The Boeing 707 had barely climbed to 800 feet when the catastrophe struck. The number-four (outer right) engine suffered a catastrophic failure of its third-stage turbine disc, the result of faulty installation and maintenance procedures. The disc disintegrated, rupturing the right outboard fuel tank and igniting the escaping fuel. Fire engulfed the outer section of the right wing, and roughly 25 feet of the wing structure broke away entirely. The crew immediately declared an emergency and turned away from the crowded Bay Area airspace, heading toward Travis Air Force Base in the Sacramento Valley — a military field with long runways and emergency services ready to respond.

With one engine gone, a third of the right wing missing, landing gear that had to be lowered by emergency means, and fire in the wing, the crew flew a controlled approach and touched down at Travis approximately 34 minutes after departing SFO. Emergency vehicles lined the runway. All 153 passengers and crew walked away unharmed. The success of the landing under those circumstances led the news press to call it a miracle, and the description was not unreasonable. The investigation that followed led to procedural changes in how airlines verified engine component installation and maintenance before flight.

The aircraft name evoked Pan Am's golden age, when its fleet of Clippers connected the world through routes that seemed impossibly glamorous. By 1965, jet travel was becoming commonplace, but the Clipper tradition carried on in the name if not the spirit. Though the 707 was badly damaged and never returned to service, the incident remained an example of exceptional airmanship — the crew's ability to fly a maimed aircraft to a safe landing with a full complement of passengers stands as one of the more remarkable episodes in early jet aviation. Pan Am itself would not survive the century, ceasing operations in 1991.