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Boeing 747SP (747SP-31) · N601AA · American Airlines

Boeing 747SP (747SP-31) illustration in American Airlines livery Illustrative image; it may differ from the actual aircraft.

Boeing 747SP (747SP-31)

B747-21962Scrapped
RegistrationUSN601AA
Verified aircraft dataagainst the official civil aviation registerWhat does this badge mean?We checked that this aircraft’s registration, serial number and model match the official civil aviation register: FAA (United States), data as of Oct 8, 2026.That makes its identity more reliable. The verification expires after 12 months: if the register stops confirming it, the badge disappears.How we verify
OperatorAmerican Airlines
5operators
1incidents
0accidents
0logbook years
5photos

Boeing 747SP (747SP-31) built in 1980 in Everett. Operated for TWA Trans World Airlines, American Airlines and Air Atlanta Icelandic. Scrapped.

NewNearly newYoungMatureAgingOld
Aging · 21 years · ≈ 84,000 flight hours (approx.)
Vuelopedia is a work in progress: it currently holds about 30% of the information we expect to have by the third quarter of 2027. Although we use only official, highly reliable sources, some aircraft data and history may still contain errors or inaccuracies. We work hard to clear every anomaly from the records using specialized verification tools.

Technical data

ManufacturerBoeing
First flight1980
Built inEverett, Washington (EE. UU.)
Country of registrationEstados Unidos
MSN21962
VerificationIdentity verified against the official register of FAA (United States) · Oct 8, 2026

The model · Boeing 747

Figures for the 747-400 variant, the most representative of the family · it is 67% the length of a football pitch

Length70.7 m232 ft
Wingspan64.4 m211 ft
Height19.4 m64 ft
Range13,446 km7,260 NMWith a typical passenger load
Cruise speed903 km/h488 ktMach 0.85
Service ceiling13,700 m44,948 ftIt flies above Everest (1.5 times its height)
Maximum take-off weight396,893 kg874,998 lb
Maximum payload217,879 kg480,340 lbIts 416 passengers with baggage would weigh about 41.6 t; the rest is fuel and cargo
Typical capacity416 passengersUp to 660 in a high-density layout
Endurance14 h 53 minAt cruise speed, non-stop

The type first flew in 1969 (57 years ago) · About 1,574 units built · Production ended in 2023

Figures for the type, not for this particular aircraft: each variant and each configuration changes something. They are shown in both systems used in aviation.

The full story of the Boeing 747 Compare this aircraft

Flight logbook

Under research

Aircraft chronology

Oct 17, 1978
Delivered to The Boeing Company
Delivered to The Boeing Company as N57202.
1980
Built
Assembled by Boeing in Everett, Washington (USA).
Mar 21, 1980
Transferred to TWA Trans World Airlines
Transferred to TWA Trans World Airlines.
Jul 17, 1986
Transferred to American Airlines
Transferred to American Airlines.
Apr 9, 1992
Incident at London-Heathrow (LHR) Airport
On April 9, 1992, the Boeing 747SP-31 aircraft (registration N601AA), operated by American Airlines, was involved in an incident at London-Heathrow (LHR) Airport (United Kingdom) due to contact with the boarding bridge. Source: American Airlines.
Source: American Airlines
Jan 6, 1994
Transferred to Air Kazakstan
Transferred to Air Kazakstan.
Apr 1, 1996
Transferred to Sunkar
Transferred to Sunkar.
Aug 6, 1997
Transferred to Air Atlanta Icelandic
Transferred to Air Atlanta Icelandic.
Sep 11, 2001
Grounded after 9/11
On September 11, 2001, the 747-SP31 aircraft (registration N601AA), operated by American Airlines, was in the news. Source: the FAA (United States).
What happened
On 11 September 2001, after the attacks with hijacked aircraft on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon, the FAA ordered — for the first time in history — the complete closure of United States airspace (the SCATANA plan): all civil aviation was told to land immediately, and by midday the American sky was clear. Around 240 international flights bound for the United States were diverted to Canada — Operation Yellow Ribbon, with more than 30,000 passengers. Airspace reopened gradually from 13 September, by then under new security measures. Source: the FAA (United States).
Source: FAA

Operators

1978-10-17
The Boeing Company
Registration N57202
1980-03-21
TWA Trans World Airlines
Registration N57202
1986-07-17
American Airlines
Registration N601AA
1994-01-06
Air Kazakstan
Registration UN-001
1996-04-01
Sunkar
Registration P4-AFE
1997-08-06
Air Atlanta Icelandic
Registration TF-ABN

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Gallery

External photographs under a Creative Commons license. Click to enlarge in a new tab.

External photograph of the aircraft
Aero Icarus · CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
External photograph of the aircraft
Aero Icarus · CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
External photograph of the aircraft
Aero Icarus · CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
External photograph of the aircraft
Aero Icarus · CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Cite

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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Boeing 747SP (747SP-31) · N601AA · American Airlines. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/B747-21962

MLA

“Boeing 747SP (747SP-31) · N601AA · American Airlines.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/B747-21962. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Boeing 747SP (747SP-31) · N601AA · American Airlines.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/B747-21962.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Boeing 747SP (747SP-31) · N601AA · American Airlines. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/B747-21962 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_aircraft_b747_21962,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Boeing 747SP (747SP-31) · N601AA · American Airlines}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-15},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/B747-21962},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/B747-21962}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-18},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-18}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/B747-21962 |title=Boeing 747SP (747SP-31) · N601AA · American Airlines |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-18 |language=en}}