Linda Freire (Pan Am Museum Foundation)

This individual is the Chairwoman and Co-Founder of the Pan Am Museum Foundation and a former Pan American World Airways employee.

• Career: She worked at Pan Am from April 1980 to October 1991, starting as a Flight Attendant and eventually becoming the JFK Personnel Manager and Shuttle Operations Manager. After Pan Am, she worked as a Regional Manager of Hospitality for Delta Air Lines.
• Museum Role: As the chair, she has been instrumental in the establishment and operations of the Pan Am Museum, located within the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York. She is passionate about preserving the legacy of the airline and has spoken on its history and impact.
• Involvement: She was part of the Pan Am Emergency Response Team for the Lockerbie tragedy and was presented with a town proclamation in recognition of her contributions to the airline and museum.
• Media: She is known for her work as a producer on projects related to aviation history, including Pan Am: The Rise and Fall of an Aviation Icon (2022) and the upcoming Operation Babylift, 50 Years Later: 1975-2025, A Celebration of the Human Spirit(2025).

Al Topping joined Pan Am Airlines in 1969, and by November 1972, he was the Director of Operations for Vietnam and Cambodia, living in Saigon with his wife. In April 1975, Al had 62 employees working for him, one American and the rest Vietnamese. As the North Vietnamese continued to push south, Pan Am Airlines committed to their employees to evacuate them and their immediate families. Watching the last World Airways passenger plane from Da Nang land in Saigon was a shock. The plane was full of bullet holes, and blood was dripping from the wheel wells where Vietnamese who tried escape were crushed to death as the landing gear were retracted. Early in April, Topping facilitated the departure of two Pan Am 747s (Operation Babylift) with over 600 children aboard. Pan Am’s final flight out of Vietnam was scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 1975, a normal flight departure day, so as not to arouse any suspicion of it being the last flight. There was not enough time to secure visas and passports for his employees and their families to get out of the country. However, the children who escaped on Operation Babylift were granted waivers for adoption paperwork, and Al seized the opportunity. He arranged to “adopt” 311 of his employees and their families to get them out of the country. Pan Am’s last 747 to depart Vietnam flew with 463 souls on a plane designed to hold 375. As the days of April 1975 dwindled in Saigon, Al Topping told his concerned employees, “Just have faith, we’ll figure something out,” and he did.

Get Your Copy of "Wings Of Freedom"

https://www.amazon.com/Wings-Freedom-Allan-H-Topping/dp/1604521716