Portal:Aviation/Today in aviation

2012 – 2012 Aéro-Service Ilyushin Il-76T crash: An Aéro-Service (initially mistakenly attributed to Trans Air Congo^[1]) Ilyushin Il-76T (registration number EK-76300) on a domestic cargo flight in the Republic of the Congo from Pointe Noire to Brazzaville crashes short of Runway 5L in a residential area while attempting to land in bad weather at Maya-Maya Airport in Brazzaville.^[2] All six crew members – five of whom are from Armenia – and one police officer on board the aircraft and 26 people on the ground are killed, and 14 people on the ground are injured.^[1]

2009 – An Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI crashes near Jethagaon in Jaisalmer of Rajasthan after it took off from Jodhpur, crash happened while returning from a regular training mission, both pilots are safe.

2000 – Launch: Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-97 at 22:06 EST. Mission highlights: ISS assembly flight 4A: P6 solar arrays, radiators.

2007 – Atlasjet Flight 4203, an MD-83 registered TC-AKM, crashed shortly after departure out of Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, killing all 57 on board. With good weather and no known technical issues, it was determined that the crash was caused due to the pilot experiencing spatial disorientation.

2004 – Lion Air Flight 538, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crash-lands in Solo City, Indonesia, killing 25 of the 154 people on board.

2000 – Marc Garneau made his third and final space flight aboard Endeavour on STS-97.

1999 – British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merged to form BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defense contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world.

1991 – During routine training mission, pilot Lt. Michael Young, 28, bailed out of his disabled USAF LTV A-7D-9-CV Corsair II, 70-1054, c/n D-200, of the 180th TFG, Ohio Air National Guard, based at Toledo Express Airport, Swanton, Ohio, over the coast of Michigan's Thumb area. He landed in Lake Huron, and was dragged 12 miles in his parachute by winds before being lost and presumed drowned. The jet impacted in a wooded area near Port Hope, Michigan. Rescuers were unable to reach pilot at the speed he was being dragged, and survival was unlikely in the 38-degree water.

1989 – An Douglas A-4F Skyhawk—Bureau Number 152101, tail number '2101', c/n 13489, assigned to the US Navy Top Gun school, crashed short of the runaway at NAS Miramar, north of San Diego, California. The cause of the crash was loss of power to the engine. The pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Stanley R. O'Connor, an instructor in the Top Gun school, ejected safely. This airframe had been ordered as the final A-4E but was delivered as the first A-4F model.

1962 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 512, a Douglas DC-7 B, crashes as a result of pilot error during a missed approach at New York's Idlewild Airport; 25 of 51 on board are killed.

1961 – Ansett-ANA Flight 325, a Vickers Viscount, crashes into Botany Bay, Australia, 9 min after takeoff, killing all 15 people on board.

1958 – Royal Canadian Air Force Sikorsky H-34A Choctaw, 9634, c/n 58-224, one of six on strength, of 111 Communications Unit, crashes this date, stricken 1 December.

1953 – A USAF C-119 Flying Boxcar crashes in flames while on approach to Orly Airport, Paris, France, killing all six crew. "French officials said the plane appeared to explode in air moments after it had been given a clearance for its approach to the field. They said [that] six bodies had been recovered from the wreckage. Air Force sources said the plane was manned by a ferry crew from Dover Field, Del. The bodies of five men were pulled from the charred wreckage. A sixth crewmen was found dead in a clump of trees after he had tried unsuccessfully to bail out from about 700 feet. His partially-opened parachute was tangled in branches 40 yards from the crash site."

1946 – An Argentine Air Force Vickers VC.1 Viking T-1 crashed at El Palomar, Argentina.

1944 – During November, B-29 s raiding Japan have carried an average bombload of 2.6 tons (2,359 kg) per plane. This will almost triple by July 1945.

1941 – (November 30-December 4)U. S. Navy patrol aircraft based in the Philippine Islands monitor Japanese naval and shipping activity at Camranh Bay in French Indochina.

1941 – Mario de Bernardi flies air mail from Milan to Guidonia Montecelio, Italy, in a Caproni Campini N.1 motorjet-powered aircraft. It is the first time air mail is carried in any form of jet aircraft.

1939 – Soviet air raids on Helsinki and Viipuri mark the outbreak of the Winter War.

1934 – The record-setting French aviatrix Hélène Boucher dies when the Renault Viva Grand Sport she is piloting on a test flight crashes into the woods at Guyancourt, France.

1923 – Second of two prototypes of the Short Springbok Mk. I, J6975, crashes near Martlesham when it spins in shortly after take off, killing the pilot. Cause is diagnosed as rudder blanking during spinning and a new wing design is prepared for the Short Springbok Mk. II, of which six examples - later reduced to three - are ordered in 1924.

1913 – The first air-to-air dogfight, pilots from rival Mexican factions exchanged revolver shots in the air over Naco, Mexico.

1913 – First air-to-air dogfight: pilots (Dean Ivan Lamb) from rival Mexican factions exchanged revolver shots flying a Curtiss Pusher vs Phil Rader in a Christopherson biplane during the Siege of Naco, Mexico. The combat ended with no hits registered.

1911 – First Chief of State flying on an airplane: Francisco I. Madero in a Deperdussin, Mexico City

1908 – La Compagnie Generale de Navigation Aérienne, the French Wright company, is organized.

1907 – Glenn Curtiss founds the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, the first airplane manufacturing company in the United States.

1905 – Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's LZ2 airship is damaged while attempting its first launch.

1784 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard makes the first scientific observations from above the earth in a hydrogen balloon over London.

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