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On Wednesday, January 28, 1970, the wide-body era at Frankfurt started rather unexpectedly with the arrival of a diverted Pan American 747. Read the story behind the unplanned visit below!
LONDON FOG
Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121 N737PA "Clipper Red Jacket," had been underway from New York's Kennedy Airport to London Heathrow. Scheduled Boeing 747 service on the JFK-Heathrow route had only commenced a few days prior, on Thursday, January 22. It was the first route on which Pan Am had deployed the 747 and it was the world's first scheduled 747 service. That day, the 362-seat aircraft carried 177 passengers and a crew of 21, among which five cockpit crew. On the controls of Flight Two was veteran pilot, Captain Jess Tranter, part of Pan Am's elite team of 747-qualified pilots - who also piloted the 747 on the test flight to Heathrow on January 11. That morning London was completely fogged in and visibility was down to only 50 metres (164 feet). Thus, Captain Tranter decided to divert to Frankfurt's Rhein Main Airport, were Pan Am had a major base and which was the airline's main alternate for London. News about the upcoming arrival of the "Jumbo-Jet" spread around Frankfurt Airport like wildfire and anyone who could interrupted their work to witness the arrival of what the airport press release referred to as "The Flying Cinema," presumably because the 747 featured movie screens, a novelty at the time. 
People from all over the airport rushed to gate B46 to admire the mighty 747.
The plane touched down at Frankfurt's Rhein-Main Airport at 8:36 am that morning. After landing, the 747 was guided by two "follow-me" vehicles to gate B46, at Frankfurt's brand-new "Terminal Mitte," which was still largely under construction.
Terminal Mitte was designed for the 747 and B46 was one of several gates at Frankfurt that could connect three passenger boarding bridges to the 747, two on the portside and one on the starboard side. According to the press release, two boarding bridges were sufficient to allow the 177 passengers and 21 crew to disembark.
A RUSHED WELCOME
Lord Mayor of Frankfurt Professor Dr. Willy Brundert was rushed to the airport for an improvised welcome and gave Captain Tranter and his crew an illustrated book about Frankfurt Airport. Many hundreds of airport and airline employees, as well as construction workers working on Terminal Mitte came by on foot or by airport vehicle to admire the gigantic jet. The airport press release specifically mentioned that ramp supervisors were not amused by all the vehicles cluttering the ramp! The aircraft was parked at the terminal for about five hours, providing ground crews a golden opportunity to practice their new procedures for the 747. 
Left: Frankfurt's Lord Mayor, Prof. Dr. Willi Brundert is handing souvenirs to Captain Tranter and his crew. Right: The unexpected landing provided the crew an opportunity to take some cool photos!
A Pan Am 747 parked at one of Frankfurt's gates in the early 1970s.
DEPARTURE
At noon, the passengers, who had been waiting in the "Transit Restaurant," were asked to board the aircraft. However, Captain Tranter was advised that the airspace over London was heavily congested and that he would likely be put in a holding pattern for an hour. Thus, he decided to delay departure to Heathrow instead. Over an hour later, two tow trucks pushed back the 747 out on to the platform, after which it taxied to the threshold of runway 25R. As it was the middle of the afternoon rush hour, the aircraft had to hold behind five other aircraft. Finally, after a take-off run of barely 2000 metres (6,560 feet) the Boeing 747 was airborne at 1:54 pm, five and a half hours after it had touched down at Frankfurt. 
The Transit Restaurant where the Pan Am passengers spent a couple of hours during their stay at Frankfurt Airport.
SCHEDULED 747 SERVICE FROM FRANKFURT
Pan Am started scheduled 747 daily service from JFK to Frankfurt (via Heathrow) on April 5, 1970. Lufthansa was the first European airline to provide its passenger the opportunity to fly a jumbo jet, being the second international airline following Pan Am, commencing daily service between Frankfurt and New York JFK on April 26. There's a story on the web claiming that the diverted Pan Am landed 30 minutes before the first scheduled 747 arrival, which was TWA's inaugural 747 service between JFK and Frankfurt. However, TWA didn't start scheduled service between New York and Frankfurt until January 6, 1971. 
The first TWA 747 arrives at Frankfurt on a cold winter morning on January 7, 1971.
Read more about Frankfurt's Jet-Age "Terminal Mitte" here. Read more about the airport's history here.
Did you fly on the 747 in the early days? Was the trip glitch free? Share your experience in the comments below!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks again to my friends at the Fraport Archive, Markus Grossback and Annette Schmidt, for their kind help in preparing this article!
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6 Comments
21/5/2022 12:40:30
Since the article mentions it (kind of...) the third 747 built was the 747 upon which I made my first flight on the type
David Kaufman
21/5/2022 15:09:24
On March 6, 1973, I flew aboard a Pan Am 747-121 as it operated the Delta/Pan Am interchange Flight 106: Atlanta to Washington-Dulles to London-Heathrow. Delta crews operated the first segment, Pan Am operated the second. There were no technical glitches. We experienced three separate modes of aircraft access. In Atlanta we boarded through dual jet bridges at Delta's Gate 42 on its Concourse E rotunda. At Dulles, mandatory disembarkation and reboarding was accomplished on 'mobile lounge" passenger transfer vehicles. At Heathrow, we disembarked via mobile stairs into Terminal 3. The inflight movie was "Pete 'n' Tillie", starring Carol Burnett and Walter Matthau.
SFolts
3/6/2022 23:00:22
So happy to see this in print. I grew up listening to Pan Am Fligt Engineer, Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Folts’ story about his experiences with this flight. Dense, unexpected fog at Heathrow, decision to divert the inaugural flight, calculating fuel/distance and the quandary of finding an airport that could (hopefully) land the 747 safely. After the successful landing, the mayor of Frankfort did indeed have a celebration prepared for the crew. We still have a copy of the book with Rudy’s description of the events written on the inside cover.
Jeff Scofield
5/6/2022 17:09:33
My first 747 flight was on N741PA on 7/29/71 SGN-SFO via MNL, GUM, AWK and HNL - it took a little over 30 hours. There was a 5-hour delay in MNL due to engine trouble; the observation deck was jam-packed with people to see the plane; we had a 6-hour delay in GUM because the thrust reverser on #4 engine decided to deploy at the beginning of the takeoff roll. The return on the reverse itinerary on N754PA on 8/9/71 was relatively on-time and took 34 hours, with minor delays at all stations due to engine issues. My next 747 flights was 12/15/71 DEN-ORD on Continental N26863 in First Class, with CO's incredible snack service - actually served in courses. It was fantastic.
Edward F Martinez
5/6/2022 17:57:12
I flew twice from Frankfurt to JFK. Once in Nov. Of 78', the next time was June of 80'. I was in the Army stationed in Hanau, West Germany at that time. Around 25 min. from the Frankfurt airport. Both times I flew there were no problems at all. All the people working for Pan Am were very nice and helpful. And I attest to that being a huge plane. I remember you could smoke on the plane. Not any more. Pan Am was one of the big Airlines. Was sorry to see them go.
Peter Murnane
5/6/2022 20:45:09
London Fog....My wife, girlfriend at the time, worked for PanAm at London, Heathrow at the time when 707 service was begun. Heathrow consisted of two Nissen(?) huts along side the main "Bath Road". I was there to see this massive new airplane arrive. It landed in the dark, I could not see a thing, fog or heavy mist, I do not know. As it taxied along the perimeter taxiway I could hear it coming, it appeared out of the fog and then disappeared into it. All I really saw were the cabin lights as they passed me by as I stood at the fence just yards away from the plane. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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