Originally Posted by
SpringHeeledJack
I flew on a Mexicana 727 from Puerto Escondido to Mexico City in 1989, would that have had JATO bottle fitted ? Also I did a few flights on PanAm 727's between JFK and MIA in 1993, would these have been the ones used in Germany back in the day, or later variants ? They were in full PanAm regalia internally and externally.
I believe all the Mexicana 727-200s had it. They were more marginal than the original model. Mexicana had both.
Pan Am shut down in December 1991, and the various reincarnations that came and went were not running in 1993, so I guess this refers to a former Pan Am aircraft. It's a chance that it had been in the Berlin fleet. Back in the 1970s Pan Am's 727 fleet was about half and half between Berlin and Miami, maybe a dozen each, with about another three up to 1975 also at Bangkok whence they operated military charters into Vietnam (obviously not after the fall). The two fleets did periodic exchanges, which is how they turned up occasionally transiting Prestwick or Shannon. But after 1980 National Airlines was merged in, including the route you were on, which brought their own substantial 727 fleet into Pan Am. Furthermore Pan Am then brought various secondhand aircraft in addition. They gave up in Berlin in 1990, shortly after the Wall fell there, and the fleet returned to the USA, although in the final years it was pretty much 737s (secondhand and often looking decidedly down-at-heel, plus a couple of A300s. But 737s are over in the other thread !