I’m fairly good with military but useless on civil so please forgive me if there’s a really obvious answer/resource for this. My google skills have found no results.
I have a newspaper clipping dated September 15 1967, relating to a Pan Am Clipper fire at Frankfurt on ‘September 9’, I’m assuming it relates to the same year. I’d like to identify the aircraft involved.
Extracts from a long article:
‘A Pan American World Airways flight crew required only two minutes to evacuate a Jet Clipper shortly before it was scheduled to take of for Chicago. The swift action was completed before fire apparatus arrived to extinguish a blaze which broke out on the aircraft here on September 9, at 4:30pm.
The aircraft carried 164 passengers who were bound for Chicago on a charter flight. None of the passengers was seriously injured, although first aid treatment was given to 18 of the travellers……
…..The blaze was first signalled when a warning light went on in the cockpit, as the Clipper was poised for the takeoff roll. At the same moment a ‘sharp report’ was heard in the cockpit Capt. (Tom) Decker recalled. Stewardess Marje Aus, stationed in the rear of the aircraft said she thought that a tire had blown….
..First Officer (Thomas) MacLean reported seeing flames- caused by a compressor failure, it was determined-coming from the number three engine. Some of the passengers at the rear of the aircraft also saw the flames. One of them shouted a warning and the crew in that section sprang into action…”
Any information or leads would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
.
By: J Boyle - 7th July 2018 at 13:27
I can confirm all Pan Am aircraft were called Clippers.
The “jet” prefix was dropped in the late 60s since the entire fleet were jets….probably as jets were repainted.
The term was an homage to the fast American Clippers ships of the 19th century.
By: Stan - 7th July 2018 at 12:19
Thanks Hooligan, narrowing it down slowly…
By: Stan - 7th July 2018 at 12:18
thanks Kenneth, thats an idea
By: Arabella-Cox - 7th July 2018 at 11:30
DC-8s were named Jet Clipper too. Won’t have been a 727 as they were used on internal European flights from Berlin and 164 pax is far more than could be fitted in a 727-100 (apart from the infamous World Airways Da Nang incident).
DC-8s were all gone by December ’68 and they only had fewer than 20 so I’d suggest the 707 is most likely. Wasn’t a write off that I can find…
By: Kenneth - 7th July 2018 at 11:30
You could also try contacting the German AAIB:
Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung
Hermann-Blenk-Straße 16
38108 Braunschweig
Deutschland
Kontakt
Kontakt zur BFU
Telefon: +49 531 3548 0
Fax: +49 531 3548 246
E-Mail: [email]box@bfu-web.de[/email]
Accident reports of that age are not on their website, but maybe they could scan and send you one?
By: Stan - 7th July 2018 at 11:16
Thanks Kenneth, I get excited when I think I’ve got a result too!
By: Runway06 - 7th July 2018 at 11:12
Picture looks like it is a United Airlines Boeing 727
By: Kenneth - 7th July 2018 at 11:01
I tried a Google search in German but only found a link to the text of an issue of the German news magazine “Der Spiegel” from September 25, 1967, which doesn’t add more information but confirms the year. In one of the links I went through on Spiegel’s site there’s a tiny photograph of the page where the text appears, and I think I can discern a Boeing 727.
The text link; lost the one with the picture:http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46353387.html
EDIT! Found the page in PDF-format, it’s a 727: http://magazin.spiegel.de/EpubDelivery/spiegel/pdf/46353387
EDIT AGAIN! Should have looked more closely; the picture is from another incident.
Back to the drawing board….
By: Stan - 7th July 2018 at 09:40
Thanks Viscount, that’s the type of resource I’d imagined but I guess the search goes on… As for the designation Jet Clipper I’ve no idea, I thought the 164 passengers may help identify the type but I guess that’d depend on configuration and how many empty seats there were.
By: viscount - 7th July 2018 at 09:32
Thought I knew where to locate the answer …. but it is not there!
https://aviation-safety.net/database/operator/airline.php?var=4922
ASN is usually a very good source for accidents/incidents involving airliners and light aircraft. Could be that the aircraft was not badly damaged enough to be remembered when ASN lists were compiled for the net.
Was the appellation ‘Jet Clipper’ by Pan Am just for their Boeing 707 fleet, or where the Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 727s included within the term?
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July 7, 2018 at 8:30 am