Portal:Aviation/Today in aviation

2009 – A Tupolev Tu-142 of the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet crashes in the Tatar Strait some 12 miles (19 km) off Sakhalin Island. All eleven crew are missing, presumed dead.

2007 – Romanian Air Force IAR-330 SOCAT attack helicopter belonging to the 90th Airlift Base crashed in Ungheni, 30 km south of Piteşti, Argeş county, southern Romania. Immediately after touching the ground, the aircraft exploded, as it was already on fire. All three crew members aboard were killed, including Commander Nicolae Bucur, who was one of the most experienced pilots of the Romanian Air Force, with over 2,700 flying hours.

2006 – FedEx announces the first cancellation of the Airbus A380. Instead FedEx orders 15 Boeing 777 Freighters.

2003 – UH-60L Black Hawk 92-26413 (or 92-26431) from 5–101 Aviation Regiment shot down by a MANPAD near Tikrit; all four crew, and both passengers from the Department of the Army are killed.^[1]

2001 – The supersonic commercial aircraft Concorde resumes flying after a 15-month hiatus.

1996 – A Nigerian Boeing 727 crashes into a lagoon 40 miles southeast of Lagos, killing 143.

1981 – United States Navy Lockheed S-3 Viking from the USS Nimitz, is lost near Sardinia with all four aviators killed.

1978 – USN Douglas A-4F Skyhawk Blue Angel, BuNo 155056, during pre-show exhibition at NAS Miramar, San Diego, California, pilot, Lt. Mike Curtain (sp?-Curtin?), dead on impact, no ejection.

1976 – The first non-stop trans-Canada flight by jet fighters was carried out by two 434 Squadron CF-5 s using mid-air refueling.

1971 – A USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and a USAF Convair F-106A-130-CO Delta Dart, 59-0125, of the 84th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Hamilton AFB, California, suffer mid-air and crash in isolated areas near Nellis AFB, Nevada. All three crew eject and survive. F-4 crew, Maj. Henry J. Viccellio and Maj. James A. Robertson, okay. Phantom comes down 35 miles from Caliente, Nevada, Delta Dart attempts recovery to Nellis but pilot Maj. Clifford L. Lowrey ejects eight miles NE of base.

1956 – In the Hummelfjell Accident, a Braathens SAFE de Havilland Heron with 12 on board crashes into Hummelfjell mountain near Tolga, Norway, killing the pilot and a passenger.

1954 – Soviet Air Force MiG-15 s shoot down a USAF B-29 Superfortress off Hokkaidō, claiming it was spying.

1948 – Second prototype Republic XR-12 Rainbow, 44-91003, crashes at 1300 hrs. while returning to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The number 2 (port inner) engine exploded as the aircraft was returning from a photographic suitability test flight. The pilot was unable to maintain control due to violent buffeting, and he ordered the crew to bail out. Five of the seven crew escaped safely, including pilot Lynn Hendrix, rescued by Eglin crash boats and helicopters. Airframe impacts two miles S of the base, in the Choctawhatchee Bay. Sgt. Vernon B. Palmer, 20, and M/Sgt. Victor C. Riberdy, 30, who lived at Auxiliary Field 5, but was from Hartford, Connecticut, are KWF.

1945 – Gp Cpt H. J. Wilson sets a new official airspeed record of 606 mph (976 km/h) in a Gloster Meteor. Unofficial German speed records by the rocket-powered Messerschmitt Me 163 during the war had already exceeded 625 mph (1,000 km/h)

1942 – A U. S. Army Air Forces bomber discovers that Japanese forces are occupying Attu in the Aleutian Islands. American aircraft soon begin a bombing campaign against Attu.

1941 – (Overnight) – 392 British bombers attack Berlin, Cologne, and Mannheim, losing 36 of their number – A heavy 9.2 percent loss rate.

1936 – Polish Lotnictwo Wojskowe PZL.30 Żubr ("Bison") prototype, a twin-engine bomber design modified from a transport rejected in favour of Douglas DC-2s by LOT Polish Airlines, disintegrates in mid-air when wing structure fails. First flown in March 1936, the uninspired composite design of metal, wood and fabric was the first twin-engined bomber of home design to leave the ground, powered by 680 hp (510 kW) P.Z.L. (Bristol) Pegasus radials, but only 16 Żubrs were completed, most relegated to training, none seeing combat. The Romanian Air Force had shown an interest in the Żubr prototype in 1936, and wanted to buy 24 planes. However, after the prototype crash over Michałowice with two Romanian officers on board, they ordered the PZL.37 Łoś instead. (It should be noted, that the factory published a cover-up story, that the crash was caused by one of Romanians opening the door during flight).

1916 –Imperial German Army Zeppelin LZ90, LZ60, broke loose in the direction of the North Sea in a storm and never seen again.

1910 – The first air flight for the purpose of delivering commercial freight occurs between Dayton, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio in the United States of America by the Wright Brothers and department store owner Max Moorehouse. The trip is made by Wright pilot Philip Parmalee.

1910 – Pilot Didier Masson takes flight on a biplane designed by E. Lilian Todd across the Garden City aviation field. Todd is credited for being the first woman in the world to design airplanes.

1849 – (12–25) While blockading Venice, the Austrian Navy launches unmanned balloons (Montgolfières) equipped with explosive charges from the deck of the steamship Vulcano in an attempt to bombard Venice. Although the experiment is unsuccessful, it is both the first use of balloons for bombardment and the first time a warship makes offensive use of an aerial device.

1836 – 7-8 – Flight of a Montgolfière covering 722 km from London to Weilburg, passing through Green, Holland and Mason.

References

^ Mohamad Bazzi (2003-11-08). "Crash Kills 6 GIs". Newsday (New York). Retrieved 2009-01-30.