The Safe Skies

Just one year ago last week, a Pan American Boeing 747 lifted off from New York's Kennedy Airport to begin the first scheduled jumbo-jet service. The flight was six hours late because of an overheating engine. Since that unpromising beginning, the 747 has accumulated a remarkable record for a new aircraft. It has carried 7,000,000 passengers an average of 2,100 miles each, more than five times the number of passenger-miles flown by the Boeing 707 in its first twelve months of service. The statistics would have been the same if the 747 had moved the entire population of Ireland from London to San Francisco. Most important, the 747 accomplished its job without a single fatal accident. No other aircraft has flown so far without serious mishap. Today, 100 big 747s fly for 18 airlines, and without them the skies might be considerably more crowded. To carry the same number of passengers --250,000 per week--would require a fleet of 23,000 DC-3s.

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