Pan American World Airways Flight Training Academy graduates, January 31, 1969.

“There really wasn’t time to be too scared. We were just too busy,”Jane Thoe, Pan American World Airways flight attendant.

July 30, 1971 – Pan American World Airways Flight 845, registration number N747PA, departs from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on route to Tokyo at 3:29 p.m. Weather conditions are clear, visibility 15 miles. The Boeing 747-121 jetliner, christened “Clipper America” was carrying 218 passengers and crew onboard, taxis out to Runway 01R for its takeoff roll. Unable to clear the end of the runway, it strikes an approach light structure at high velocity, sending pieces of angle iron into the aft section of the passenger compartment through the cabin floor. As the damaged aircraft proceeds to climb, cabin crewmembers activate emergency procedures—prepping life vests for a possible water landing, demonstrating bracing positions to the passengers, and securing carry-on items—while first responders on the ground mobilize in advance of the airplane’s return to SFO.

Circling over the Pacific Ocean to dump fuel, the jet ascends to 3,000 feet, accompanied by the U.S. Coast Guard. After one hour and forty-two minutes aloft, with its landing gear compromised, Clipper America touches down at SFO and skids to a stop. The aircraft then tilts back on its tail, pulling the nose gear and forward exits away from the ground. All passengers and crew survive.