Like most empires, Pan Am died slowly but with some cataclysmic events. The oil crisis of 1973 hurt all airlines in the world, and the sudden jump in competition after the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act upped the stakes in what had always been a high-risk industry. Pan Am never stabilized after these two events. The final nails in its coffin were the aftermath of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the consequences of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. There were many efforts to save the legendary airline, but by December 1991, Pan Am had its very last flight.