Pan Am Flight 747 Case Study

Pan Am Flight 299, August 3rd 1970 (Suarez). A man approaches a flight attendant and states that he wants to go to Cuba, he then pulls out a gun and bottle that he says is filled with explosives, and threatens to set them off if he does not go to the cockpit. The Premier of Cuba, Fidel Castro, was waiting when the plane landed at Havana’s airport. The only people to exit the aircraft were Captain Augustus Watkins and the Hijacker. Castro tours the exterior of the plane for around 40 minutes, questioning the pilot as to the capacity and speed, showing increased interest in whether or not the largest plane ever to land in Cuba, and the largest plane in passenger service, would be able to take off from Havana’s tiny airport, the pilot reassured …show more content…
While the Sixties and Seventies were a time of massive growth in aviation, the cost of the ticket was still relatively high, despite how common flying was. The cost of operating a large number of planes on a single route to meet demands was becoming too high for many airlines, causing prices to increase as fuel inefficient engines of the time had a low output compared to operating cost. The 747 changed all of that. A combination of superior size, increased range, and better fuel efficiency allowed the average cost of a plane ticket, to be cut in half (Slutsken). Airlines were able to use less of their fleet on a single route, meaning less fuel being used, less flight crews working, and less delays as the capacity of the 747 helped to decrease air traffic. According to Brian Wygle, who was a co-pilot on the 747’s first flight, “Flying became instantly more accessible,” (Slutsken). While the 747-100’s incredible size helped it to cut costs, it also created a huge danger in flight, if a 747 were to be involved in a hull loss accident, meaning that total control of the aircraft was lost and that the airplane was damaged beyond repair, it would create more casualties than are usually seen in an entire year in the aviation industry. Therefore, the engineers used a system called, “fault tree analysis,” that allowed the flight crew to see the effect of failures on other systems onboard the aircraft, this system is now used in many engineering projects as well as aircraft today (Rummerman). The wings of the 747 also swept back at a thirty seven degree angle. This shape allowed for a faster cruising speed and also allowed the 747 to fit into existing hangars as it reduced the horizontal wingspan (Rummerman). One of the greatest challenges to ever face the 747 concept was the insufficient