Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/October 14

October 14

• 2012 – Human Rights Watch accuses the Syrian government of using Russian-made cluster bombs in air attacks on populated areas and near key battlefields.[1]

• 2012 – Turkey closes its airspace to Syrian civilian flights.[2]

• 2012 – General Chuck Yeager USAF (Ret.), age 89, breaks the sound barrier again in a commemorative flight over Edwards AFB, CA

• 2011 – Moremi Air Cessna 208 Crash occurred shortly after takeoff from Xakanaka Airstrip. The plane was heading to Pom Pom Airstrip, a notable place for tourists. Eight of the twelve passengers on board died.

• 2011 – The fourth prototype Xian JH-7A, 814, of the China Flight Test Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Air Force crashed into a marsh near Wei Nan City, Pucheng in Shaanxi Province, China, while performing in an airshow associated with the China International General Aviation Convention. Airframe came down ~1 mile (~1.6 km.) from Pucheng Neifu Airport. One pilot ejected safely but the second crewman is killed in the crash.

• 2005 – Air Jamaica Express ceased operations.

• 2004 – Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 (ICAO: FLG3701, IATA: 9E3701, or Flagship 3701) crashed near Jefferson City, Missouri, United States. It was an overnight ferry flight (with no passengers) from Little Rock, Arkansas, U. S. to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, U. S. Both crew members were killed.

• 2004 – MK Airlines Flight 1602, a Boeing 747-200F, crashes on takeoff from Halifax Stanfield International Airport, killing all 7 on board.

• 1987 – An Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk, 83-815, of the 4450th Tactical Group, piloted by Maj. Michael C. Stewart, callsign BURNR ("burner") 54, crashes at 2033 hrs., ~100 miles N of Nellis AFB, just E of Tonopah. Stewart was just 40 minutes into a routine single-ship sortie when his plane crashed into the gently sloping terrain 60 miles E of Alamo, Nevada, pilot KWF.

• 1975 – A USAF McDonnell Douglas F-15A-7-MC Eagle, 73-0088, c/n 0027/A022, of the 555th TFTS, 58th TFTW, crashes W of Minersville, Utah, due to electrical smoke/fire from generator failure; pilot ejects safely. This was the first F-15 crash.

• 1975 – An RAF Avro Vulcan B.2, XM645, of 9 Sqn RAF Waddington breaks up over Żabbar, Malta, after a hard landing shears off the port-side undercarriage, piercing a wing fuel tank and starting a fire. The pilot and co-pilot initiate a second landing attempt but eject when they realize that the plane cannot make it back to the runway. The subsequent explosion kills 5 crew members who remained aboard, and an electrical cable severed by falling debris kills a bystander on the ground.

• 1968 – The first live telecast from any manned spacecraft, the Apollo 7, was launched by the NASA from Florida.

• 1965 – Joe Engle in an X-15 reaches an altitude of 80 km (49 miles).

• 1964 – First flight of the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion (YCH-53)

• 1964 – Boeing B-50D-80-BO Superfortress, 48-065, converted to KB-50J, of the 421st Air Refueling Squadron, Takhli RTAFB, crashed in Thailand this date shortly after takeoff on training mission while supporting Yankee missions over Laos. Corrosion found in wreckage led to early retirement of the KB-50 fleet and its replacement with Boeing KC-135s.

• 1962 – A US Air Force Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance flight over Cuba reveals the presence of launchpads for Medium Range Ballistic Missiles, triggering the Cuban Missile Crisis

• 1955 – A Strategic Air Command Boeing B-47E-90-BW Stratojet, 52-500, crashes while attempting landing on 3,400-foot (1,000 m) runway 27 at NAS Atlanta, Georgia, shearing off tail and coming to rest beside runway. This facility is now DeKalb-Peachtree Airport.

• 1953 – First flight of the North American X-10

• 1953 – Second of two Bell X-5 swing-wing testbeds, 50-1839, gets into irrecoverable spin condition at Edwards AFB, California during aggravated stall test, crashes in desert, killing test pilot Maj. Raymond Popson on his first flight in the type. On the same date, the nose gear of the XF-92 collapses, ending use by NACA.

• 1949 – First flight of the Fairchild C-123 Provider

• 1947 - Capt Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound, past MACH 1 in the Bell X-1 named Glamorous Glennis at Muroc AFB, CA; now Edwards Air Force Base, CA. www.chuckyeager.com

• 1944 – 104 China-based B-29 s attack Formosa for the first time, striking an aircraft plant at Okayama. The combined bombload of 650 tons (589,676 kg) is the largest in history at the time.

• 1943 – U. S. 8th Air Force loses 60 B-17 Flying Fortresses during an assault on Schweinfurt.

• 1942 – The Japanese battleships Kongō and Haruna bombard Guadalcanal’s Henderson Field firing 973 14-inch (356-mm) shells in 1 h 23 min. The shelling kills 41 men and leaves only 42 aircraft operational out of 90 at the airfield.

• 1942 – P/O Beurling, flying a Supermarine Spitfire of No. 249 (RAF) Squadron, destroyed three enemy aircraft over Malta, but was shot down and wounded.

• 1941 – First accident involving Saro Lerwick flying boat assigned to No. 4 OTU occurs when L7268 dives into the sea near Tarbat Ness following failure of the port engine. Type could not maintain altitude on single powerplant. Six crew killed, three recovered alive.

• 1940 – Aircraft from the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious raid Leros.

• 1938 – First flight of the Saro A.33 K4773

• 1938 – First flight of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

• 1929 – First flight of the Airship R101 from Cardington, Bedfordshire, over London.

• 1927 – 14-15 – Dieudonne Costes and Joseph le Brix make the first non-stop aerial crossing of the South Atlantic, flying a Breguet 19 from Saint-Louis, Senegal to Port Natal in Brazil, as a part of their round-the-world 57,000 km trip.
• 1922 – The Boeing-built MB-3 A (No. 54) flown by Lt. D. F. Stace wins the Pulitzer Trophy Race at Selfridge Field, Mich., flying 147.8 miles per hour over a 200-mile course.

• 1918 – Baron Willy Coppens, highest scoring Belgian ace, is heavily wounded, ending his combat career. He had scored 37 victories, 34 of which were observation balloons.

• 1910 – First confirmed flight over Norway by Carl Cederström.

• 1910 – English aviator Claude Grahame-White lands his Farman biplane on Executive Avenue (now Pennsylvania Avenue) near the White House.

• 1908 – Henry Farman makes the first cross-country flight in a power-driven aeroplane, from Bouy to Reims (27 km) in 20 min.

• 1905 – The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is founded in Paris

• 1897 – Clément Ader makes a 300 m flight in his steam-powered uncontrolled Avion III also referred to as Aquilon or the Éole III. The Army is not impressed and withdraws funding.