Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/August 27

August 27


 * 2009 – Chinese airline East Star Air declares bankruptcy.
 * 2009 – Russian airline Avianova begins operations.
 * 2009 – T-906, an Ilyushin Il-76TD, of the National Air Force of Angola runs off the runway at Quatro de Fevereiro Airport, Angola, and is substantially damaged. One of the 41 people on board is injured.
 * 2009 – A Hellenic Air Force PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader fire-fighting aircraft from the 359 Public Services Air Support Unit based at Andravida Airforce Base crashes after hitting high-voltage cables. The accident occurred while fighting a forest fire in the village of Katseli near Argostoli, Kefalonia, Greece resulting in the death of the pilot.
 * 2006 – The Boeing 737-900ER/9GP, is unveiled, with the first operator being Lion Air.
 * 2006 – Comair Flight 5191, a Bombardier Canadair CRJ-100, crashes during takeoff near Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49 of the 50 people on board.
 * 1990 – Death of Stevie Ray Vaughan: Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and all four other people on board die in the crash of a Bell 206B JetRanger III helicopter near East Troy, Wisconsin.The investigation determined the aircraft departed in foggy conditions with visibility reportedly under two miles.The helicopter crashed on hilly terrain about three fifths of a mile from the takeoff point." Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records showed that pilot Jeff Brown was qualified to fly by instruments in a fixed-wing aircraft, but not in a helicopter.
 * 1990 – First flight of the Northrop YF-23
 * 1985 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-51-I at 10:58:01 UTC. Mission highlights: Multiple comsat deployments, rescue of Syncom F3 (Leasat-3) by Astronauts.
 * 1976 – First flight of the PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader
 * 1957 – A Royal Canadian Navy McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee fighter jet, BuNo 126306, Sqn. No. 103 of VF-870, collides on a runway with an RCN General Motors TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo 53358, of squadron VC-921, at naval air station HMCS Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada. A flight of 3 Avengers was cleared for a formation takeoff on Runway 20 while the Banshee was performing touch-and-go landings on intersecting Runway 16. Due to an inoperable radio, Lt. Ed Trzcinski, Banshee pilot and U.S. Navy exchange officer, did not hear instructions from the control tower to go around, and apparently did not see red flares launched from the control tower due to patchy fog over the airfield and a possible lack of situational awareness. The Banshee collided with the second Avenger, killing Trzcinski and SubLt. Julian Freeman, RCN, pilot and sole occupant of the Avenger.
 * 1956 – Eighth of 13 North American X-10s, GM-52-1, c/n 8, on Navaho X-10 flight number 24, out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, a full-range test with final dive maneuver. Final flight of vehicle eight after three successful recovered missions. During takeoff the vehicle goes aloft, then settles back to the runway with its brakes locked. The tires burst, the gear fails, the gear doors come in contact with the runway, carving grooves in the pavement as they retract. Then, astonishingly, the vehicle rises from the runway, completes a successful full-range supersonic flight with terminal dive into the waters off Grand Bahamas.
 * 1953 – Nos. 414, 422 and 444 Squadrons, comprising No. 4 Fighter Wing, flew from Canada to their new base at Baden Soellingen, Germany.
 * 1950 – P-51 Mustangs of No. 2 Squadron SAAF are sent to Korea as part of South Africa's contribution to the war.
 * 1942 – (Overnight) 306 British bombers attack Kassel, Germany, with the loss of 31 aircraft, a disturbingly high loss rate of 10.1 percent. However, the Pathfinders are more effective and the sky over Kassel is clear, and the raid is moderately successful.
 * 1941 – The German submarine U-570 surrenders to a Royal Air Force Lockheed Hudson patrol bomber 80 nautical miles (148 km) south of Iceland. No other German submarine surrenders to enemy forces during World War II prior to the final days of the war.
 * 1941 – Four Boulton Paul Defiants of 256 Squadron on practice formation flight, on NE heading a little W of Blackpool at 2,000 feet (610 m), break formation - right into a trio of Blackburn Bothas of 3 School of General Reconnaissance, flying NW at 1,500 feet (460 m). First two Defiants avoid Bothas, but third off the break, N1745, 'J-TP', strikes one Botha, L6509, cutting it in two, and losing one of its own wings. Botha comes down on ticket office of the Central Railway Station, setting large petrol-fed fire. Defiant impacts on private home at No. 97 Reads Avenue. Thirteen killed outright, including all four aircrew, 39 others injured. Of 17 detained in hospital, five later died. All civilian casualties were visitors to the seaside resort, except for one occupant of the house on Reads Avenue. This accident caused more casualties than all the enemy air raids on Blackpool and Fylde during the entire war
 * 1940 – First flight of the Caproni Campini N.1
 * 1939 – First flight of the Heinkel He 178
 * 1936 – (27-29) German Junkers Ju 52 s supporting the Nationalists bomb Madrid. They damage the Ministry of War on August 29. It is the first terror bombing of a large city since World War I.
 * 1926 – Commander John Rodgers, Naval Aviator No. 2, Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, on a flight from NAS Anacostia, Washington, D.C., crashes in the Delaware River near the Naval Aircraft Factory dock, Philadelphia, when his aircraft suddenly nose-dives and receives injuries from which he dies on the same day.
 * 1923 – An Air Union Farman F.60 Goliath crashes near East Malling, Kent due to engine failure and panic among the passengers, killing one of 13 on board.
 * 1918 – John D. Ryan became the first Director of the United States Army Air Service when he was appointed 28 Aug 1918, though the position was not officially created until March 1919.
 * 1916 – Oswald Boelcke creates the first German special fighter squadron Jagdstaffel 2 (or Jasta 2).
 * 1914 – The Royal Naval Air Service’s famed Eastchurch Squadron arrives in France for World War I service, commanded by Wing Commander Charles Samson.
 * 1913 – Lieutenant Petr Nesterov of the Russian Army in Kiev performs the first loop-the-loop. The complete circle and other intentional acrobatic stunts prove to be valuable experience for the wartime maneuvers needed during aerial battles.
 * 1910 – Frederick Baldwin and John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, using a Curtiss biplane and an H. M. Horton wireless set, are the first pilots to send radio messages to the ground at Sheepshead, New York.
 * 1783, flight of an unmanned experimental hydrogen-balloon in Paris (built by Professor Charles and the brothers Roberts). It flies 25 km from Paris to Gonesse and is destroyed by frightened peasants.