Given Pan Am's status as the principal international airline for the United States, and the often extreme opposition to U.S. policy that could be found internationally, this made the company's assets subject to violent attack. For instance, Pan Am flights 73, 281, and 841 were among those subjected to the frequent hijackings of the 1970s and '80s. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was headed from Frankfurt to New York when the aircraft exploded over Scotland.
All on the aircraft were killed after a bomb detonated from within a suitcase, a discovery that led to a backlash against Pan Am and their screening practices. Even though it still constituted a recognizable brand, Pan Am was left bankrupt and largely disgraced by 1991. While a brief revitalization effort was instituted by investor Charles Cobb to revitalize it after he bought what was left of the company (via The New York Times), it failed and Pan Am receded into history.
