Portal:Aviation/Today in aviation

2012 – The pilot of the Czech subsonic one-seat military aircraft Aero L-159 Alca that crashed in central Bohemia was found dead in its wreckage.

2003 – A DHL Airbus A300 is struck by a missile near Baghdad, Iraq and loses hydraulic system function, but manages to land safely with only engine controls without any fatalities. This is the first non-fatal landing of an airliner without control surfaces.

1995 – A Japanese Air Self Defense Force Mitsubishi F-15J, 02-8919, of the 308 Hiko-tai, piloted by Capt. Higuchi Tatsumi, is accidentally shot down by an AIM-9L Sidewinder fired by another JASDF F-15 flown by Capt. Hino Junya during air-to-air combat training. Tatsumi ejects and is picked up safe.

1994 – TWA Flight 427, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, collides with a Superior Aviation Cessna 441 on the runway at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, killing the pilot and passenger in the Cessna; there are no fatalities on board the MD-82.

1989 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-33 at 0:23:30 UTC. Mission highlights: Fifth classified DoD mission; Magnum/IUS.

1981 – United States Navy LTV A-7E-11-CV Corsair II, BuNo 158678, 'AJ-310', of VA-82 from the USS Nimitz air wing and based at Cecil Field, Florida, crashed at 1200 hrs. ~120 miles NW of Sardinia. Aircraft was returning to the ship after routine mission.

1968 – Japan Airlines Flight 2 was a flight that was piloted by Captain Kohei Asoh. The DC-8 plane was scheduled to land at San Francisco International Airport but due to heavy fog and other factors, Asoh mistakenly landed the plane in the waters of San Francisco Bay, two and a half miles short of the runway. None of the 96 passengers or 11 crew were killed or injured in the mishap. The plane was recovered 55 hours after the incident.

1961 – The first aircraft carrier designed as such to be completed in France, Clemenceau, is completed at the Brest Arsenal at Brest.

1961 – In Operation Skyburner, United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Robert B. “Bob” Robertson sets a new world absolute speed record of 1,606.3 mph (2,585.1 km/hr) in a McDonnell F4 H-1 Phantom II.

1955 – Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 drops the first Soviet thermo-nuclear bomb RDS-37 in Siberia.

1952 – A United States Air Force Douglas C-124A Globemaster II, 51-0107, c/n 43441, on approach to Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage, Alaska, United States crashes into a remote glacier. The wreckage was found several days later on the South side of Mount Gannett. There were no survivors killing all 52 aboard. [41 Army and Air Force passengers and 11 crewmen.] 4th worst accident involving a Douglas C-124 This includes crashes as a result of criminal acts (shoot down, sabotage etc.) and does also include ground fatalities. 4th loss of a Douglas C-124. This is the 4th Douglas C-124 plane that was damaged beyond repair as result of an accident, a criminal act or a non-operational occurrence (hangar fire, hurricanes etc.) Debris from the crash was again found in June 2012.

1950 – AFirst official test flight of the U.S. Navy Vought XSSM-N-8 Regulus, FTV-1, (Flight Test Vehicle), '1', from Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards AFB, California, goes badly when, after reaching an altitude of several hundred feet after lift-off, the J33 jet-powered missile rolls violently right and crashes. Had it rolled to the left, it would likely have struck the USN Lockheed TV-2 Seastar chaseplane piloted by Chuck Miller with Roy Pearson on board as missile controller. Cause is found to be a broken brass pin in the port elevator pump assembly that allowed the elevator to deploy, the pin having been worn out during months of ground test runs. Brass is subsequently replaced by steel pins, and problem is solved.

1949 – First prototype Gloster E.1/44, TX145, on test flight out of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), Farnborough, suffers engine flame-out, crash lands. Repaired.

1944 – 96 Task Force 38 carrier aircraft strike Japanese forces on Yap, employing air-to-ground rockets and napalm. Half of the napalm bombs do not ignite.

1944 – Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer, BuNo 59544, on pre-delivery test flight by company crew out of Lindbergh Field, San Diego, California, takes off at 1223 hrs., loses port outer wing on climb-out, crashes one quarter mile further on in ravine in undeveloped area of Loma Portal near the Navy Training Center, less than two miles (3 km) from point of lift-off. All crew killed, including pilot Marvin R. Weller, co-pilot Conrad C. Cappe, flight engineers Frank D. Sands and Clifford P. Bengston, radio operator Robert B. Skala, and Consolidated Vultee field operations employee Ray Estes. Wing panel comes down on home at 3121 Kingsley Street in Loma Portal. Cause is found to be 98 missing bolts, wing only attached with four spar bolts. Four employees who either were responsible for installation, or who had been inspectors who signed off on the undone work, are fired two days later. San Diego coroner's jury finds Consolidated Vultee guilty of "gross negligence" by vote of 11-1 on 5 January 1945, Bureau of Aeronautics reduces contract by one at a cost to firm of $155,000. Consolidated Vultee pays out $130,484 to families of six dead crew.

1943 – G/C CR Dunlap assumed command of No. 139 Wing (RAF), composed of three squadrons of North American Mitchell aircraft. This was the only time an RCAF officer commanded an RAF operational wing.

1941 – Malta-based British aircraft attack an Axis convoy bound from Naples to North Africa, damaging the Italian light cruiser Duca degli Abruzzi.

1941 – Luftwaffe ace Werner Mölders, traveling as a passenger in a Heinkel He 111, bearing Geschwaderkennung code '1G+TH', of Kampfgeschwader 27 "Boelcke" from the Crimea to Germany to attend the funeral of his superior, Ernst Udet, who had committed suicide, is killed during an attempted landing at Breslau during a thunderstorm when the aircraft crashed at 1130 hrs. Near Breslau, the port engine failed and the crew tried to land at the nearest available airfield, Schmiedefelde. Mölders official kill total stands at 115 at the time of his death, although he is believed to have shot down another 30 Soviet aircraft for which he received no credit while making unauthorized combat flights during the last months of his career.At low altitude, the second engine cut and the He 111 hit the ground near Martin Quander Farm at N°132 Flughafenstrasse.

1935 – Pan Am commences the first trans-Pacific airmail service, flying a Martin M.130 from San Francisco to Manila, via Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Guam.

1917 – A Tellier T.3 seaplane piloted by U.S. Navy Ensign Kenneth R. Smith, with Electrician's Mate Wilkinson and Machinist's Mate Brady on board, was forced down at sea on a flight out of NAS LeCroisic, France, to investigate the reported presence of German submarines south of Belle Isle. Two days later, and only minutes before their damaged plane sank, they were rescued by a French destroyer. It was the first armed patrol by a U.S. Naval Aviator in European waters.

1909 – Wright Company is incorporated with a capital stock of $1,000,000. Formed to manufacture airplanes, the company’s president is Wilbur Wright and his brother Orville is the vice president.

1901 – The Wright brothers begin wind tunnel experiments at Dayton, Ohio, to optimize the wing design of what will become their 1902 glider. During their experiments, which last into December, they will in essence develop the modern understanding of aerodynamics

1898 – Wiley Post, American pilot, was born (d. 1935). Wiley Post was the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits.

References