Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 12

June 12


 * 2013 – In response to a call for industrial action by the European Transport Workers' Federation, air traffic controllers in 11 other countries engage in lower-key industrial actions in sympathy with the French strike, although flights are not disrupted in other countries.


 * 2012 – A Pakistan Air Force Dassault Mirage 5D of 8 Squadron crashed near Uthal in south-west Pakistan, pilot ejected safely.


 * 2012 – A Belarus Air Force Sukhoi Su-25 from the 116 Attack Air Base crashed in the Grodno region, pilot killed.


 * 2009 – An Indonesian Air Force locally-built Aérospatiale SA 330J Puma crashed at Bogor, West Java during a test flight following maintenance of the helicopter, all four occupants killed.


 * 2004 – OH-58D(R) Kiowa 94-0171 from A Company, 1–25th Aviation Regiment crashes north of Baghdad; both pilots safe.


 * 2003 – AH-64D Apache of 101st Aviation Brigade helicopter shot down near Baghdad, both crewmembers survive.


 * 2003 – F-16CG A United States Air Force F-16C Block 40B Fighting Falcon 88-0424 of 388th FW/421st FS crashes near Baghdad due to fuel starvation. The pilot ejected safely.


 * 2001 – Jetsgo, a Canadian airline, commenced operations.


 * 1999 – Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MK-1 demonstrator '01' with vectored thrust crashes on opening day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport. At the completion of a downward spiralling maneuver, the tail contacted the grass surface. With almost no forward speed the fighter was able to pull away from the ground, wings level, with an up pitch of 10-15 degrees and climb to ~150 feet (46 m), with the right jet nozzle deflected fully up and flames engulfing the left engine. Sukhoi test pilot Vyacheslav Averynov initiated ejection with navigator Vladimir Shendrikh departing the aircraft first. The Zvezda K-36D-3.5 ejection seats work perfectly and both crew descend on a taxiway unhurt. The Su-30 impacted some distance from the crew. Video of this accident is widely available on the internet.


 * 1996 – Two Australian Army Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk helicopters collide during a night training exercise near Townsville, Queensland, killing 18 soldiers.


 * 1994 – First computer-designed commercial aircraft. Computer engineered Boeing 777-200 first flown.


 * 1982 – First flight of the IAR 825


 * 1982 – Operation Black Buck concludes with the last of five very-long range strikes on the Falkland Islands by Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan bombers.


 * 1979 – Bryan Allen flies the Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel using pedal power. The Collier Trophy was awarded to Paul MacCready for his Gossamer Albatross, which crossed the English Channel with pilot Bryan Allen, who flew from Folkestone, England, to Cap Gris-Nez, France, in 2 hr., 49 min.


 * 1979 – First flight of the Rutan Long-EZ


 * 1972 – American Airlines Flight 96, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, suffers explosive decompression when one of its cargo doors fails in flight; the crew manages an emergency landing at Detroit, Michigan and all 67 on board evacuate safely.


 * 1966 – First flight of the Dassault Mirage F2


 * 1966 – Escorting A-4 Skyhawks from the attack aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19) during a bombing raid northwest of Haiphong, North Vietnam, U.S. Navy Commander Harold L. Marr of Fighter Squadron 211 (VF-211) scores the first kill by an F-8 Crusader, shooting down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 (NATO reporting name "Fresco") with an AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile in an F-8E.


 * 1965 – First flight of the Britten-Norman Islander


 * 1961 – KLM Flight 823, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes while on approach to Cairo International Airport due to pilot error; 20 of 36 on board die.


 * 1959 – Entered Service: C-130 Hercules with the 463rd Troop Carrier Wing USAF.


 * 1950 – An Air France Douglas DC-4 (F-BBDE) on a flight from Saigon to Paris crashes in the Arabian Sea while on approach to Bahrain Airport, killing 46 of 52 on board.


 * 1948 – First flight of the Avro Athena


 * 1944 – Japanese aircraft cripple a U. S. destroyer off Biak.


 * 1944 – The Japanese submarine I-10 uses a Yokosuka E14Y (Allied reporting name “Glen”) floatplane stored disassembled in cylinders on her deck to recconoitre Majuro. It finds nothing and is abandoned after it crashes upon return to I-10.


 * 1944 – U. S. carrier aircraft from Task Group 58.4 attack a Japanese convoy north-northwest of Saipan, sinking 10 out of 12 merchant ships, a torpedo boat, three submarine chasers, and a number of fishing vessels.


 * 1944 – (12–13) Task Force 58 aircraft attack Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, destroying almost all Japanese aircraft there, sinking a naval auxiliary and an entire flotilla of sampans, and damaging a cargo ship.


 * 1944 – While attacking Cambrai, France, on 13 June 1944, an Avro Lancaster of No. 419 Squadron was shot down in flames. P/O Andrew C. Mynarski, the mid-upper gunner, made repeated attempts to free the tail gunner trapped in his turret. With clothing and parachute on fire, Mynarski finally gave up and jumped; he succumbed to his burns. Miraculously, the tail gunner survived the crash. Mynarski was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.


 * 1943 – Another large dogfight between Japanese and Allied aircraft over the Russell Islands yields almost identical results to those of June 5.


 * 1941 – First RCAF bomber attack was carried out by No. 405 (Bomber) Squadron against Schwerte, Southeast of Dortmund Germany.


 * 1937 – About 70 German and Italian aircraft attack Basque defenses around Bilbao over the course of several hours.


 * 1934 – In the United States, the Air Mail Act of 1934 closely regulates the contracting of air mail services and prohibits aircraft manufacturers from owning airlines.


 * 1934 – Black-McKeller Bill passes causes Bill Boeing Empire to break up into Boeing United Aircraft (Technologies) & United Air Lines.


 * 1930 – First flight of the Handley Page Heyford


 * 1928 – Emilio Carranza crashes in the New Jersey Pine Barrens while returning from New York City to Mexico City on a historic goodwill flight.


 * 1918 – First airplane bombing raid by an American unit, France.


 * 1909 – Louis Blériot flies his Blériot XII monoplane at Issy-les-Moulineaux with two passengers, Alberto Santos-Dumont and André Fournier. This is the first time a pilot has flown with two passengers.


 * 1897 – Friedrich Hermann Wölfert and his mechanic are killed in an accident when their airship powered by petrol caught fire at a demonstration at the Tempelhof field.