Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/February 3

February 3


 * 2011 – Two Republic of China Air Force AT-3 trainers collide, one aircraft crashed near Fangliao and other landed safely. The two pilots of the crashed AT-3 ejected safely.


 * 2010 – A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter of the United States Army crashed in Germany about 1800 hrs. local time northeast of Mannheim, killing three people on board.


 * 2008 – Silver State Helicopters ceases operations and enteres bankruptcy. At the time of closing Silver State operating 194 helicopters from its 34 flight schools.


 * 2005 – Kam Air Flight 904, a Boeing 737-200, crashes in a snowstorm in Afghanistan. All 96 passengers and eight crew members die.


 * 2001 – First flight of the AgustaWestland AW139, 15-seat medium-sized twin-engined helicopter.


 * 1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: A United States Marine Corps EA-6 B Prowler cut a cable supporting a gondola, causing the death of 20 people. The two pilots, Captain Richard J. Ashby and his navigator Captain Joseph Schweitzer, were put under trial in the United States, but were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide, but later they were found guilty of obstruction of justice for having destroyed evidence. Both were discharged from the Marines.


 * 1995 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-63 at 05:22:04 am UTC. Mission highlights: Mir rendezvous, Spacehab, IMAX, Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle Discovery.


 * 1994 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-60 at 7:10:05 am EST. Mission highlights: SPACEHAB, Wake Shield Facility.


 * 1994 – First launch: H-II, Japanese satellite launch system.


 * 1988 – Death of Kenneth Lee Porter, American WWI flying ace, Engineer who worked for Boeing during WWII and was a member of the US fighting pilots Association.


 * 1991 – Returning from a strike against Iraqi forces, a U. S. Air Force B-52G Stratofortress attempting to land at Diego Garcia crashes on final approach.


 * 1985 – First flight of the Atlas XH-1 Alpha, a South African prototype attack helicopter, used as a concept demonstrator for the then-planned Rooivalk project.


 * 1984 – Launch: Space shuttle Challenger STS-41-B at 13:00:00 UTC. Mission highlights: Comsat deployments, first untethered spacewalk by Bruce McCandless II with Manned Maneuvering Unit; first landing at KSC; dry run of equipment for Solar Max rescue.


 * 1982 – The Mil Mi-26 helicopter lifts a load weighing 57 metric tons to 2,000 m (6,500 ft) to break a world record for a helicopter.


 * 1978 – Introduction: de Havilland Canada Dash 7, popularly known as the Dash 7, turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities, is introduced in service by Rocky Mountain Airways.


 * 1977 – Salyut 4 is back on earth.


 * 1966 – Launch of ESSA-1 (or OT-3) US spin-stabilized operational meteorological satellite.


 * 1966 – Luna 9, an unmanned Soviet spacecraft, makes the first successful landing on the Moon.


 * 1964 – The 1964 Turkish Airlines Ankara crash occurred when a Turkish Airlines Douglas C-47 A-5-DK airliner, registration TC-ETI, on a cargo flight from Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport (IST/LTBA) to Esenboğa Airport (ESB/LTAC) in Ankara, flew into terrain in Ankara Province whilst on an ILS approach. The aircraft had three crew on board and all were killed at the accident.


 * 1964 – The Federal Aviation Agency launches Operation Bongo Mark 2 to investigate the effects of supersonic flight; over the coming months, a Convair B-58 will fly through the sound barrier at low altitude over Oklahoma City.


 * 1964 – The North Vietnamese Air Force establishes its first jet fighter unit, Fighter Regiment No. 921, equipped with MiG-17 s. North Vietnamese jet fighter units will be based in the People’s Republic of China until August while their pilots undergo training.


 * 1961 – Operation Looking Glass commences, meaning that the US Air Force Strategic Air Command would have a permanent, airborne command post.


 * 1959 – Boeing B-47E-50-LM Stratojet, 52-3371, of the 384th Bombardment Wing, crashes during landing near Little Rock, Arkansas. Pilot, co-pilot, and navigator killed.


 * 1959 – First flight of the Agusta-Bell AB.102, Italian helicopter based on the mechanical components of a Bell 48 that Agusta incorporated into an all-new, streamlined fuselage.


 * 1959 – American Airlines Flight 320, a Lockheed L-188 Super Electra, crashes into the East River, New York City, as a result of pilot error; sixty-five passengers and crew are killed.


 * 1959 – A Beechcraft Bonanza carrying musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, in what has become known as "The Day the Music Died".


 * 1958 – Birth of Joe Frank Edwards, Jr., United States Naval officer, test pilot and NASA astronaut.


 * 1956 – Death of Guglielmo Fornagiari, Italian WWI flying ace.


 * 1948 – All 145 pilots and co-pilots at National Airlines go on strike, grounding the carrier’s 22 aircraft. The dispute is mainly over air safety.


 * 1946 – Pan American inaugurates the first commercial use of Lockheed Model 049 Constellation with the aircraft’s first scheduled service between New York and Bermuda.


 * 1945 – The US Army’s Eighth Air Force launches Operation Thunderclap – 1,000 B-17 bombers raid Berlin, killing 3,000 and leaving 120,000 homeless.


 * 1945 – Bound for the Kola Inlet in the Soviet Union, Convoy JW 64 becomes the first Arctic convoy to depart from the River Clyde. Its escort, designated Operation Hotbed, includes the British escort aircraft carriers HMS Campania and HMS Nairana. Campania carries the first night fighter involved in a convoy escort operation, a Fairey Fulmar equipped with airborne intercept radar.


 * 1944 – U. S. Navy Task Force 58 completes its support of ground operations on Kwajalein Island and Roi-Namur.


 * 1943 – (Overnight) 263 British bombers attack Hamburg, Germany; 16 are shot down, mostly by Messerschmitt Bf 110 night fighters of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1.


 * 1943 – While shooting down a British Halifax bomber, German night fighter ace Reinhold Knacke is himself shot down and killed by one of the Halifax’s gunners. The first of three out of Germany’s top four night fighter aces to die during the month, his score stands at 44, all at night, when he is killed.


 * 1942 – The Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force was renamed RCAF Women’s Division.


 * 1941 – Death of Enzo Omiccioli, Italian WWII pilot, killed during a dogfight Against 6 Gloster Gladiators in Ethiopia.


 * 1937 – In the Spanish Civil War, a Nationalist (rebel) attack on Málaga begins, supported by an Italian “legionary” air force of about 100 aircraft.


 * 1935 – Hugo Junkers died, German engineer and aircraft designer, who pioneered the first great changes in aviation materials and design technology.


 * 1934 – Lufthansa begins the first regular airmail service across the Atlantic Ocean, between Berlin and Rio de Janeiro.


 * 1931 – Canadian Airways flew the first international service between Winnipeg and Pembina, North Dakota.


 * 1928 – New York City decides to build its first municipal airport.


 * 1928 – First flight of the Boeing F3B (Model 77), an American biplane fighter and fighter bomber in a land version.


 * 1925 – A distance record of 3,166 km (1,967 miles) in a straight line, is established by a Breguet 19 flown by Captain Ludovic Arrachart and Captain Henri Lemaître from Paris to Villa Cisneros (Sahara).


 * 1920 – Death of Hermann Hasselmann, German Aviation Pioneer, and Hugo Schäfer, German WWI flying ace on board of their Junkers F 13.


 * 1918 – Death of Rupert Randolph Winter, British WWI flying ace, killed in action.


 * 1913 – The Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha railway wagon factory) open an aeroplane division.


 * 1911 – The Blériot XIII, French experimental passenger-carrying aircraft, flown by Léon Lemartin broke a world record by flying with 8 passengers.


 * 1903 – Birth of Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, Scottish nobleman and pioneering aviator.


 * 1894 – Birth of Arthur Thomas Drinkwater, Australian WWI flying ace.


 * 1892 – Birth of Eduard Ritter von Dostler, German WWI fighter ace.


 * 1884 – Birth of Frank Maxwell Andrews, general officer in the United States Army and one of the founding fathers of the USAF.


 * 1873 – Birth of Hugh Montague Trenchard, British officer who was instrumental in establishing the RAF, described as the Father of the Royal Air Force.


 * 1873 – Birth of Karl Jatho, German Aviation pioneer and inventor.


 * 1859 – Birth of Hugo Junkers, innovative German engineer, as his many patents in varied areas (gas engines, aeroplanes) show, pioneering the first great changes in aviation materials and design technology.