On This Day in History January 6, 1942: Utilizing a Boeing B-314 Clipper dubbed the Pacific Clipper, Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to circumnavigate the globe via flight when it landed at LaGuardia Field’s Marine Terminal seaplane base.Â
The Pacific Clipper set off on December 2, 1941 from San Francisco making stops in Hawaii, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Australia, Java, Ceylon, British India (Pakistan), Bahrain, Sudan, Belgian Congo, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago and New York City.Â
The trip was not planned in the way that it was undertaken. Why? The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequently other American naval bases throughout the Pacific force Captain Robert Ford to find another way to get back to the United States. In total, in air flight time was 209 hours which covered 50,694 kilometers (31,500 miles.)
For Further Reading:
Saga of the Pacific Clipper from the Pan Am Historical Foundation website
December 7, 1941 and the First Around-the-World Commercial Flight by: Robert van der Linden from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum website
Pan Am Across the Pacific from the Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats website
