Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/August 26

August 26


 * 2012 – Syrian rebels claim to have shot down a Syrian government attack helicopter, possibly a Mil Mi-24 (NATO reporting name "Hind").


 * 2012 – After a final flight from Denver, Colorado, to Lihue, Kaua'i, Hawaii, 83-year-old Ron Akana retires as the longest-serving flight attendant in history. His career, all with United Airlines, had spanned 63 years since he joined the airline in 1949, interrupted only by two years of military service from 1951 to 1953. He had flown about 200 million miles (322,000,000 km) and made about 10,000 trips over the Pacific Ocean.


 * 2009 – Aéro-Frêt Antonov An-12 crash: TN-AIA, an Antonov An-12 operated by of Aéro-Frêt, suffers an in-flight fire, breaks up in mid-air and crashes at Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo. All six people on board are killed.


 * 2008 – A Sun Air 737-200 carrying 109 passengers and crew is hijacked after takeoff of a flight from Nyala, Sudan to Cairo, and demand to be flown to France. The plane ends up landing in Libya, where the passengers would be released the next day later and the hijackers would surrender two days later.


 * 2007 – In Kongolo, Tanganyika District, DRC 13 of 15 aboard die when an overloaded Antonov An-32 (reg 9Q-CAC) owned by Agefreco Air and operated by Great Lakes Business Company crashes while flying tin ore (Cassiterite)


 * 2004 – Boeing delivers the 500th AH-64D Apache Longbow multirole combat helicopter.


 * 2003 – Colgan Air Flight 9446, a US Airways Express Beechcraft 1900D on a repositioning flight with no passengers aboard, crashes in the water off Yarmouth, Massachusetts, immediately after takeoff from Barnstable Municipal Airport in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, due to a maintenance error. The two-man crew captain Scott Knabe (39) and first officer Steven Dean (38) dies.The NTSB identified the cause as aircraft manufacturer's erroneous depiction of the elevator trim drum in the maintenance manual and the flight crew's failure to follow the checklist procedures checking trimmers prior to take off having contributed to the accident.


 * 2003 – The Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final report on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.


 * 2002 – First flight of the Eclipse 500


 * 1988 – Mehran Karimi Nasseri begins what would be an 18-year layover in Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. Believed to be the inspiration for the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks film The Terminal, a chain of immigration bureaucracy and paperwork snafus prevent Nasseri from leaving the airport while en route to settle in London. Despite assistance from lawyers, he would not be able to legally leave the airport until sickness forces him out in July of 2006.


 * 1986 – The CFM56 turbofan is flight tested for the first time.


 * 1985 – TWA is purchased by Carl Icahn and associates


 * 1982 – Southwest Air Lines Flight 611, a Boeing 737-200, overruns the runway while landing at Ishigaki Airport in Japan. There are no fatalities, but 67 of the 138 on board are injured.


 * 1975 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas YC-15


 * 1975 – LTV A-7D-12-CV Corsair II, 72-0172, of the 76th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing, England AFB, Louisiana, crashes on a test range on the eastern area of the Eglin AFB, Florida, reservation at ~2240 hrs. during a night training mission. The aircraft, part of a three-ship flight, had departed England AFB at ~2015 hrs. for a ground attack simulation at Eglin. The A-7D went down while orbiting the range with the other two aircraft of the flight. Pilot Capt. William N. Clark, 33, of Little Rock, Arkansas, is KWF. "The cause of the crash is unknown at this time but is being investigated by a board of qualified officers," Maj. Les Smith, Eglin Information officer, said. The three jets were slated to return to England AFB directly after completing the mission, Smith said. Capt. Clark is survived by his wife and three children who reside at England AFB.


 * 1969 – First flight of the Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner


 * 1959 – French flyer Jacqueline Auriol, piloting the Mirage III, becomes the first woman to attain the speed of Mach 2.


 * 1959 – The White House enters the jet age. After pressure from Secretary of State John Dulles (after whom the Capitol’s airport is now named) regarding the somewhat shoddy appearance of a US President arriving at international meetings aboard a prop while Russian dignitaries flew in aboard jets, the first VC-137 A, a modified Boeing 707-120 airliner, enters service to replace the Lockheed Super Constellation formerly responsible for Presidential transport. Newer aircraft would subsequently take over President-carrying duties over the years, but this first jet, branded SAM 970, would remain in the Air Force’s Special Air Missions fleet until 1996, last being used to transport Vice President Al Gore. SAM 970 is now on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.


 * 1954 – Top Korean War USAF ace Capt. Joseph C. McConnell (16 victories) is killed in crash of fifth production North American F-86H Sabre, 52-1981, at Edwards AFB, California.


 * 1953 – U.S. Coast Guard Boeing PB-1G Flying Fortress, BuNo 77253, ex-44-85827, loses brakes while landing at NAS Sand Point, near Seattle, Washington, overruns runway, crushes nose as it ends up in Lake Washington. Retrieved and sold for salvage.


 * 1951 – Handley Page HP.88, VX330, a two-fifths scale flying testbed for the Handley Page HP.80 Victor bomber to prove crescent wing design, breaks up in flight when the rear fuselage separates during a manoeuvre. During a high-speed, low-level pass over Stansted's main runway, it suffered a failure of its slab-type tailplane's servo-control system, producing severe oscillations that subjected the airframe to excessive G-forces, causing the ship to break up, killing pilot D. J. P. Broomfield.


 * 1944 – First flight of the Martin AM Mauler


 * 1942 – Adolf Hitler orders the incomplete heavy cruiser Seydlitz to be completed as an aircraft carrier.


 * 1940 – No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron engaged the enemy in the Battle of Britain and destroyed three and damaged four enemy aircraft. F/O RL Edwards was the RCAF’s first battle casualty.


 * 1939 – The Messerschmitt Me 209 sets a new world speed record of 755 km/h (469 mph).


 * 1937 – Majorca-based Italian aircraft bomb a British merchant ship off Barcelona, Spain.


 * 1929 – The first flight of the largest trimotor transport aircraft built by Fokker, the F.IX, takes to the air on its first flight. The prototype (PH-AGA) was handed over to KLM on May 8, 1930, and given the name Adelaar (Eagle).


 * 1925 – In a record that would stand until Feb. 24, 1983, Farman Parker of Anderson, Indiana becomes the world’s youngest pilot to fly solo. Born on January 9, 1912, he flies at the age of 13 years, 7 months, 17 days.


 * 1927 – Bert Hinkler sets a new non-stop distance record, flying from Croydon, England to Riga, Latvia.


 * 1909 – The Antoinette IV airplane sets a world distance record, flying 154.6 km (96.1 mi) in 2 hours 17 min 21 seconds.