Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/August 24

August 24


 * 2010 – Henan Airlines Flight 8387, an Embraer E-190, overruns the runway and crashes at Yichun, Heilongjiang, northeast China, causing 43 fatalities from 91 passengers and 5 crew members; this is the first hull loss of an Embraer E-Jet.


 * 2010 – Agni Air Flight 101, a Dornier Do 228, crashes outside of Kathmandu, Nepal in heavy rain, killing all 14 people on board.


 * 2010 – Saudi Arabian airline SAMA ceases operations.


 * 2010 – A Spanish Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter crashed while attempting to take off at Moron Air Base. A Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Saudi Air Force were killed while a Spanish Air Force Commander bailed out.


 * 2009 – American Airlines retires its last Airbus A300 from scheduled service.


 * 2008 – Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895, a Boeing 737, crashes just after take-off from Manas Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. 68 of the 90 passengers and crew on board are killed.


 * 2004 – Volga-AviaExpress Flight 1303 and Siberia Airlines Flight 1047 explode south of Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow. The Russian government declares the explosions to have been caused by Chechen terrorists


 * 2004 – A Venezuelan Air Force Shorts 360 crashes near Maracay, Venezuela, killing all 25 on board.


 * 2001 – Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean and makes an emergency landing in the Azores. Upon landing some of the tires blow out, causing a fire that is extinguished by emergency personnel on the ground. None of the 304 people on board the Airbus A330-200 were seriously injured.


 * 1999 – On board a Uni Air McDonnell Douglas DC-9 a fire starts in an overhead luggage compartment over Hualien Taiwan. The fire was cause by the accidental ignition fumes from a bottle of household cleaner. One person dies.


 * 1998 – Myanma Airways Flight 635, a Fokker F-27 Friendship, crashes while on approach to Tachilek Airport; all 36 on board die.


 * 1990 – Early in the build-up of forces in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the U. S. Air Force has 222 fighters, ground-attack aircraft, and bombers deployed in and around Saudi Arabia.


 * 1990 – A fatal aircraft accident involving a U.S. Coast Guard Grumman E-2C Hawkeye at the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico prompted to the Coast Guard discontinue flying E-2Cs and to return all of its borrowed E-2s to the U.S. Navy.


 * 1988 – Assembly of the first McDonnell Douglas C-17 begins at Douglas Aircraft facilities in Long Beach, Calif.


 * 1983 – A Canadair Challenger 601 business jet arrives at London from Calgary, setting a world distance record for a business jet, at 4,364.2 miles (6,982 km).


 * 1979 – A Stearman biplane, aircraft registration number N48784, flew into electrical transmission lines that cross Lake Natoma at Mississippi Bar.   Jacquelyn Burnett, a passenger in the biplane, was killed.  The pilot, Stephen Francis Williams, was convicted of manslaughter. His conviction marked the first time in United States history that a pilot was held criminally responsible for the death of a passenger. Williams had previously killed his own 12-year-old daughter, Patricia Anna Williams, by attempting a takeoff in dense fog at the Salinas Municipal Airport.


 * 1977 – First flight of the Learjet 28


 * 1970 – Two USAF Sikorsky HH-53 C helicopters complete a non-stop trans-Pacific crossing from Eglin AFB, Florida to Da Nang, South Vietnam, aided by refueling encounters with Lockheed C-130 tankers.


 * 1965 – An American military C-130 Hercules aircraft carrying 71 passengers and crew crashes into Yau Tong Bay in Hong Kong shortly after takeoff. The plane is carrying U. S. military personnel, mostly U. S. Marines flying back to South Vietnam after leave during the Vietnam War. Thirteen people reportedly survive the crash.


 * 1961 – Beginning this day through October 12, U. S. aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran, flying a Northrop T-38 Talon, sets a wide range of records for women (altitude of 56,072.8 ft., a distance of 1,492.39 mi., a 100-km (62.14 mi.) closed circuit speed record of 784.29 mph and 15-km (9.32 mi.) course speed of 844.2 mph).


 * 1959 – Pan American World Airways inaugurates the first jetliner service between the continental United States and Hawaii, using Boeing 707 s.


 * 1956 – A U. S. Army helicopter becomes the first rotary-winged aircraft to fly non-stop across the United States.


 * 1954 – The pilot of an Republic F-84G Thunderjet dies at Eglin AFB following an ejection as the aircraft rolled to a stop after landing at Eglin Auxiliary Field 6. The Thunderjet was on a routine training mission.


 * 1951 – United Airlines Flight 615, a Douglas DC-6 B, crashes near Decoto (now Union City, California), while on final approach to Oakland, California; all 44 passengers and 6 crew members die.


 * 1950 – ATwo B-26 Invaders of the 729th Bombardment Squadron (Light), 452d Bombardment Group (Light), based at George AFB, California, collide in flight over El Mirage Dry Lake, 10 miles NW of Victorville, California. B-26B, 44-34174, c/n 27453, built as A-26B-45-DL, piloted by Ouris H. Cuerton, and B-26B, 44-34677, c/n 29956, built as A-26B-66-DL, piloted by Lyle N. Leavitt, both crash with crew fatalities during attempted bail-outs. The 729th/452d had been ordered to active service on 10 August 1950.


 * 1948 – Two separate accidents kill 13 U.S. airmen, this date. Nine are killed aboard an Army Douglas C-117A-1-DK Skytrain, 45-2554, c/n 18557/34212, 45-2554, near Newton, New Jersey, after a mid-air collision with an Army North American B-25J-30-NC Mitchell, 44-86870. The bomber suffers damage to a wingtip but lands safely. In a separate accident, two C-47 Skytrains engaged in the Berlin Airlift collide in mid-air near Ravolzhausen, killing two crew on each airlifter. Killed in the C-47s were Maj. Edwin C. Diltz, Capt. William R. Howard, Capt. Joel M. DeVolentine, and 1st Lt. William T. Lucas. Capt. Howard was piloting C-47A-80-DL, 43-15116, while Capt. DeVolentine was flying C-47A-90-DL, 43-16036, c/n 20502.


 * 1945 – Second (of two prototypes) McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom, BuNo 48236, is damaged in a belly landing.


 * 1944 – Aircraft from the British aircraft carriers HMS Indomitable and HMS Victorious raid Sumatra, striking the cement works at Indaroeng and the harbor facilities and shipping at Emmahaven.


 * 1944 – Goodwood III, the third airstrike of Operation Goodwood, is the most successful Goodwood raid. Thirty-three Fairey Barracudas attack Tirpitz, hitting her with a 500-lb (227-kg) bomb and a 1,600-lb (726-kg) bomb. The latter penetrates the armored deck and could have caused extensive damage or sunk the ship, but fails to explode.


 * 1943 – P/O DF McRae and crew, flying a Vickers Wellington of No. 179 (RAF) Squadron, sank the German submarine U-134.


 * 1942 – (24-25) The Battle of the Eastern Solomons takes place north of the Solomon Islands. It includes an aircraft carrier action on during which U. S. Navy carrier aircraft sink the Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō, while Japanese carrier aircraft heavily damage the U. S. aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6).


 * 1942 – (Overnight) 226 British bombers attack Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, but most of their bombs land well west of the city; 16 aircraft do not return, including five Pathfinders.


 * 1940 – A German bomber crew bombs a residential area of south London, apparently in error.


 * 1939 – The Royal Air Force forms the Advanced Air Striking Force. Initially consisting of 10 squadrons of Fairey Battle bombers, its mission is to deploy to France in the event of war with Germany and strike targets in Germany from French bases.


 * 1937 – The Republicans launch an offensive against Nationalist in forces in Aragon, supported by about 200 aircraft; the opposing Nationalists have only 15 Heinkels. The Nationalists redeploy 20 Fiat CR.32 fighters commanded by the ace Joaquín García Morato, 20 Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers, and 20 cargo aircraft from northern Spain to the area to bolster the defense.


 * 1933 – First flight of the Blackburn Shark


 * 1932 – Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).


 * 1925 – First flight of the Supermarine S.4


 * 1924 – The U. S. Navy light cruiser USS Richmond (CL-9) rescues the crew of an Italian flying boat that is forced down in the Arctic Ocean by bad weather.


 * 1921 – The British airship R38 (ZR-2) due to be delivered to the United States Navy as the ZR-2, broke in two on a test flight near Hull, England, half falling to the ground in flames. 44 died, including British Air Commodore E.M. Maitland, Leader of Airships, and 16 Americans. Maxfield Field at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey, named 6 January 1944 in honor of Commander Louis H. Maxfield, Naval Aviator No. 17, who lost his life in the R38 crash.


 * 1918 – U.S Army Maj. William R. Ream becomes the first flight surgeon to die in an aircraft accident, at the Effingham, Illinois airport, out of Chanute Field, Illinois, when his aircraft stalls/spins and crashes.