It's May 12th, 1992 on the Tarmac at JFK International Airport. A group of people gathered beside an aircraft that has become synonymous with luxury

air travel, the Boeing 747.

Stamped on the side of the fuselage and huge blue letters is Pan Am, the name of the company

that made this airplane model famous, and this plane in particular is noteworthy.

It's the company's first 747, the Clipper Wann T Trip, so named after the man who modernized Pan Am back in the 1920s.

Workers wander in and out of the cabin making all the necessary checks before taking off for Southern California.

On the ground, a mix of reporters, photographers, and Pan Am employees mill about talking to each other with a mix of

reverence and sadness. But as the jet's engines roar to life, nobody boards the

plane. Today's trip is a special one. It's going to be the last ever Pan Am flight.

The journey the Clipper Wan T trip is about to take is more of a symbolic gesture than anything

else. Pan Am officially grounded all its passenger flights a few months ago.

Decades of poor financial decisions had left the once great airline struggling to get out

of debt.

Eventually pulling the plug was the only option left.

But the decision to shut down Pan Am Airlines

came as a huge disappointment to many Americans,

including the countless employees of the airline.

For decades, Pan Am was the defining international airline in the United States, but today that

era ends.

The Juan T Trip ambles its way down the runway, flanked by fire trucks, shooting water

cannons. The 747 picks up speed and then slowly ascends into the air, just like it's done countless times before.

And though this plane will take off again, it will be the very last time that it flies under the Pan Am brand.

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