had been purchased; the lights were later found to have been switched on on 6 December. Scottish police had also failed to inform the defense that another witness had testified seeing Libyan men making a similar purchase on a different day. An official report, providing information not made available to
26123-549: Was being served by Pan Am Flight 3 upon the company's demise in 1991. On its arrival at Heathrow Terminal 3 on the day of the disaster, the passengers and their luggage (as well as an unaccompanied suitcase which was part of the interline luggage on the feeder flight) were transferred directly to Clipper Maid of the Seas , a Boeing 747-100 with the registration N739PA whose previous flight had originated from Los Angeles and arrived via San Francisco as flight PA 124, landing at 12 noon and parking at Gate K-14. The plane, which operated
26296-583: Was briefly locked on by a Kuwaiti Mirage F1 on August 2) and the subsequent Iraqi monitoring of Coalition forces during Desert Shield . The 727 has proven to be popular where the airline serves airports with gravel, or otherwise lightly improved, runways. The Canadian airline First Air , for example, previously used a 727-100C to serve the communities of Resolute Bay and Arctic Bay in Nunavut, whose Resolute Bay Airport and former Nanisivik Airport both have gravel runways. The high-mounted engines greatly reduce
26469-409: Was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew in what became known as the Lockerbie bombing . Large sections of the aircraft crashed in a residential street in Lockerbie, killing 11 residents. With a total of 270 fatalities, it is the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom . Following a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and
26642-695: Was donated to the National Airline History Museum in Kansas City and was planned to be flown to its new home once FAA ferry approval was granted. After a series of financial problems with the restoration, N874AA was seized by Boeing Field for nonpayment of storage fees in 2021 and subsequently broken up and scrapped. Iran Aseman Airlines , the last passenger airline operator, made the worldwide last scheduled 727 passenger flight on January 13, 2019 between Zahedan and Tehran . Data from: Boeing Aircraft since 1916 The two series of 727 are
26815-662: Was during her ABC interview 11 months after the bombing. On 13 December, the warning was posted on bulletin boards in the US Embassy in Moscow and eventually distributed to the entire American community there, including journalists and businessmen. Just days before the bombing, security forces in European countries, including the UK, were put on alert after a warning from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that extremists might launch terrorist attacks to undermine
26988-477: Was flown by Eastern Air Lines on February 1, 1964, between Miami, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. A total of 571 Boeing 727-00/100 series aircraft were delivered (407 -100s, 53 -100Cs, and 111 -100QCs), the last in October 1972. One 727-100 was retained by Boeing, bringing total production to 572. The -100 designation was assigned retroactively to distinguish the original short-body version. Actual aircraft followed
27161-633: Was founded as a shell company on March 14, 1927, by United States Army Air Corps officers Henry "Hap" Arnold , Carl Spaatz and John Jouett out of concern for the growing influence of the German-owned Colombian air carrier SCADTA , in Central America . Operating in Colombia since 1920, SCADTA lobbied hard for landing rights in the Panama Canal Zone , ostensibly to survey air routes for
27334-526: Was in January 2019. It was succeeded by the 757 and larger variants of the 737. There have been 353 incidents involving the Boeing 727. Production ended in September 1984 with 1,832 having been built. The Boeing 727 design was a compromise among United Airlines , American Airlines , and Eastern Air Lines ; each of the three had developed requirements for a jet airliner to serve smaller cities with shorter runways and fewer passengers. United Airlines requested
27507-474: Was innocent of the charges against him. He was released from prison on compassionate grounds on 20 August 2009. Pan Am Pan American World Airways , originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am , was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for much of the 20th century. It
27680-578: Was installed in 1964. It also held large amounts of information about cities, countries, airports, aircraft, hotels, and restaurants. The computer occupied the fourth floor of the Pan Am Building , which was the largest commercial office building in the world for some time. The airline also built Worldport , a terminal building at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. It was distinguished by its elliptical, four-acre (16,000 m ) roof, suspended far from
27853-593: Was later renamed as Panair do Brasil . Pan Am also partnered with the Grace Shipping Company in 1929 to form Pan American-Grace Airways , better known as Panagra, to gain a foothold to destinations in South America. In the same year, Pan Am acquired a controlling stake in Mexicana de Aviación and took over Mexicana's Ford Trimotor route between Brownsville, Texas and Mexico City , extending this service to
28026-431: Was located in the business class (branded as "Clipper Class") cabin. A group of US intelligence specialists was on board the flight. Their presence gave rise to speculations and conspiracy theories that one or more of them had been targeted. Eleven Lockerbie residents on Sherwood Crescent were killed when the wing section hit the house at 13 Sherwood Crescent at more than 800 km/h (500 mph) and exploded, creating
28199-418: Was looking for a customer for its new JT8D turbofan design study, based on its J52 (JT8A) turbojet, while United and Eastern were interested in a Pratt & Whitney alternative to the RB163 Spey. Once Pratt & Whitney agreed to go ahead with development of the JT8D, Eddie Rickenbacker , chairman of the board of Eastern, told Boeing that the airline preferred the JT8D for its 727s. Boeing had not offered
28372-459: Was named as president of the new Aviation Corporation of the Americas, but Trippe and his partners held 40% of the equity and Whitney was made president. Trippe became operational head of Pan American Airways, the new company's principal operating subsidiary. The US government approved the original Pan Am's mail delivery contract with little objection, out of fears that SCADTA would have no competition in bidding for routes between Latin America and
28545-405: Was on the -100 series. The first 727-200 flew on July 27, 1967, and received FAA certification on November 30, 1967. The first delivery was made on December 14, 1967, to Northeast Airlines . A total of 310 727-200s were delivered before the -200 was replaced on the production line by the 727-200 Advanced in 1972. A convertible passenger cargo version; only one was built. The Advanced version of
28718-453: Was reconstructed by air accident investigators, revealing a 20-inch (510 mm) hole consistent with an explosion in the forward cargo hold. Examination of the baggage containers revealed that the container nearest the hole had blackening, pitting, and severe damage, indicating a "high-energy event" had taken place inside it. A series of test explosions was carried out to confirm the precise location and quantity of explosive used. Fragments of
28891-425: Was short-lived, as all were commandeered for military service when the United States entered World War II. During World War II most Clippers were pressed into military service. A new Pan Am subsidiary pioneered an air military-supply route across the Atlantic from Brazil to West Africa. The onward flight to Sudan and Egypt tracked an existing British civil air route. In January 1942, the Pacific Clipper completed
29064-442: Was successful with airlines worldwide partly because it could use smaller runways while still flying medium-range routes. This allowed airlines to carry passengers from cities with large populations, but smaller airports to worldwide tourist destinations. One of the features that gave the 727 its ability to land on shorter runways was its clean wing design. With no wing-mounted engines, leading-edge devices (Krueger, or hinged, flaps on
29237-457: Was the 15th 747 built and had first flown on 25 January 1970. It was delivered to Pan Am on 15 February, one month after the first 747 entered service with Pan Am . In 1978, as Clipper Morning Light , it had appeared in "Conquering the Atlantic", the fourth episode of the BBC Television documentary series Diamonds in the Sky , presented by Julian Pettifer . Pan Am 103 originated as a feeder flight at Frankfurt Airport , West Germany , using
29410-831: Was the first airline to begin regular landplane flights across the Atlantic on October 24, 1945. In January 1946, Pan Am scheduled seven DC-4s a week east from LaGuardia Airport , five to London ( Hurn Airport ) and two to Lisbon. The time to Hurn was 17 hours and 40 minutes, including stops, or 20 hours and 45 minutes to Lisbon. A Boeing 314 flying boat flew LaGuardia to Lisbon once every two weeks in 29 hours and 30 minutes; flying boat flights ended shortly thereafter. TWA's transatlantic challenge—the impending introduction of its faster, pressurized Lockheed Constellations —resulted in Pan Am ordering its own Constellation fleet at $ 750,000 (equivalent to $ 10.07 million in 2023) apiece. Pan Am began transatlantic Constellation flights on January 14, 1946, beating TWA by three weeks. In January 1946,
29583-404: Was the first airline to fly worldwide and pioneered numerous innovations of the modern airline industry, such as jumbo jets and computerized reservation systems . Until its dissolution on December 4, 1991, Pan Am "epitomized the luxury and glamour of intercontinental travel", and it remains a cultural icon of the 20th century, identified by its blue globe logo ("The Blue Meatball"), the use of
29756-446: Was uninjured". Keegans' mother was also unharmed, having been shielded from debris by a refrigerator-freezer. Many of the passengers' relatives, most of them from the US, arrived there within days to identify the dead. Volunteers from Lockerbie set up and staffed canteens which stayed open 24 hours a day and offered relatives, soldiers, police officers, and social workers free sandwiches, hot meals, beverages, and counseling. The people of
29929-629: Was well regarded for its modern fleet, innovative cabin design and experienced crews: cabin staff were multilingual and usually college graduates, hired from around the world, frequently with nursing training. Pan Am's onboard service and cuisine, inspired by Maxim's de Paris , were delivered "with a personal flair that has rarely been equaled." From 1950 until 1990 Pan Am operated a comprehensive network of high-frequency, short-haul scheduled services between West Germany and West Berlin , first with Douglas DC-4s , then with DC-6Bs (from 1954) and Boeing 727s (from 1966). This had come about as
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