The aircraft was used by Boeing for flight testing before being delivered to Pan Am, which immediately sent it out on an extensive promotional tour across the United States and the rest of the world to showcase the 747 to the public.

On January 14, 1970, then First Lady Pat Nixon, christened the aircraft, "Jet Clipper America" at a ceremony at Dulles International Airport.

After consulting with Pan Am flight dispatchers and the control tower, the crew decided to take off from runway 01R, shorter compared to 28L, with less favorable wind conditions.

Due to the missing landing gear and shift in the center of gravity from dumping fuel, N747PA settled on its tail with the nose up.

[3][4] The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that pilot error was the cause of the accident, citing the crew's incorrect input of takeoff reference speeds and the unusual nature of the events that led up to the collision.

In 1988, the aircraft received a side cargo door and reinforced floor as part of the United States Department of Defense's airlift requirements under the Civil Reserve Air Fleet.

[10][11] The aircraft would be grounded in 1997 and used as a source of spare parts, due to her airframe approaching the need for a major D-Check and no longer conforming to new noise criteria.

[12][13][14][15] After the restaurant shut down, there were petitions and campaigns from numerous aviation enthusiasts for museums or local governments to preserve the historical airplane.

[16][17][18][19] In 2017, author Cody Diamond published in Airways an article claiming that N747PA had only partially been scrapped and that three major pieces of fuselage were saved and moved not far away to the suburb of Wolmuncheon-ro.