Over time as several airlines (looking at you, Pan Am and TWA) went out of business, the 747s found other homes or were scrapped. The first 747SP to meet the scrapyard was in December 1997.

In 1996, Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 was carrying 230 people when it exploded minutes after taking off, killing everyone on board. The plane’s wreckage fell into the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island.