Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/April 2

April 2


 * 2012 – UTair Flight 120, a twin-engine UTair Aviation ATR-72-201, crashes in western Siberia near the city of Tyumen shortly after takeoff from Roschino International Airport, killing 31 of the 43 people on board and critically injuring all 12 survivors.


 * 2010 – An Embraer EMB 312 Tucano of the Brazilian Air Force "Smoke Squadron" crashed during an airshow at the Aeroporto Federal de Lages. The pilot, aged 33, died in the crash.


 * 2009 – Chemtrad Aviation Britten-Norman Islander RP-C764 crashes at Baggao, Philippines, killing all thirteen people on board. The aircraft was destroyed.


 * 2009 – A Spanish Air Force F/A-18 Hornet crashes in northern Spain. Pilot ejects safely.


 * 2005 – Royal Australian Navy Westland Sea King Mk50a, N16-100, '(9)02', helicopter Shark 02 of 817 Squadron RAN crashes on the Indonesian island of Nias while providing humanitarian support following the 2005 Sumatra earthquake, killing 9 Australian Defence Force personnel on board.


 * 2003 – A UH-60A Black Hawk (94-26557) of B Company, 2–3rd Aviation Regiment is shot down near Karbala, killing 7 soldiers and injuring 4 more.


 * 2003 – F/A-18C Block 46 Hornet 164974 of VFA-195 is shot down by a US Patriot missile, killing the pilot.


 * 2002 – A United States Navy Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon of HM-14 BuNo 163051 crashed on the runway at Bahrain International Airport. All 18 men and woman on board survived with only a few cases of minor injuries.


 * 1997 – A Boeing 777, powered by twin Rolls-Royce Trent 892 turbofans, returns to Seattle to set a new Eastbound speed around the world record of 553 mph. En route, the twinjet sets a Great Circle distance without landing record of 12,455.34 miles when flying from Seattle to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


 * 1997 – Craig D. Button (November 24, 1964—April 2, 1997), a United States Air Force pilot, dies when he mysteriously crashes an Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft in the Colorado Rockies. Before the incident, Captain Button inexplicably flew hundreds of miles off-course without radio contact, appeared to maneuver purposefully and did not attempt to eject before the crash. His death is regarded as a suicide because no other theory explains the events. His aircraft carried live bombs, which were never recovered. It took three weeks to find the crashsite. During that time, there was widespread public speculation about Captain Button's intentions and whereabouts.


 * 1987 – A Royal Air Force Vickers VC-10 sets a new record time between the UK and Australia, landing in Perth after a flight of 16 hours 1 min.


 * 1986 – TWA Flight 840, a Boeing 727, is bombed by Palestinian militants, killing four out of 121 people on board. The plane manages to land safely in Athens.


 * 1984 – Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma is launched aboard Soyuz T-11, and becomes the first Indian in space.


 * 1982 – The Falklands War begins as Argentina invades the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island.


 * 1982 – An Armada de la República Argentina (ARA) Westland Lynx HAS.2 from the 1ra Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Helicópteros supporting the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands crashes into the sea near the ARA Santísima Trinidad.


 * 1971 – Last internal Yukon flight from Victoria to Trenton.


 * 1969 – LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165, an Antonov An-24, crashes in southern Poland, killing all 53 people on board.


 * 1965 – First flight of the Partenavia Oscar


 * 1957 – First flight of the Short SC.1 (CTOL)


 * 1956 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, ditches into Puget Sound after takeoff from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after the cowl flaps are incorrectly set for takeoff; four passengers and a flight attendant die, probably of hypothermia, while waiting for rescue; 33 survive.


 * 1955 – Trans-Canada Airlines introduced the Vickers Viscount airliner into regular service, making it the first North American airline to use turbine power aircraft.


 * 1949 – First flight of the SNCASE Armagnac


 * 1944 – The first United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress arrives at Calcutta, India, after an 11,530-mile (18,567-km) trip from Kansas, which includes stops at Presque Isle, Maine; Gander, Newfoundland; Marrakech, Morocco; Cairo, Egypt; and Karachi, and a 2,700-mile (4,348-km) non-stop transatlantic flight between Gander and Marrakech.


 * 1937 – Swedish airplane manufacturer Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAA is established in Trollhättan, Sweden.


 * 1917 – The prelude to the battle of Vimy Ridge began as the Canadian gunners started pounding the German defences, from small howitzers to huge naval guns, using a nearly limitless supply of ammunition. It was the largest artillery poundings in history up to that point, using over one million shells. The attack lasted for seven days, and was loud enough to be heard in London. Germans in the front line trenches later called it “the week of suffering. ”


 * 1794 – Establishment of the first airship company in the French Army who use a balloon named Entreprenant for reconnaissance of the Austrian forces at the Battle of Fleurus. Two companies of balloon observers are formed, but disband the following year.