Pan Am Boeing 747-100 Clipper "Maid of the Seas" N739PA
Reader David C. sent me this photo of a Pan Am Boeing 747-100. He is in the process of digitizing his photo collection and came across this beautiful aircraft taken in August of 1984 in Rome. This is not just any Boeing 747-100, but Clipper “Maid of the Seas,” registration number N739PA. This aircraft was operating as flight 103 on December 21, 1988 from London to New York when a bomb went off killing all 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 people on the ground. Due to crashing in Lockerbie, Scottland the incident has been referred to as the Lockerbie Bombing. The Clipper Maid of the Seas was only the 15th Boeing 747 built.
David C. wanted to share this photo as a dedication to all those that lost their lives that day.
Explore more:
* Washington Post story the day after the incident
* Photos of N739PA before the crash
* Garden of Remembrance to remember those that lost their lives
* More about the victims
I just have to wonder if the full story on this will ever come out. Perhaps in 20 years or so when all of the players are long gone, historians will begin to assemble the actual facts — whatever they are. ((No, this is not a suggestionof some grand conspiracy theory, just a belief that people know things that they have never told.))
It was a sad moment in world history when people use mass murder to support their policital and/or religious causes.
Historic plane indeed
David, I’m pretty certain I flew on that plane in March of 1988. Our family was returning from London to Houston. If memory serves, we stopped at JFK before continuing on to IAH. But I distinctly remember getting off the plane, then turning back to look at it – and the nose said “… of the Seas” on it.
Wow…I frequently look for Pan Am 747s on the net,so I know it whenever I stumble accross something new,and this is definitely it.I have always found the Lockerbie disaster a terrible,but also very interesting subject.So much contriversy over who actually carried out the bombing,and now the man who was charged,gets released…and then this classic gem..the aircraft.I always get a weird feeling when I see pictures of this plane in better times,and then I see the images of her twisted remains in an English scrapyard,where they still are today…RIP.
I wonder when this aircraft last left the USA to make its fateful trip and what airport. I was stationed in heidleburg and may have flown to or from Europe, on this plane.
This is pretty spooky. I’m pretty sure I flew on this plane in 1974, on a trip to Rio. The name sounds familiar, although cannot pinpoint it precisely. The only other Pan Am plane I was ever on was an L-1011, so I am not mixing things up. It was the best plane trip of my life, on that majestic 747.
My Dad just posted a picture of me in the airport next to this plane… I flew in it to Germany when I was little.. Like 3 or 4
I REMEMBER FLYING ON N747PA “MAID OF THE SEAS” WAY BACK IN 1980 FROM SAN FRANCISCO – LONDON HEATHROW, AS A EX QANTAS ENGINEER AT THAT TIME I WAS QUITE SURPRISED AT THE POOR CONDITION THE AIRCRAFT WAS IN THEN, AS I REMEMBER FROM WORKING AT THE JET BASE MOST PAN AM AIRCRAFT WERE IN POOR SHAPE, MY THEN WIFE AND MYSELF WERE ON HOLIDAY IN THE UK IN 1990 AND DROVE PAST LOCKERBIE AND THE HUGE CRATER WAS STILL THERE BESIDE THE A74M MOTORWAY. IT SENT SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE THINKING OF ALL THOSE POOR PEOPLE THAT DIED, (MAY ALL TERRORISTS BURN IN HELL),ESPECIALLY WHEN I READ THAT ONE FEMALE ON BOARD HAD SURVIVED AND FOUND TO HAVE HAD A PULSE BUT DIED AFTER 10 MINS STILL IN HER SEAT, APPARENTLY HER HAND WAS OUT STRETCHED AND SHE HAD GRABBED A CLUMP OF GRASS. GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM NOW.
Hi,
I flew with my mum, October 12, 1984, from London (LHR) to Los Angeles (LAX), aboard Pan Am. All I can recollect, is that the name had something to do with the sea and I have always wondered whether that flight was, in fact, operated by Maid of the Seas. I would be really grateful if someone could help me with this, as I have exhausted searching the internet for this information. We enjoyed the flight and it was our only Pan Am experience.
Cheers.
…flew on Pan Am 747, JFK>Rome September 1980…any way of finding out if I flew on “Maid of the Seas”?
I was on that very plane two weeks before the bombing. Unnerving because the security was intense, like they expected something. (I flew in the Middle East years earlier and there was less scrutiny!) Once I landed safely in NYC, I didn’t think about it again until I heard the news break about the bombing. Chills. Haven’t flown since.
I know it was Maid of The Seas- saw it as I was boarding. Jokingly referred to it as Chicken of the Sea. Very uneasy flight because of the line of questioning. May those aboard on 12/21/88 Rest In Peace.
Almost certain flew on that plane from San.franciscoto London Heathrow one week before bombing.could I be right.
N739PA (maid of the seas) certainly was operating the San Francisco-London route at the date you have said. On 21/12/88 the Aircraft N739PA had flown in from San Francisco and was operating as flight 103 that evening when it was destroyed over Lockerbie.