
The Pan Am Podcast
Experience the legacy of the world’s most iconic airline, Pan American World Airways! This award-winning history and humanities program brings Pan Am’s 64-year history to life through engaging storytelling and insightful interviews from Pan Am employees, passengers, historians, authors, fashionistas, and aviation enthusiasts! Hosted by historian Tom Betti, the program has won the following awards: Platinum 2025, Gold 2024 & 2023, Silver 2022 - Muse Creative Awards; Platinum 2025, Gold 2024, Silver 2023, Arcturus 2022 - Vega Digital Awards; Gold Award from the 2023 Hear Now Palooza of the National Audio Theater Festivals; and Arcturus 2022 Vega Digital Award (Best Host). The Pan Am Podcast is brought to you by the Pan Am Museum in Garden City, New York and is sponsored by the generous personal support of Mr. Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theatres and President of the Pan Am Historical Foundation. The Pan Am Museum Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and would appreciate your consideration of tax-deductible donations to support our work.
The Pan Am Podcast
Episode 6: Hijackings and the Dawn of Global Terrorism
In this episode we explore the coordinated terrorist hijackings of four passenger airliners all bound for New York on the same day on September 6, 1970. The events were a watershed moment and aviation would never be the same again.
The four planes involved were: a TWA Boeing 707, a SwissAir DC-8, a El Al Boeing 707, and a Pan Am Boeing 747 named Clipper Fortune. A fifth plane, a BOAC Vickers VC 10, was hijacked three days afterward.
Later in the program we are joined by Pan Am Captain Paul Lachapelle. A 30-year Pan Am veteran who joined the airline in 1955 flying the 707 and later 747SP. He retired from United Airlines in 1993.
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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support!