21. The Boeing 747 changed international travel in 1970
On January 22, 1970, a Boeing 747 carried commercial passengers across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Pan Am launched regularly scheduled flights of the revolutionary aircraft when it carried 332 passengers from New York to London, along with a crew of 18. It would carry up to 550 passengers and crew in later configurations. The Pan Am tradition of naming its aircraft was continued, the particular airplane used was named Clipper Victor. It was selected for the flight only after the originally scheduled airplane developed engine problems, delaying the flight by more than six hours. Clipper Victor was later destroyed in the Tenerife Airport disaster in 1977, the worst commercial aviation accident in history.
Clipper Victor also claimed the distinction of being the first 747 to be hijacked in August of 1970, when it was diverted to Havana while on a flight from New York to Puerto Rico. But that was the unknown future when the aircraft arrived in London on January 22. With the 747, airlines could carry up to twice as many passengers on some flights as before, and at least initially in greater comfort. Its arrival in London left the British press awestruck due to its size – it was taller than a six-story building – and its accommodations. The flying public was evidently less impressed because its return flight to New York carried less than two hundred passengers in its spacious cabin.
