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Watching this video of the Pan Am disaster at Pago Pago January 1974 reminded me of a approach to Pago Pago I was on, late at night in a similar 707 on January 1975, almost to the same day but one year later.
The Pan Am 707 I was on was flying from Seattle to Auckland, one of the stops stops was at Pag Pago. It was late at night and the descent was a bumpy ride through a tropical storm. The aircraft was getting thrown around a lot, and remember watching the cockpit doors swinging open and close with the pilots busy doing there thing. The descent seemed to take forever and you could hardly see the wing tips, as apart from being pitch black out there we were getting also getting blasted with wind and rain. I remember looking around the cabin thinking am I the only one being a bit concerned, I was not as many seemed to be looking out the cabin windows with the same concern, and I bet with the same knowledge of what had happened there exactly one year ago.
Anyway we broke through the low cloud, steep right turn, gear down, on ground, all it seemed like less than a minute ""very fast, much to the relief I am sure for all on board. I have been on quite a few flights over the years, but that late night one takes the cake, glad the pilots were on the ball. The 707 was a really nice aircraft, and Pan Am used them a lot on the Pacific run. I am not sure when they were replaced, but anyway that flight into Pago Pago is the one that has stuck in my memory all those years.
The Pan Am 707 I was on was flying from Seattle to Auckland, one of the stops stops was at Pag Pago. It was late at night and the descent was a bumpy ride through a tropical storm. The aircraft was getting thrown around a lot, and remember watching the cockpit doors swinging open and close with the pilots busy doing there thing. The descent seemed to take forever and you could hardly see the wing tips, as apart from being pitch black out there we were getting also getting blasted with wind and rain. I remember looking around the cabin thinking am I the only one being a bit concerned, I was not as many seemed to be looking out the cabin windows with the same concern, and I bet with the same knowledge of what had happened there exactly one year ago.
Anyway we broke through the low cloud, steep right turn, gear down, on ground, all it seemed like less than a minute ""very fast, much to the relief I am sure for all on board. I have been on quite a few flights over the years, but that late night one takes the cake, glad the pilots were on the ball. The 707 was a really nice aircraft, and Pan Am used them a lot on the Pacific run. I am not sure when they were replaced, but anyway that flight into Pago Pago is the one that has stuck in my memory all those years.
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