Clipper Victor

Clipper Victor
Other name(s)	Clipper Young-America
Type	Boeing 747-121
Manufacturer	Boeing
Construction number	19643/11
Registration	N736PA
First flight	December 24, 1969
Owners and operators	Pan American World Airways
In service	1970 to 1977
Fate	March 27, 1977 - Collided with a KLM 747 during the Tenerife Airport Disaster

Clipper Victor (also known as Clipper Young America) was a Boeing 747-121 which began service with Pan Am in 1970. It was the first Boeing 747 in service and is notable for its brief but significant history. Its tail number was N736PA and was named Clipper Victor. Pan Am named all of its planes "clippers", harking back to the 19th century clipper ships.

Renamed Clipper Young America, it was the first Boeing 747 to make a commercial flight, flying from New York to London Heathrow, after the planned aircraft (also called Young America) developed a mechanical problem.^[1] In its first year of service the aircraft became the first 747 to be hijacked when it was flown to Cuba on August 2, 1970. Following this incident the aircraft was renamed Clipper Victor.

On March 27, 1977 Clipper Victor was destroyed in the world's deadliest aviation accident when it collided with another 747 on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife, Canary Islands. The other aircraft involved in the incident was the Rijn, a 747 of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. During the crash the plane was piloted by Captain Victor Grubbs and first officer Robert Bragg (see Tenerife airport disaster).

References

1. ^ UPI (22 January 1970). "Trouble plagued 747 lands in London with 352 aboard". The Bryan Times. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=204LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YVIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1861,1083171&dq=clipper-victor. Retrieved 2009-06-25. 

External links

• Clipper Victor accident on PanAmAir.org
• Clipper Victor accident on PanAmAir.org old site