- 1709
| Aug 08 | First known ascent in hot-air balloon, Bartolomeu de Gusmao (indoors). | Ref: 5 |
- 1783
| Jun 04 | Montgolfier brothers launch first hot-air balloon (unmanned). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 05 | Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier publicly demonstrated their hot-air balloon in a 10-minute flight over Annonay, France, reaching an altitude of approximately 1500 feet. . | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 27 | The 1st hydrogen balloon flight (unmanned); reaches an altitude of 2950 feet. Ref | |
| Sep 19 | The first hot-air balloon is sent aloft in Versailles, France with animal passengers including a sheep, rooster and a duck. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 15 | Francois Pilatre de Rozier makes the first manned flight in a hot air balloon. The first flight was let out to 82 feet, but over the next few days the altitude increased up to 6,500 feet. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 02 | Two Frenchmen make the first free hot air balloon flight. | Ref: 62 |
| Nov 21 | Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis Francois Laurant d’Arlandes made the first flight in a balloon, thus becoming the first men to fly period. The pair flew nearly six miles around Paris in 25 minutes reaching an altitude of around 300 feet. Ben Franklin was one of the spectators at the big event. The flight came less than six months after the first after the first (unmanned) public balloon demonstration.
(unmanned) public balloon demonstration. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 01 | Charles & M N Roberts ascend 2,000' in a hydrogen balloon. | Ref: 5 |
- 1784
| Apr 15 | The first balloon is flown in Ireland. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 04 | Elisabeth Thible of Lyon, France was the first woman to fly in a hot-air balloon, named Le Gustave. Her flight lasted 45 minutes, and rose to 8,500 feet. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 23 | First US balloon flight (13 year old Edward Warren). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 15 | A year after Paris, first ascent in a hydrogen balloon in England made by Italian Vincenzo Lunardi. | Ref: 10 |
- 1785
| Jan 07 | French aeronaut/balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard successfully makes the first air-crossing of the English Channel from the English coast to France. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 15 | Jean Pilatre de Rozier, first man to fly in hot air balloon, becomes 1st fatality in aviation history over the English Channel. | Ref: 5 |
- 1793
| Jan 09 | The first successful American balloon flight, from Philadelphia to Woodbury NJ, is piloted by Jean-Pierre-Francois Blanchard and a small dog, is witnessed by George Washington. Ref | |
| Mar 09 | Jean Pierre Blanchard makes the first balloon flight in North America which was witnessed by President George Washington. | Ref: 2 |
- 1797
| Oct 02 | First ever parachute jump by André Jacques Garnerin from 2,000 feet over Paris. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 22 | The first successful parachute descent is made by Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who jumps from a balloon at some 2,200 feet over Paris. | Ref: 2 |
- 1819
| Aug 02 | The first parachute jump from a balloon is made by Charles Guille in NY City. | Ref: 2 |
- 1830
| Sep 09 | Charles Durant, the 1st US aeronaut, flies a balloon from Castle Garden, NYC to Perth Amboy, NJ. | Ref: 5 |
- 1852
| Sep 24 | A new invention, the dirigible, is demonstrated. | Ref: 5 |
- 1853
| Sep 24 | Henri Giffard, French mechanic, flys the first (steam-powered) dirigible from Paris to Trappe. | Ref: 62 |
- 1859
| Jul 01 | Balloon covers a record 809 miles over St Louis. | Ref: 5 |
- 1860
| Oct 13 | James W. Black takes world's first aerial photograph in a balloon 1200 feet above Boston. | Ref: 5 |
- 1861
| Aug 03 | The US Navy launches a hot air balloon from the deck of a ship. | Ref: 62 |
- 1878
| Jul 03 | John Wise of Lancaster, PA was the pilot for the maiden flight of a dirigible. | Ref: 4 |
- 1884
| Mar 17 | John Joseph Montgomery makes first glider flight, Otay CA. | Ref: 5 |
- 1889
| Nov 14 | Nellie Bly, the pen name of journalist Elizabeth Cochran, sails from New York, to begin her record-breaking 24,899-mile trip around the world--a journey that would end on January 25, 1890. | Ref: 2 |
- 1890
| Jan 25 | Nellie Bly, the pen name of journalist Elizabeth Cochran, completes her record-breaking 24,899-mile trip around the world--a journey that started on November 14th, 1889. | Ref: 2 |
- 1896
| May 06 | S.P. Langley's flying machine makes first successful flight. | Ref: 10 |
- 1897
| Nov 13 | The first metal dirigible is flown from Tempelhof Field in Berlin. | Ref: 2 |
- 1900
| Feb 20 | J.F. Pickering patents his airship. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 02 | Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin first airship LZ-1, flies. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 03 | First flight in rigid airship by Count von Zeppelin. | Ref: 10 |
- 1901
| Oct 19 | Santos-Dumont proves airship maneuverable by circling Eiffel Tower. | Ref: 5 |
- 1902
| May 15 | Lyman Gilmore is first person to fly a powered craft. | Ref: 5 |
- 1903
| Mar 31 | Richard Pearse flies monoplane several hundred yards (New Zealand) | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 12 | The Lebaudy brothers of France set an air-travel distance record of 34 miles in a dirigible. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 17 | At 10:35AM, for 12 seconds, 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight is made by the Wright Brothers, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. | Ref: 5 |
- 1904
| Nov 09 | First airplane flight to last more than 5 minutes. | Ref: 5 |
- 1905
| Apr 12 | French Dufaux brothers test helicopter. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 04 | Orville Wright pilots the first flight longer than 30 minutes. The flight lasted 33 minutes, 17 seconds and covered 21 miles. | Ref: 2 |
- 1906
| Mar 03 | Vuia I aircraft built by Romanian Traja Vuia tested in France. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 13 | First airplane flight in Europe. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 06 | Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge flies a powered, man-carrying kite that carries him 168 feet in the air for seven minutes at Baddeck, Nova Scotia. | Ref: 2 |
- 1907
| Nov 13 | French cyclist Paul Cornu flies a twin rotor helicopter. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 18 | French aviator Louis Bleriot demonstrates new plane at Issy and wrecks it. | Ref: 10 |
- 1908
| Jan 09 | Count Zeppelin announces plans for his airship to carry 100 passengers. | Ref: 2 |
| Jan 13 | French pilot Henry Farman is first European to fly roundtrip. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 12 | Glenn Curtiss builds a two-cylinder, air-cooled engine for "Red Wing", a plane flown by Thomas Scott "Casey" Baldwin, a famous lighter-than-air devotee.Ref | |
| Mar 21 | Frenchman Henri Farman carries a passenger in a bi-plane for the first time. | Ref: 2 |
| May 14 | Charles W Furnas becomes the Wright Brothers first airplane passenger, at Kitty Hawk NC. | Ref: 46 |
| May 21 | Glenn Curtiss makes his first flight on his 30th birthday in "White Wing", a design of the Aerial Experiment Association, a group led by Alexander Graham Bell. White Wing was the first plane in America to be controlled by ailerons instead of the wing-warping used by the Wrights. It was also the first plane on wheels this side of the Atlantic. | |
| May 30 | Paris advocate E Archdeacon is first passenger in a airplane. | Ref: 5 |
| May 31 | Miss Pottelsberghe de la Pottery is first airplane passenger (Belgium). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 10 | First flying club, Aeronautical Society of NY, opens. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 03 | Lt Frank P Lahm becomes the Wright Brothers first military airplane passenger, at Ft Myer VA. | Ref: 46 |
| Sep 09 | Orville Wright makes 1st 1-hr airplane flight, Fort Myer, Va. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 17 | Wilbur Wright departs for Europe where he spends the next year demonstrating Wright airplanes, promoting sales and training other pilots. | Ref: 46 |
| Sep 17 | First airplane fatality occurs when Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge, U.S. Army Signal Corps, was in a group evaluating the Wright plane at Fort Myer, Va. He was up 75 ft. with Orville Wright when the propeller hit a bracing wire and was broken, throwing the plane out of control, killing Selfridge and seriously injuring Wright. Ref | |
| Oct 16 | The first airplane flight in England is made at Farnsborough, by Samuel Cody, a U.S. citizen. | Ref: 2 |
- 1909
| Jun 16 | Glenn Hammond Curtiss sold his first airplane to the Gold Bug to the NY Aeronautical Society for $5,000. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 20 | The Wright Brothers return to Ft Myers VA to resume the flight tests that had terminated abruptly the previous year with the crash that kill Lt Selfridge and seriously injured Orville Wright. | Ref: 46 |
| Jun 28 | First French air show, Concours d'Avation opens. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 25 | Louis Bleriot of France crossed the English Channel (Calais to Dover) in a 28-hp monoplane with a wingspan of just 23 feet. It was the first time that trick had been accomplished. Actually, it was the world’s first international, overseas flight. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 27 | A two-man flight endurance record of 1 hour, 12 minutes, 40 seconds is set by Orville Wright and Lt. Lahm flying the 1909 Military Flyer. | Ref: 50 |
| Jul 30 | Orville Wright completes the first "cross-country" flight of 10 miles between Ft Myer and Shuter's Hill (near Alexandria VA) at an average speed of 42.5 MPH. This will clinch the sale of the first plane to the Army Air Corps. | Ref: 46 |
| Aug 02 | Army Air Corps is formed as Army takes 1st delivery from Wright Brothers. | Ref: 50 |
| Aug 29 | The world's first air race, the Gordon Bennett Cup, is held in Rheims, France and is won by American Glenn Curtiss. Ref | |
| Aug 29 | AH Latham of France sets world airplane altitude record of 155 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 25 | The first National Aeronautic Show opens at Madison Square Garden. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 02 | Orville Wright sets an altitude record, flying at 1,600 feet. This exceeded Hubert Latham's previous record of 508 feet. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 04 | The first airship race in the United States begins in St. Louis, Missouri, with four hydrogen-filled dirigibles, all the existing airships in the United States, participating in the competition. First prize is $1000. | |
| Oct 16 | A year and a day before Blanche Scott, Elise Deroche becomes first woman to make solo flight. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 18 | Comte de Lambert of France sets airplane altitude record of 300 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 15 | M. Metrot takes off in a Voisin biplane from Algiers, making the first manned flight in Africa. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 22 | The Wright brothers form a million-dollar corporation for the commercial manufacture of their airplanes. | Ref: 46 |
| Nov 23 | The Wright brothers form a million-dollar corporation for the commercial manufacture of their airplanes. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 05 | George Taylor makes the first manned glider flight in Australia in a glider that he designed himself. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 09 | First US monoplane flown (Henry W Walden, Long Island NY). | Ref: 5 |
- 1910
| Jan 10 | World airplane altitude record set (4,165 ft) at first international air show in LA at Dominiquez Field. Glenn Curtiss was the star of the show, not the Wright Brothers. | Ref: 62 |
| Mar 08 | Baroness Raymonde de Laroche of Paris France becomes the first woman to obtain a pilot's license in France. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 28 | The first seaplane takes off from water at Martinques, France piloted by Henri Fabre. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 18 | Walter R. Brookins made the first airplane flight at night. He passed over Montgomery, AL. | Ref: 4 |
| Apr 28 | The first night air flight is performed by Claude Grahame-White in England. | Ref: 2 |
| May 10 | First aircraft air display held (Hendon, England) | Ref: 2 |
| May 29 | An airplane raced a train -- and won! The race, from Albany, New York to New York City was worth a $10,000 prize for aviator Glenn Curtiss. It was sponsored by those promotion wizards at New York’s World newspaper. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 02 | Charles Stewart Rolls, one of the founders of Rolls-Royce, becomes the first man to fly an airplane nonstop across the English Channel both ways. Tragically, he becomes Britain's first aircraft fatality the following month when his biplane breaks up in midair. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 13 | Pilot Charles Hamilton makes first 1-day round-trip from NY to Phila. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 22 | First airship with passengers sets afloat-Zeppelin Deutscheland. | Ref: 5 |
-
| Jun 30 | Glenn Curtiss drops dummy bombs on a battle-ship shaped target on Lake Keuka. | Ref: 49 |
| Jul 09 | The first airplane to fly a mile in the air did so this day with W.R. Brookins of Atlantic City, NJ at the controls. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 20 | The first U.S. pilot to fire a gun from a Curtis biplane is J. E. Fickel of Sheepshead Bay, New York, when he fires two shots from a rifle at a ground target. | Ref: 49 |
| Sep 08 | World's first mid-air collision in Austria. The pilots were brothers. | Ref: 10 |
| Sep 27 | First test flight of a twin-engined airplane (France). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 02 | First 2 aircraft collision (Milan Italy). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 18 | M. Baudry is the first to fly a dirigible across the English Channel--from La Motte-Breil to Wormwood Scrubbs. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 23 | Blanche S. Scott becomes the first woman aviator (aviatrix) when she reaches an altitude of 12 feet in Fort Wayne IN. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 12 | First Movie stunt: man jumps into Hudson river from a burning balloon. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 14 | Lt. Eugene Ely, USN, takes a Curtiss plane off from the deck of the cruiser Birmingham at Hampton Roads, VA, and flew to Norfolk, VA. Ref | |
- 1911
| Jan 07 | Myron S. Crissy drops a live bomb on a dummy target near San Fransisco. | Ref: 49 |
| Jan 10 | Major Jimmie Erickson shoots the first photograph from an airplane while flying over San Diego, California. | Ref: 4 |
| Jan 18 | Lt. Eugene Ely, USN, flies from Camp Selfridge to the deck of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay. Ref | |
| Jan 26 | Glenn Curtiss pilots 1st successful hydroplane, San Diego CA. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 30 | The first airplane rescue at sea was made by the destroyer "Terry", when downed pilot, James McCurdy, was forced to land in the ocean about 10 miles from Havana, Cuba. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 17 | Glenn Curtis makes the first hydroplane flight to and from a ship. He flew from an island near San Diego, CA to the USS Pennsylvania and back again. (XDG, p 4A, 2/17/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 12 | Pierre Prier completes the first non-stop London-Paris flight in three hours and 56 minutes. | Ref: 2 |
| May 09 | Lt Henry 'Hap' Arnold makes his first flight, in a Wright Flyer. | Ref: 46 |
| May 16 | Zeppelin "Deutscheland" wrecked at Dusseldorf. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 26 | Nieuport sets an aircraft speed record of 83 mph (133 kph). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 14 | For the first time, a pilot flew an airplane onto the lawn of the White House! Harry N. Atwood flew in to accept an award from President William Taft. There wasn’t a National Airport at the time, you see. Today, if you land a plane on the White House lawn, you do so at your own risk. If you don’t get shot out of the sky first, you’ll probably receive a hail of bullets from the Secret Service as a welcoming salute. It’s not that people don’t keep trying. In 1994, a small plane crashed on the lawn and slammed into the White House, killing the pilot. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 15 | The US Navy accepts delivery on its first Wright Flyer. | Ref: 46 |
| Aug 03 | Airplanes are used for the first time in a military capacity when Italian planes reconnoiter Turkish lines near Tripoli. | Ref: 2 |
| Sep 01 | M Fourny sets world aircraft distance record of 720 km. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 04 | Garros sets world altitude record of 4,250 m (13,944 ft). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 17 | The first transcontinental airplane flight, from NY City to Pasadena, CA, starts. It took C.P. Rogers only 82 hours to fly across the U.S. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 18 | Britain's first twin-engine airplane (Short S.39) test flown. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 19 | One of the first aerial photography experiments is made from an airplane. | Ref: 50 |
| Sep 23 | The Second International Aviation Meet opens in New York. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 11 | An Italian officer named "Gaffoti", hand-dropped the first bomb from an airplaine in the history of war, a 4 lb Shebli, in the history of War on a group of freedom fighers in Aain Zara, Libya. Ref | |
| Nov 01 | First bomb in history dropped by Lt. Giulio Cavotti (of Italy) -a hand grenade from monoplane on a Sahara tribe on the Tanguira oasis in Libya. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 05 | The first American transcontinental airplane flight ends. Calbraith P. Rogers flies from Sheepshead Bay, NY to Pasadena, CA. It took Rogers 49 days to make the trip; 24 days were lost due to bad weather and mechanical difficulties. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 18 | Britain's first seaplane flies. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 05 | Glenn Curtiss is issued a patent for the aileron after legal battle with the Wright brothers | Ref: 62 |
| Dec 10 | Calbraith Rogers completes first crossing of US by airplane (84 days). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 31 | Helene Dutrieu wins the Femina aviation cup in Etampes. She sets a distance record for women at 158 miles. | Ref: 2 |
- 1912
| Jan 10 | The World's first flying-boat airplane, designed by Glenn Curtiss, makes its maiden flight at Hammondsport, NY. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 08 | First eastbound US transcontinental flight lands in Jacksonville FL. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 16 | First movie taken from an airplane by Frank Trenholm Coffin over New York City. | Ref: 10 |
| Feb 22 | J Vedrines makes 1st airplane flight over 100 mph-161.29 kph. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 01 | Captain Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a powered airplane (from an altitude of 1,500 feet at a speed of 50 mph) in a test over Jefferson Barracks military post, St. Louis. Ref | |
| Mar 05 | The Italians become the first to use dirigibles for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance flights behind Turkish lines west of Tripoli. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 07 | French aviator, Heri Seimet flies non-stop from London to Paris in three hours. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 13 | Royal Flying Corps forms (later RAF). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 16 | Harriet Quimby is the first womand to fly across the English Channel. She lands at Hardelot, France, in a Blériot monoplane loaned to her by Louis Blériot. also Ref | Ref: 17 |
| May 07 | The first airplane equipped with a machine gun flew over College Park, MD. | Ref: 4 |
| May 13 | Royal Flying Corps, later to become the Royal Air Force established in England. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 07 | A Lewis machine gun is tried on an US Army Wright B biplane. | Ref: 49 |
| Jun 11 | Silas Christoferson becomes the first airplane pilot to take off from the roof of a hotel. He did the deed from atop the Multnomah Hotel in Portland, OR. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 17 | The German Zeppelin SZ 111 burns in its hanger in Friedrichshafen. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 16 | Naval torpedo launched from an airplane patented by B.A. Fiske. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 25 | First time an aircraft recovers from a spin. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 07 | French aviator Roland Garros sets altitude record of 13,200 feet. | Ref: 2 |
| Sep 09 | (or 10th) J Verdrines becomes the first pilot to break the 100 m.p.h. barrier. (107 mph/172 kph). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 28 | Corporal Frank S. Scott became the first enlisted fatality in Signal Corps Aviation. | Ref: 50 |
| Nov 03 | The first all metal plane flies near Issy, France by pilots Ponche and Prinard. | Ref: 2 |
- 1913
| May 13 | First 4 engine aircraft built & flown (Igor Sikorsky-Russia). | Ref: 5 |
| May 20 | Flying for the Mexican rebel Carranza, Didier Masson drops light bombs near a number of Mexican gunboats. | Ref: 49 |
| Jun 21 | Georgia Broadwick became the first woman to jump from an airplane -- over Los Angeles, CA. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 20 | 700 feet above Buc, France, parachutist Adolphe Pegond becomes the first person to jump from an airplane and land safely. | Ref: 2 |
| Aug 20 | First aviator ‘loops the loop' at Kiev, Russia. | Ref: 10 |
| Aug 23 | French aircraft bomb Mullheim in Germany. | Ref: 49 |
| Aug 27 | Lt Peter Nestrov, of Imperial Russian Air Service, performs a loop in a monoplane at Kiev (1st aerobatic maneuver in an airplane). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 06 | First aircraft to loop the loop (Adolphe P‚goud-France). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 21 | First aerobatic maneuver, sustained inverted flight, performed in France. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 22 | French aviator Roland Garros is first to fly Mediterranean non-stop;longest flight ever over sea. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 06 | Capt. C. Chandler and Lt. D. Milling awarded Military Aviator Badges. | Ref: 50 |
| Oct 17 | Zeppelin LII explodes over London, killing 28. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 18 | Lincoln Deachey performs first airplane loop-the-loop (San Diego). | Ref: 5 |
- 1914
| Jan 01 | The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line is born -- the world's first scheduled airline using winged aircraft. Pilot Tony Jannus flies A.C. Pheil across Tampa Bay, Fl. at 15 feet. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 16 | Pusher aircraft (those with propellars behind the wings) are grounded due to a disproportionate number of crashes and fatalities in 1913. This effectively eliminates the Wright fleet from the Signal Corps operations in San Diego. | Ref: 46 |
| Feb 16 | First airplane flight from to Los Angeles from San Francisco. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 26 | Russian aviator Igor Sikorsky carries 17 passengers in a twin engine plane in St. Petersburg. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 22 | World's first airline, St Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, begins operations. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 02 | Glenn Curtiss flies his Langley Aerodrome. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 06 | First air flight out of the sight of land (Scotland to Norway). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 27 | A short tractor seaplane drops a 14 inch naval torpedo. | Ref: 49 |
| Oct 08 | An official American one-man altitude record of 16,798 ft. is set. | Ref: 50 |
- 1915
| Dec 12 | First all-metal aircraft (Junkers J.1) test flown at Dessau Germany. | Ref: 5 |
- 1916
| Jun 29 | Boeing aircraft flies for first time | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 15 | The Boeing Co., originally known as Pacific Aero Products, was founded in Seattle by William Boeing. | Ref: 70 |
- 1917
| May 05 | Eugene Jacques Bullard becomes the first African-American aviator when he earns a flying certificate with the French Air Service. | Ref: 2 |
- 1918
| May 13 | Orville Wright pilots for the last time in a 1911 Wright Flyer. | Ref: 46 |
| Jun 27 | Two German pilots are saved by parachutes for the first time. | Ref: 2 |
- 1919
| Feb 09 | First European commercial plane, the Goliath, completes Paris to London round trip. | Ref: 10 |
| Mar 22 | The first international airline service is inaugurated on a weekly schedule between Paris and Brussels. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 28 | Leslie Le Roy Irvin makes first freefall parachute jump from a DH-9 over Dayton; broke ankle on fall. | Ref: 5 |
| May 02 | The first US air passenger service starts. | Ref: 2 |
| May 03 | America's 1st passenger flight (New York-Atlantic City) | Ref: 5 |
| May 08 | The first transatlantic flight by a navy seaplane takes-off. | Ref: 2 |
| May 27 | First airplane crosses Atlantic; Navy seaplane NC-4 , ‘Lame Duck,' flies Rockaway NY to Lisbon in 11 days. | Ref: 5 |
| May 31 | First wedding held in an aircraft (over Houston TX). | Ref: 5 |
| May 31 | NC-4 aircraft commanded by AC Read completes first crossing of Atlantic. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 14 | Captain John William Alcock and Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown take off from St. John's, Newfoundland, for Clifden, Ireland, on the first nonstop transatlantic flight. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 15 | Captain John William Alcock and Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown successfully completed the first non-stop transatlantic plane flight. They flew from Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours, 12 minutes and won the $50,000 prize offered by the London Daily Mail. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 25 | First advanced monoplane airliner flight (Junkers F13). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 02 | First dirigible (R 34) to cross Atlantic takes off from Scotland with crew of 31 | Ref: 10 |
| Jul 06 | The British dirigible R-34 landed (or was hauled in, as they say) at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, NY. It was the first airship to cross the Atlantic. The 600-foot-long airship, piloted by Royal Air Force Cmdr. G.H. Scott with a crew of 30, reached a top speed of 62 mph during the 108-hour trip from Scotland. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 21 | Dirigible crashes through bank skylight killing 13 (Chicago, Ill). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 06 | First air flight over a major body of water in Australia (Harry Butler). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 25 | The 1st scheduled passenger service by airplane from Paris to London is established. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 24 | An altitude record of 30,900 ft. is set for an airplane carrying a passenger. | Ref: 50 |
| Oct 07 | First London-Amsterdam airline service begins (Brit Aerial Transport). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 08 | First US transcontinental air race begins with 63 planes flying between Calif. and New York. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 11 | First transcontinental air race ends. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 11 | First in-flight meal, a box lunch, served on flight from London to Paris. | Ref: 10 |
| Nov 12 | Ross & Smith start a 1 month flight from London to Australia. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 20 | The first municipally-owned airport in the nation opened -- in Tucson, Arizona. The entire community turned out for the big celebration. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 10 | Captain Ross Smith becomes the first person to fly 11,500 miles from England to Australia. | Ref: 1 |
| Dec 13 | Ross & Smith land in Australia from a flight from London. | Ref: 5 |
- 1920
| Feb 04 | First flight from London to South Africa takes-off (1½ months). | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 18 | Vuillemin and Chalus complete their first flight over the Sahara Desert. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 20 | First flight from London to South Africa lands (1½ months). | Ref: 5 |
| May 17 | First De Havilland double-decker flight (London) lands in Schiphol. | Ref: 5 |
| May 17 | World's first commercial airline, KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij), formed 10/7/19, begins service from Amsterdam to London. | Ref: 10 |
| Jul 03 | Royal Air Force holds an air display at Hendon, England. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 29 | First transcontinental airmail flight from NY to SF. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 25 | The first airplane to fly from New York to Alaska arrives in Nome. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 20 | America's first municipal airport inaugurated in Tucson, Arizona. | Ref: 10 |
- 1921
| Jan 06 | The U.S. Navy orders the sale of 125 flying boats to encourage commercial aviation. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 24 | First transcontinental flight in 24 hours flying time arrives Florida. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 23 | Arthur G. Hamilton sets a new parachute record, safely jumping 24,400 feet. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 14 | Prince Henry opens Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Bremen-Hamburg air route. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 30 | Bessie Coleman becomes the first black aviatrix. Ref | |
| Jul 21 | First naval vessels sunk by aircraft are two battleships being scrapped by treaty, sunk by bombs dropped from Army planes in demonstration put on by Brig. Gen. William S. Mitchell. Ref | |
| Aug 03 | The first aerial crop dusting operation takes place at Troy, Ohio. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 23 | Day and night bombardment tests result in the sinking of the battleship Alabama. | Ref: 50 |
| Dec 02 | The first successful helium dirigible, C-7, makes a test flight in Portsmouth, Va | Ref: 2 |
- 1922
| Feb 21 | Airship Rome explodes at Hampton Roads Virginia; 34 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 23 | First airplane lands at the US Capitol in Washington DC. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 16 | Henry Berliner accomplished the first helicopter flight to the US Bureau of Aeronautics at College Park, MD. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 22 | The ‘helicopter' first displayed by Henry Adler Berliner of Maryland. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 05 | Lts. J.A.Macready and O.G.Kelly set a world endurance record of 35 hrs., 18 min. 30 sec. | Ref: 50 |
| Oct 08 | Lilian Gatlin becomes the first woman pilot to fly across the United States. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 28 | The first skywriting display happened on this day. The words “Hello USA. Call Vanderbilt 7200” were written in the sky over NY City. About 47,000 calls resulted in less than three hours. It was a short time later that the invention of Capt. Cyril Turner of the Royal Air Force was applied for commercial use. (XDG, p 4A, 11/28/2002) | Ref: 4 |
- 1923
| Jan 01 | Sadi Lecointe sets a new aviation speed record flying an average of 208 mph at Istres. | Ref: 2 |
| Jan 09 | Juan de la Cierva makes first autogiro (helicopter) flight, Spain. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 29 | First flight of the autogiro (Juan de la Cierva, Madrid Spain). | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 09 | Soviet Aeroflot airlines established. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 09 | Juan de la Cierva makes first autogiro (helicopter) flight, Spain. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 14 | Etienne Oehmichen sets helicopter distance record of 358 meters. | Ref: 5 |
| May 02 | Lieutenants Okaley Kelly and John Macready take off from New York for the West Coast on what will become the first successful nonstop transcontinental flight. | Ref: 2 |
| May 03 | First nonstop transcontinental flight (NY-San Diego) completed. | Ref: 5 |
| May 23 | First flight of Sabena: Brussel-Lympne, Great Britain. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 20 | The first American dirigible, the Shenandoah, was launched at Lakehurst, NJ. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 11 | The ZR-1 (biggest active dirigible) flies over NY's tallest skyscraper, the Woolworth Tower. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 01 | Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company buys the rights to manufacture Zeppelin dirigibles. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 02 | US Navy aviator, H.J. Brown, sets new world speed record of 259 mph in a Curtiss racer. | Ref: 2 |
- 1924
| Mar 20 | Finnair begins scheduled flight of Helsinki-Tallinn. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 31 | Croydon Airport; first British air company merger Imperial Airways Ltd established. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 01 | Imperial Airways formed in Britain. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 28 | Two U.S. Army planes landed in Seattle, Wash., having completed the first round-the-world flight in 175 days. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 15 | German ZR-3 flies 5000 miles, the furthest Zeppelin flight to date. | Ref: 2 |
- 1925
| Mar 10 | Walter Mittelholzer is the first to fly over Demawend mountain, Iran. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 06 | First film shown on an airplane (British Air). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 03 | Goodyear airship "Pilgrim" makes first flight (1st with enclosed cabin). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 03 | Dirigible "Shenandoah" crashed near Caldwell Ohio, 13 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 15 | The first semi-rigid helium airship constructed in the US is completed. | Ref: 50 |
- 1926
| Mar 13 | Alan Cobham flies from Capetown to Croydon becoming first to fly across Africa. | Ref: 10 |
| Apr 06 | United Airlines first flight a Swallow bi-plane delivering U.S. mail from Pasco, WA to Elko, NV. | Ref: 10 |
| May 09 | Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett became the first men to make an airplane flight over the North Pole. | Ref: 70 |
| May 11 | Airship Norge leaves Spitsbergen for first air crossing of Arctic Ocean. | Ref: 5 |
| May 12 | Umberto Nobile flies Airship Norge is first vessel to fly over the North Pole. | Ref: 5 |
| May 12 | Three days after Byrd claims first flight over North Pole, Roald Amundsen really does it on dirigible. | Ref: 10 |
| Jun 11 | Ford Tri-Motor makes first flight from Ford Airport out of Dearborn, MI. | Ref: 45 |
| Nov 02 | Air Commerce Act is passed, providing federal aid for airlines and airports. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 28 | Imperial Airways begins England-India mail & passenger service. | Ref: 5 |
- 1927
| Mar 08 | Pan American Airlines incorporates. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 23 | Captain Hawthorne Gray sets a new balloon record soaring to 28,510 feet. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 06 | William P. MacCracken, Jr. earned license number ‘1’ when the Department of Commerce issued the first aviator’s license. | Ref: 4 |
| May 01 | First British airliner to serve cooked meals (Imperial Airways). | Ref: 5 |
| May 03 | A balloon soars over 40,000 feet for the first time. | Ref: 2 |
| May 04 | First balloon flight over 40,000 feet (Scott Field IL). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 04 | Hanna Reitsch, a German pilot, flew Dr. Heinrich Focke's FW-61 in the first free, fully controlled helecoptor flight at Bremen. Ref | |
| Jul 14 | First commercial airplane flight in Hawaii. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 01 | Fritz von Opel gets "shot into the air" and flies a mile near Frankfurt in rocket-propelled aeroplane. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 28 | Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) flew the first international flight -- from Key West, Florida to Havana, Cuba. | Ref: 4 |
- 1928
| Jan 16 | Pan Am becomes first U.S. airline to operate permanent international service (to Havana). | Ref: 10 |
| Feb 07 | Australian Bert Hinkler takes off from London in a two-seat Avro 581E Avian biplane on the first leg of his solo flight from England to Australia. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 22 | After flying 128 hours in less than 16 days, Bert Hinkler's 11,250-mile flight in a two-seat Avro 581E Avian biplane which started in London, ended in Darwin, Australia. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 13 | First trans atlantic flight Europe-US (Fitzmaurice-von Hünefeld-Köhl). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 14 | Maddus Airlines starts first regular passenger flights between San Francisco & Los Angeles. | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | Pitcairn Airlines (later Eastern) begins service. | Ref: 5 |
| May 24 | Umberto Nobile flies airship over North Pole again. | Ref: 5 |
| May 25 | Amelia Earhart (as a passenger) is first woman to fly Atlantic Ocean. | Ref: 5 |
| May 31 | The first flight over the Pacific takes off from Oakland. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 08 | First US-to-Australia flight lands (Sir Charles Kingford). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 09 | First aerial cross of the Pacific lands in Brisbane Australia. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 17 | Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland to become first woman to fly the Atlantic (as a passenger in a plane piloted by Wilmer Stultz). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 18 | Aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours (as a passenger on Fokker trimotor pilot Wil Stutz). | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 08 | Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to cross the Atlantic by airplane. | Ref: 2 |
| Sep 28 | Juan de la Cierva makes 1st helicopter flight over English Channel. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 12 | The Graf Zeppelin, the first commercial dirigible to cross the Atlantic, embarks on its maiden voyage. | |
| Oct 15 | The German dirigible "Graf Zeppelin" lands in Lakehurst, New Jersey, on its first commercial flight across the Atlantic. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 01 | Graf Zeppelin sets airship distance record of 6384 km. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 19 | Harold Pitcarin flies the first autogyro in the US at Willow Grove, PA. (XDG, p 4A, 12/19/2000) | Ref: 83 |
- 1929
| Apr 24 | First non-stop England to India flight takes-off. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 26 | The first non-stop flight from England to India is completed. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 15 | First airport hotel opens-Oakland Ca. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 08 | Salem Oregon airport dedicated. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 08 | The German airship Graf Zeppelin begins the first airship flight around the Earth flying eastward begins. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 15 | The Graf Zeppelin set the world distance record for non-stop flight of 6980 miles from Germany to Tokyo | Ref: 62 |
| Aug 18 | The first cross-country women's air derby begins. Louise McPhetride Thaden wins first prize in the heavier-plane division, while Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie finishes first in the lighter-plane category. | Ref: 2 |
| Aug 19 | The first dirigible made completely of metal is constructed in GrosseIle, Michigan. | |
| Aug 20 | First airship flight around the Earth flying eastward completed. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 29 | German airship Graf Zeppelin ends a round-the-world flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 24 | (Long Island) James H. Doolittle proves the feasibility of instrument-guided flying when he took off his Consolidated NY2 biplane over Mitchell Field on Long Island, NY and landed entirely on instruments. Ref | |
| Sep 30 | First manned rocket plane flight (by auto maker Fritz von Opel). | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 08 | First movie in the air; a newsreel and two cartoons at 5000 feet | Ref: 62 |
| Oct 23 | The first transcontinental air service begins from NY to Los Angeles. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 28 | Mr. and Mrs. T.W. Evans were presented with a baby girl -- in an airplane, somewhere over Florida. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 15 | Walter Mittelholzer flies as first about the Kilimanjaro. | Ref: 5 |
- 1930
| Jan 15 | Amelia Earhart sets an aviation record for women at 171 mph in a Lockheed Vega. | Ref: 2 |
| Jan 31 | Lt. Ralph S. Barnaby of the U.S. Navy became the first glider pilot to have his craft released from a dirigible -- a large blimp -- at Lakehurst, NJ. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 01 | A Loening Air Yacht of Air Ferries makes its first passenger run between San Francisco and Oakland, California. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 18 | Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to fly in an airplane. Elm Farm Ollie was a Guernsey who took to the air and as a special added attraction, got a milking in flight (mmmmmoooooooo!) while over St. Louis, MO. The milk was sealed in little paper containers and then parachuted over the city. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 02 | Harry Kuchins made the first indoor-glider flight inside the St. Louis, MO Terminal Building. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 15 | The first seaplane glider flown, Port Washington NY. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 02 | First New York-Bermuda airplane flight lands in Bermuda. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 06 | First transcontinental glider tow completed. | Ref: 5 |
| May 05 | Amy Johnson begins first solo flight by a woman from U.K. to Australia in the Gypsy Moth "Jason.” | Ref: 5 |
| May 15 | Ellen Church becomes first airline stewardess, United (San Fransisco to Cheyenne). | Ref: 5 |
| May 20 | First airplane catapulted from a dirigible, Charles Nicholson, pilot. | Ref: 5 |
| May 24 | First woman to fly from England to Australia solo, lands (Amy Johnson). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 13 | Captain Frank M. Hawks, superintendent of the Aviation Division of Texaco, flew a red-and-white Travel Air monoplane from Los Angeles to New York in 12 hours, 25 minutes and 3 seconds. | |
| Aug 18 | Eastern Airlines begins passenger service. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 02 | The first non-stop airplane flight from Europe to the US was completed as Captain Dieudonne Coste and Maurice Bellonte of France arrived in Valley Stream, NY, aboard "The Question Mark." | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 05 | Laura Ingalls takes off from Roosevelt Field NY en route to Glendale CA in an attempt to became the first woman to fly across the United States. She will complete here journey on the 9th. | Ref: 39 |
| Oct 09 | Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completes a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field in New York to Glendale, CA. | Ref: 39 |
| Oct 25 | First scheduled transcontinental air service began. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 09 | First nonstop airplane flight from NY to Panama. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 24 | First woman pilot on a transcontinental air flight Miss Ruth Nichols (Mineola, NY to CA), in a Lockheed-Vega, took 7 days. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 01 | Ruth Nichols becomes 1st woman pilot to cross the continent. | Ref: 5 |
- 1931
| Feb 05 | Maxine Dunlap became the first woman licensed as a glider pilot. She was only airborne for one minute, successfully executing two ‘S’ curves and a landing. Nice job, Maxine! | Ref: 4 |
| Apr 22 | A contraption known as the autogyro landed on the lawn of the White House. Before the Secret Service could come out with guns blazing, President Herbert Hoover shook hands with pilot, James G. Ray, and gave him a trophy! | Ref: 4 |
| May 18 | Japanese pilot Seiji Yoshihara crashes his plane in the Pacific Ocean while trying to be the first to cross the ocean nonstop. He is picked up seven hours later by a passing ship. | Ref: 2 |
| May 27 | First full scale wind tunnel for testing airplanes, Langley Field VA. | Ref: 5 |
| May 27 | Piccard & Knipfer make first flight into stratosphere, by balloon; 1st use of pressurized cabin in a balloon. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 04 | The first rocket-glider flight was made by William Swan in Atlantic City, NJ. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 23 | Aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from NY on the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 02 | Aerial circus star Clyde Pangborn and playboy Hugh Herndon, Jr. set off to complete the first nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean from Misawa City, Japan. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 05 | Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon complete the first heavier than air nonstop flight over the Pacific. Their flight, begun October 3, lasted 41 hours, 31 minutes and covered 5,000 miles. They piloted their Bellanca CH-200 monoplane from Samushiro, 300 miles north of Tokyo, Japan, to Wenatchee, Washington. | Ref: 2 |
- 1932
| Feb 09 | US airship Columbia crashes during storm (Flushing NY). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 20 | The German dirigible, Graf Zepplin, makes the first flight to South America on regular schedule. | Ref: 2 |
| May 03 | 24 tourists begin first air-charter holiday (London-Basle, Switzerland). | Ref: 5 |
| May 20 | Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland for Ireland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 24 | Amelia Earhart completes the first transcontinental non-stop flight by a woman. She flies from Los Angeles to Newark NJ in just over 19 hours. (XDG, p. 4A, 8/24/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 25 | Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 27 | John M. Miller, performing at the National Air Races in Cleveland, OH, dazzled a large crowd as he did a perfect loop-the-loop in his autogyro. | Ref: 4 |
- 1933
| Feb 08 | First flight of all-metal Boeing 247. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 03 | 1st airplane flight over Mt Everest. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 04 | US Dirigible Akron crashes off coast of NJ, 73 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 13 | The first flight over Mount Everest is completed by Lord Clydesdale. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 15 | Wiley Post began first solo flight around the world. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 22 | Aviator Wiley Post ended his first around-the-world flight on this day. Post traveled 15,596 miles in just over a week (7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes). His famous plane was called the Winnie Mae. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 04 | First airplane to exceed 300 mph (483 kph), JR Wendell, Glenview, Il. | Ref: 5 |
- 1934
| May 18 | TWA begins commercial service. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 12 | Black-McKeller Bill passes causes Bill Boeing empire to break up into Boeing United Aircraft [Technologies] & United Air Lines. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 02 | First airplane train, plane tows 3 mail gliders behind it. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 07 | Wiley Post discovers the jet stream. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | Fokker F18 Snip flies to Netherlands West Indies. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 22 | First flight from Netherlands to Cura‡ao (Christmas flight 1934). | Ref: 5 |
- 1935
| Jan 01 | Eastern Airlines hires Eddie Rickenbacker as GM. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 11 | Amelia Earhart Putnam became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. She had also been the first woman to solo across the Atlantic three years earlier. | Ref: 4 |
| Jan 19 | KLM begins flight path between Curaçao & Aruba. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 11 | First US airplane flight with auto slung beneath the fuselage, New York. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 11 | 1st US airplane flight with auto slung beneath the fuselage, New York. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 11 | The dirigible USS Macon crashes into the sea when a gust of wind rips off a tailfin. 81 of 83 survive. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 12 | The Macon, the last U.S. Navy dirigible, crashes off the coast of California, killing two people. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 26 | "RvJ" Mitchell & Major Sorley discuss armament of Spitfire. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 28 | The Model 299, prototype of the B-17, makes its first flight at Boeing Field. Reporters nickname it "The Flying Fortress". | |
| Aug 15 | Humorist Will (William Penn Adair) Rogers and aviator Wiley Post are killed when their airplane crashes near Point Barrow, Alaska. (XDG, p 4A, 8/15/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Oct 11 | Explorer 2 balloon sets altitude record of 72,000 feet over SD. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 06 | Maiden flight by Canada's Hawker Hurricane military plane. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 11 | Albert Anderson and Orvil Anderson set a new altitude record in South Dakota, when they float to 74,000 feet in a balloon. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 12 | RAF's first monoplane, Hawker Hurricane, flew. Ref | |
| Dec 17 | The first flight of the DC-3 (Gooney-bird) | Ref: 62 |
- 1936
| Feb 23 | In Russia, an unmanned balloon rises to a record height of 25 miles. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 04 | First flight of airship Hindenburg, Germany. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 05 | Spitfire makes its first flight (Eastleigh Aerodrome in Southampton). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 18 | Pan-Am Clipper begins regular passenger flights from San Francisco CA to Honolulu HI. | Ref: 5 |
| May 09 | First KLM airplane to land on Bonaire. | Ref: 5 |
| May 16 | First British air hostess (Daphne Kearley) flight to France. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 06 | Aviation gasoline first produced commercially Paulsboro NJ. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 02 | First transatlantic round-trip air flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 06 | Aviator Beryl Markham flies the first east-to-west solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 22 | The first commercial flight from the US mainland to Hawaii occurs. | Ref: 5 |
- 1937
| Jan 19 | Millionaire Howard Hughes sets a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 20 | First automobile/airplane combination tested, Santa Monica CA. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 28 | First commercial flight across the Pacific, Pan Am. | Ref: 5 |
| May 06 | The hydrogen-filled German dirigible "Hindenburg" burned and crashed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and a Navy crewman on the ground. | Ref: 94 |
| Sep 21 | The women's airspeed record is set at 292 mph by American pilot Jacqueline Cochran. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 29 | Pan Am starts San Francisco CA-to-Auckland, New Zealand service. | Ref: 5 |
- 1938
| Jun 07 | Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat first flown (Eddie Allen). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 23 | The Civil Aeronautics Authority was established. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 10 | Howard Hughes completed his flight around the world. It took him 91 hours to complete the odyssey. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 15 | Howard Huges and crew set a new world record for an around-the-world flight. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 17 | Aviator Douglas Corrigan took off from New York, saying he was headed for California. He ended up in Ireland, earning the nickname "Wrong Way Corrigan." | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 18 | Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan arrives in Ireland-left NY for CA. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 24 | A German Heinkel 178 becomes first working jet propelled airplane in test flight. | Ref: 10 |
| Sep 14 | Graf Zeppelin II, world's largest airship, makes maiden flight. | Ref: 5 |
- 1939
| Jan 26 | The Civil Aeronutics Authority grants Pan American Airways permission to use the Model 314 Clipper for commercial service. | |
| Jan 27 | The Lockheed P-38 Lightning (XP-38) makes its maiden flight. | |
| May 20 | The Yankee Clipper took off from Port Washington, NY, bound for Europe. The plane, the flagship of Pan American Airways, established the first regular air-passenger service across the Atlantic Ocean. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 01 | The Douglas DC-4 makes its first passenger flight from Chicago to New York. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 24 | Pan Am's first US to England flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 28 | Pan Am opens southern route transatlantic air service (Dixie Clipper). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 30 | Heinkel He. 176 rocket plane flies for first time, at Peenemonde. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 03 | Ernst Heinkel demonstrates 800-kph rocket plane to Hitler. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 27 | Erich Warsitz makes the first jet-propelled flight (in a Heinkel He-178). | Ref: 25 |
| Sep 14 | Igor Sikorsky's VS-300, first commercial helicopter flies for the first time. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 13 | Evelyn Pinckert Kilgore of Pomona, CA becomes first woman to get airplane instructor's license. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 15 | The New York Municipal Airport, later re-named LaGuardia Airport, was dedicated. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 01 | The first jet plane, Heinkel He 178, is demonstrated to the German Air Ministry. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 02 | New York's La Guardia Airport began operations as an airliner from Chicago lands, 1 minute after midnight. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 02 | British Imperial Airways & British Airways merge to form BOAC. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | Snip departs for first flight to Paramaribo, Curacao. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 29 | The prototype of what would later be called the Consolidated B-24 Liberator makes its inaugural flight. | |
- 1940
| Mar 06 | First US telecast from an airplane, New York NY. | Ref: 5 |
| May 15 | First successful helicopter flight in US: Vought-Sikorsky US-300. | Ref: 5 |
| May 20 | Igor Sikorsky unveils his helicopter invention. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 18 | First successful helicopter flight, Stratford, Ct. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 19 | The new Civil Aeronautics Administration awarded honorary license #1 to Orville Wright. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 24 | Arno Rudolphi and Ann Hayward were married -- while suspended in parachutes at the World’s Fair in New York City. The minister, best man, maid of honor and four musicians were also in parachutes. | |
| Aug 27 | Caproni-Campini CC-2, experimental jet plane, makes its maiden flight (Milan). | Ref: 5 |
- 1941
| Jan 09 | Maiden flight by Canada's Avro Lancaster military plane. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 09 | Maiden flight by Canada's Avro Lancaster military plane. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 15 | First helicopter flight of 1 hour duration, Stratford CT. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 17 | Igor Sikorsky accomplished the first successful helicopter (or heliocopter as it was called then) lift-off from water near Stratford, CT. | Ref: 4 |
| May 15 | The first British jet "Gloster" makes its inaugural flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 14 | Ground broken for Boeing Plant II (ex-AFLC Plant 13) Wichita KS. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 16 | First US federally owned airport opened Wash DC. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 01 | The Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo plane makes its first flight. | Ref: 2 |
- 1942
| Jan 06 | The Pan American Airways "Pacific Clipper" arrived in New York after making the first round-the-world trip by a commercial airplane. | Ref: 5 |
| May 13 | Helicopter makes its first cross-country flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 06 | Adeline Gray made the first nylon-parachute jump in Hartford, CT. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 18 | Eric Nessler of France stays aloft in a glider for 38hr 21mn. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 26 | The Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter flies for the first time. | Ref: 2 |
| Sep 21 | The B-29 prototype (Model 345) makes its inaugural flight. | |
| Oct 01 | Robert Stanley, chief pilot for Bell Aircraft Corp., flies the first American jet, a Bell XP-59 Airacomet, at the Muroc Army Base, CA. Ref | |
| Dec 28 | Robert Sullivan becomes first pilot to fly the Atlantic 100 times. | Ref: 5 |
- 1943
| Apr 11 | Frank Piasecki, Vertol founder, flies his 1st (single-rotor) craft. | Ref: 5 |
| May 22 | First jet fighter is tested. | Ref: 5 |
- 1944
| Jan 06 | The US Army reveals the development of a propellerless plane powered by jet propulsion. | Ref: 17 |
| Jan 07 | The U.S. Air Force announces the production of the first jet-fighter, Bell P-59 Airacomet.
The U.S. Air Force announces the production of the first jet-fighter, Bell P-59 Airacomet. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 05 | Harry Crosby takes first rocket airplane, MX-324, for maiden flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 14 | A Douglas A-20 made a successful flight into a hurricane to gather scientific test data. | Ref: 50 |
| Dec 07 | Convention on International Civil Aviation drawn up in Chicago. | Ref: 5 |
- 1945
| Feb 11 | First gas turbine propeller-driven airplane flight tested, Downey CA. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 28 | A B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the of the fog-shrouded Empire State Building in New York City, killing 13 people (3 in the plane, 10 in the building) and injuring 26. It was a Saturday. (NY Times, p 1, 7/29/1945) | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 06 | The first landing of a jet on a carrier takes place on USS Wake Island when an FR-1 Fireball touches down. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 17 | New world air speed record 606 mph (975 kph) set by HJ Wilson of RAF. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 05 | Five Grumman TBM Avengers are lost on a routine training flight in the Bermuda Triangle approximately 100 miles off the coast of Florida. | |
| Dec 11 | A Boeing B-29 Superfortress shatters all records by crossing the United States in five hours and 27 minutes. | Ref: 2 |
- 1946
| Feb 16 | First commercially designed helicopter tested, Bridgeport CT. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 08 | The New York Journal American became the first commercial business to receive a helicopter license. | Ref: 4 |
| May 30 | United flight 521 crashes on takeoff at LaGuardia Airport (NY) 42 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 13 | First transcontinental round-trip flight in 1-day, CA-Maryland. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 28 | Boeing signs a contract to develop the B-52. | |
| Nov 15 | The 17th Paris Air Show opens at the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysees. It is the first show of this kind since World War II. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 08 | Army rocket plane XS-1 makes first powered flight. | Ref: 5 |
- 1947
| Jan 26 | KLM Dakota crashes near Copenhagen, 22 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 01 | NV United Dutch Fokker's Aircraft established. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 06 | XB-45, first US 4-engine jet bomber, makes 1st test flight, Muroc CA. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 16 | Convair Liner, first US twin-engine pressurized airplane, tested. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 17 | The XB-45, prototype of the first operational U.S. jet-powered bomber, makes its first flight, Muroc Army Air Field, CA. (Also: S Pace) | Ref: 84 |
| May 01 | Radar for commercial & private planes first demonstrated. | Ref: 5 |
| May 31 | Eastern DC-4 crashes between Port Deposit & Perryville MD, kills 53. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 17 | First round-the-world civil air service leaves NYC. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 19 | First plane (F-80) to exceed 600 mph (1004 kph)-Albert Boyd, Muroc Ca. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 20 | Turner Caldwell in D-558-I sets aircraft speed record, 1131 kph. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 25 | Marion Carl in D-558-I sets world aircraft speech record, 1,047 kph. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 15 | First 4 engine jet propelled fighter plane tested, Columbus, Oh. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 22 | A Douglas C-54 Skymaster makes the first automatic pilot flight over the Atlantic. | Ref: 2 |
| Oct 14 | Chuck Yeager breaks sound barrier in a Bell X-1 U.S. Army rocket plane at Edwards AFB. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 02 | The world’s largest and widest plane ever built, Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose -- with a wingspan of 319' 11", made its only flight over Long Beach Harbor, California at an altitude of 70 feet. The flight lasted just one minute. | Ref: 4 |
- 1948
| Jan 30 | Orville Wright aviator: one of the Wright Brothers: pioneers in aviation; dies at age 76. | Ref: 68 |
| Feb 06 | First radio-controlled airplane flown. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 13 | Wright Flyer, first plane to fly, returns to US from England. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 10 | First civilian to exceed speed of sound-Herb H Hoover, Edwards AFB California. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 23 | John Cunningham sets world altitude record (54,492' (18,133 meter)). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 26 | The XP-86 prototype for the Sabre Jet first "officially" breaks the sound barrier. The first operational F-86A Sabres entered service in May of the same year. | Ref: 5 |
| May 05 | First air squadron of jets aboard a carrier. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 10 | The news that the sound barrier has been broken is finally released to the public by the U.S. Air Force. Chuck Yeager, piloting the rocket airplane X-1, exceeded the speed of sound on October 14, 1947. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 17 | A United Air Lines DC-6 crashed near Mount Carmel, PA, killing all 43 people on board. | Ref: 6 |
| Jul 12 | First jets to fly across the Atlantic (6 RAF de Havilland Vampires). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | President Truman helped dedicate NY International Airport (later John F. Kennedy International Airport) at Idlewild Field. | Ref: 6 |
| Sep 15 | F-86 Sabre sets world aircraft speed record of 1080 kph. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 17 | The Smithsonian Institution accepts the Wright brothers' plane, the Kitty Hawk. | Ref: 2 |
- 1949
| Feb 26 | USAF plane began first nonstop around-the-world flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 02 | An American B-50 Superfortress, the Lucky Lady Two, landed at Fort Worth, TX, after completing the first non-stop round-the-world flight. | Ref: 5 |
| May 04 | Air crash at Turijn (whole Torino-soccer team survives). | Ref: 5 |
| May 13 | First British-produced jet bomber, Canberra, makes its 1st test flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 24 | Cargo airlines first licensed by US Civil Aeronautics Board | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 27 | Havilland Comet 40-passenger airliner makes maiden flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 30 | The Berlin Airlift is officially halted after 277,264 flights. (XDG, p 4A, 9/30/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Oct 04 | An entire field artillery battery is dropped from a C-82 by parachute. | Ref: 50 |
- 1950
| Jan 19 | Maiden flight by Canada's Avro Canada CF-100 military plane. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 18 | The first transatlantic jet passenger trip is completed. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 25 | Israeli airline El Al begins service. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 19 | Maiden flight of Boeing 707 in Seattle;cruises at 600 mph;can carry 219 passengers. | Ref: 10 |
| Sep 20 | The USAF announced remote controlled airplane tests would be made from the ground by using TV. | Ref: 50 |
| Sep 22 | The first non-stop jet flight across the Atlantic Ocean is made. | Ref: 50 |
| Sep 29 | A new record parachute jump from 42,449 ft. is set. | Ref: 50 |
- 1951
| Jan 10 | Donald Howard Rogers piloted the first passenger jet on a trip from Chicago to New York City. He got to the Big Apple in one hour and 42 minutes. | Ref: 4 |
| May 29 | C. F. Blair becomes the first man to fly over the North Pole in single engine plane. | Ref: 2 |
| Aug 07 | Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket reaches 1,992 kph. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 20 | First North Pole jet crossing. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 29 | The first B-52 bomber is secretly rolled out in darkness at the Seattle plant. | |
- 1952
| Mar 22 | Dutch DC-6 crashes near Frankfurt, killing 44. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 15 | 1st B-52 prototype test flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 21 | BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) begins first passenger service with jets (London-Rome route). | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | TWA introduces tourist class. | Ref: 5 |
| May 02 | First scheduled jet airliner passenger service begins with a BOAC Comet. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 15 | First transatlantic helicopter flight begins. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 29 | First nonstop transpacific flight by a jet. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 04 | Helicopters from the U.S. Air Force Air Rescue Service land in Germany, completing the first transatlantic flight by helicopter in 51 hours and 55 minutes of flight time. | Ref: 2 |
| Aug 05 | First transatlantic helicopter flight. | Ref: 10 |
| Nov 15 | Newark Airport in New Jersey reopens after closing earlier in the year because of an increase in accidents. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 19 | A North American F-86 Sabre sets world aircraft speed record, 1124 KPH. | Ref: 26 |
| Nov 19 | Scandinavian Airlines opens a commercial route from Canada to Europe. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 04 | The Grumman XS2F-1 makes its first flight | Ref: 2 |
- 1953
| Mar 03 | Canadian Comet crashes at Karachi, 11 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 07 | First west-to-east jet transatlantic nonstop flight. | Ref: 5 |
| May 18 | Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier as she piloted a North American F-86 Canadair over Rogers Dry Lake, CA. | Ref: 70 |
| May 26 | Dutch Convair crashes at Schipholweg, 2 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 18 | USAF C124 Globemaster crashes near Tokyo killing 129 servicemen. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 25 | First passenger to fly commercially around the world < 100 hours. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 09 | The first commuter passenger service by helicopter began in America’s largest city. NY Airways provided the lift for busy people who wanted to avoid the traffic below. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 07 | Eastern Airlines enters the jet age, uses Electra prop-jet. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 21 | Marion Carl in Douglas Skyrocket reaches record 25,370 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 01 | A B-47 refuels another B-47, the first jet-to-jet aerial refueling. | |
| Oct 19 | First jet transcontinental nonstop scheduled service. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 20 | Scott Crossfield in Douglas Skyrocket, first to break Mach 2 (1300 MPH). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 12 | Chuck Yeager reaches Mach 2.43 in Bell X-1A rocket plane. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 16 | Charles E Yeager flies over 2,575 kph (1,650 mph) in Bell X-1A (first man to fly at nearly two and one-half times the speed of sound) | Ref: 5 |
- 1954
| May 14 | Boeing Aircraft rolls out the Dash 80, a prototype of a four-engine jetliner that will revolutionize air travel as the Boeing 707. ("May 14, Your Birthday", Natalis Press, ©1990) | |
| May 24 | German airline Lufthansa forms. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 04 | Arthur Murray flies X-1A rocket plane to record 27,000 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 15 | First coml jet transport plane built in US tested (Boeing 707). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 03 | First VTOL (Vertical Take-off & Land) flown. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 05 | The production B-52A makes its first flight. | |
| Sep 01 | Production begins on the first KC-135 Stratotanker. | |
| Nov 15 | The 1st regularly scheduled commercial flights over the North Pole begin. | Ref: 5 |
- 1955
| Feb 10 | Bell Aircraft displays a fixed-wing vertical takeoff plane. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 26 | First aviator to bail out at supersonic speed G F Smith. | Ref: 5 |
| May 21 | First transcontinental round-trip solo flight-sunrise to sunset. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 11 | First jet magnesium airplane flown. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 20 | Col. Horace A. Hanes, a U.S. Air Force pilot, flew to an altitude of 40,000 feet. Hanes reached a speed of 822.135 miles per hour in a Super Sabrejet. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 22 | The prototype of the F-105 Thunder Chief makes its maiden flight. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 01 | A time bomb aboard a United DC-6 kills 44 above Longmont Colorado. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 18 | Bell X-2 rocket plane taken up for 1st powered flight. | Ref: 5 |
- 1956
| Mar 10 | Peter Twiss sets new world air record 1,132 mph (1,823 kph). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 30 | United DC-7 & TWA collide over Grand Canyon killing 128. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 18 | The first KC-135 (jet tanker/refueler) rolls off the assembly line. | |
| Jul 23 | Bell X-2 rocket plane sets world aircraft speed record of 3,050 kph. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 23 | The first transcontinental helicopter flight begins. | |
| Aug 24 | 1st non-stop transcontinental helicopter flight arrived Wash DC. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 07 | The Bell X-2 experimental aircraft, piloted by Capt. Iven C. Kincheloe, climbed to an altitude of 126,000 feet -- a world record. Kincheloe was awarded the 1956 MacKay Trophy. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 27 | Milburn Apt in X-2 rocket plane reaches 3370 kph, but, dies in crash. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 25 | Eight B-52's complete a record non-stop flight of 17,000 miles over the North Pole. | |
- 1957
| Jan 16 | 3 B-52s leave California for first non-stop round the world flights. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 18 | The first, non-stop, ’round-the-world jet flight comes to an end at Riverside, CA. Three B-52's set record for around-the-world flight, 45 hours 19 minutes, refueling in the air. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 01 | First black pilot (PH Young) on a US scheduled passenger airline. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 11 | Ryan X-13 Vertijet becomes 1st jet to take-off & land vertically. | Ref: 5 |
| May 16 | Major Irwin, USAF flies a Lockheed Starfighter to a record 1,404.18 | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 16 | Marine Maj John Glenn sets transcontinental speed record (03:28:08). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 15 | David Simons reaches 30,942 m in Man High 2 balloon. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 15 | USAF Capt Joe B Jordan reaches 31,513 m in F-104 jet fighter. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 20 | A USAAF balloon sets a world altitude record of 102,000 feet. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 17 | Scott Crossfield takes X-15 up for first powered flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 01 | USAF Military personnel launch a Snark intercontinental missile in a test. | Ref: 50 |
| Oct 12 | 1st commercial flight between California and Antartica | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 28 | The first production Boeing 707-120 rolls off the assembly line. | |
| Dec 12 | Major Adrian Drew flies 1,943 kph in F-101 Voodoo. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 19 | Air service between London and Moscow inaugurated. | Ref: 10 |
- 1958
| Jan 01 | BOAC Britannia flies London to New York in a record 7hours 57minutes. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 30 | The first two-way moving sidewalk was put in service at Love Field in Dallas, TX. The length of the walkway through the airport: 1,435 feet. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 25 | Jan Zurakowski takes off from Malton Airport near Toronto in an Avro CF-105 Arrow for a 35-minute maiden flight, marking the beginning of Canada's era of supesonic flight. | Ref: 2 |
| May 07 | Major Howard Johnson, USAF, sets aircraft altitude record in F-104 (Lockheed Starfighter), 27,810 meters. | Ref: 5 |
| May 16 | Walter Irwin flies 2,259 KPH in F-104A Starfighter. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 14 | KLM Superconstellation crashes west of Ireland, killing 99. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 15 | Pan American World Airways takes delivery of the country's first commercial airliner, a 707-120. | |
| Sep 16 | The first delivery of F-104 Starfighters to Taiwan is announced in 1958. | Ref: 50 |
| Sep 21 | First airplane flight exceeding 1200 hours, lands, Dallas TX. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 04 | The first trans-Atlantic passenger jetliner service was begun by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) with flights between London and NY. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 26 | The first New York - Paris transatlantic jet passenger service is inaugurated by Pan Am (in 8 hours, 41 minutes), while the first New York - London transatlantic jet passenger service is inaugurated by BOAC. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 10 | The first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the United States as a National Airlines Boeing 707 flew 111 passengers from New York City to Miami. | Ref: 70 |
- 1959
| Jan 25 | American Airlines offers the first transcontinental jet service in a Boeing 707 from NY to LA for $301. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 03 | American Airlines Electra crashes in New York's East River, killing 65. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 07 | Cessna lands in Las Vegas after 65 d without landing (refuels in air). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 23 | First heliport in Britain opens in London. | Ref: 5 |
| May 30 | World's first hovercraft (SR-N1) tested at Cowes England. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 08 | X-15 makes first unpowered flight, from a B-52 at 11,500 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 17 | The X-15 rocket plane makes its first flight. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 14 | J B Jordan in F-104C sets world altitude record, 31,513 meters. | Ref: 5 |
- 1960
| May 19 | USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 33,222mph. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 04 | Rocket propelled USAF research aircraft sets record at 2,150 MPH. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 12 | USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 41,600 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 16 | A world record for a successful free fall was set by Colonel Joseph W. Kittinger Jr. What Kittinger did was quite amazing. He dropped from an altitude of 102,800 feet, more than 19 miles, before opening his parachute -- at 17,500 feet -- over New Mexico. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 05 | Eastern AL Electra turbo-prop crashed in Boston Harbor (61 die) | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 14 | A U.S. Boeing B-52 bomber sets a 10,000 mile non-stop record without refueling. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 16 | A United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collided over NY City, killing 134 people. | Ref: 70 |
- 1961
| Feb 15 | 73 people, including an 18-member figure skating team from the US, were killed in the crash of a Sabena Airlines Boeing 707 in Belgium. (The skaters were en route to a world meet in Czechoslovakia.) | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 08 | Max Conrad circles the globe in a record time of eight days, 18 hours and 49 minutes in Piper Aztec. | Ref: 2 |
| Mar 30 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 169,600' (51,690 meter) | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 20 | American Harold Graham makes first rocket belt flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 21 | USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 32,000 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 28 | Lt Col Gueorgui Mossolov takes E-66A to 34,714 m altitude. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 30 | First shuttle flights between Wash DC, Boston & NYC begin (Eastern). | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | First airplane skyjack by Antillo Ortiz.National Airlines twin-engine Convair flown to Havana. | Ref: 5 |
| May 04 | Malcolm Ross & Victor Prather reach 34,668 meters (record) in balloon. | Ref: 5 |
| May 25 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 32,770 meters. | Ref: 5 |
| May 26 | A U.S. Air Force bomber flies across the Atlantic in a record of just over three hours. | Ref: 2 |
| May 30 | Dutch DC-8 crashes after takeoff at Lisbon, 62 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 23 | USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 32,830 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 19 | 1st In-flight movie was shown (on TWA) | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 24 | Beginning of a trend, a US commercial plane is hijacked to Cuba. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 12 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 34,840 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 28 | USN Comdr Forrest S Petersen takes X-15 to 30,720 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 11 | USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 66,100 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 17 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 33,100 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 09 | USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 30,970 m. | Ref: 5 |
- 1962
| Jan 17 | NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to 40,690 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 01 | American Airlines 707 plunges nose 1st into Jamaica Bay NY killing 95. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 16 | US Super-Constellation disappears above Pacific Ocean, kills 167. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 21 | A bear becomes the 1st creature to be ejected at supersonic speeds. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 05 | NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to an altitude of 54,600 meters. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 19 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 46,900 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 20 | NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to 63,250 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 24 | First Lockheed A-12 is taxi tested. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 26 | First Lockheed A-12 flies. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 30 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to an altitude of 75,190 meters. | Ref: 5 |
| May 22 | Robert A Rushworth, USAF major, takes X-15 to 30,600 meters. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 01 | USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 40,420 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 03 | Air France Boeing 707 crashes on takeoff from Paris, kills 130. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 07 | NASA civilian test pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 31,580 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 12 | USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 56,270 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 21 | USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 75,190 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 22 | The last B-52H, the 8th and final version of the intercontinental bomber rolls off the assembly line. | |
| Jun 27 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph Walker takes X-15 to 4105 mph, 37,700 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 29 | First flight Vickers (British Aerospace) VC-10 long-range airliner. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 16 | NASA civilian test pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 32,600 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 17 | Robert White in X-15 sets altitude record of 108 km (354,300 ft). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 02 | NASA civilian test pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 32,600 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 14 | NASA civilian test pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 60,000 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 04 | USAF Maj Robert A Rushworth takes X-15 to 32,300 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 09 | NASA civilian test pilot John B McKay takes X-15 to 39,200 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 23 | USAF Major Robert A Rushworth takes X-15 to 40,800 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 17 | President Kennedy dedicates Dulles International Airport outside Wash DC. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 29 | French and British agree to jointly develop the Concorde supersonic plane. | Ref: 10 |
- 1963
| Jan 17 | Joe Walker takes X-15 to altitude of 82 km. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 09 | The very first Boeing 727 took off. It became the world’s most popular way to fly. 1,832 of the aircraft were built before production stopped in 1984. | Ref: 4 |
| May 24 | First Lockheed A-12 to crash, CIA pilot Ken Collins ejects safely. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 27 | USAF Major Robert A Rushworth in X-15 reaches 86,900 m. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 19 | NASA civilian test pilot Joe Walker in X-15 reaches 105 km. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 22 | NASA pilot Joseph Walker pilots an X-15 to a record altitude of 354,200 feet, slightly over 67 miles. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 19 | Worst Canadian air disaster kills 118 in Montreal. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 08 | 3 fuel tanks explodes when jetliner is struck by lightning crashing near Elkton MD-Only case of lightning caused crash, 81 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 31 | Albert Plesman aviation pioneer, dies. | Ref: 5 |
- 1964
| Jan 07 | Dick Weber rolls highest bowling game in the air (Boeing 707). | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 28 | The Soviets down a U.S. jet over East Germany killing three. | Ref: 2 |
| Feb 04 | FAA begins 6 month test of reactions to sonic booms over Oklahoma City OK. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 17 | Jerrie Mock, of Columbus OH, becomes the 1st woman to complete a solo airplanne flight around the world | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 18 | Geraldine Mock of US becomes first woman to fly solo round the world. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | Al Parker glides 644 miles without any motor. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 31 | Al Parker glides 644 miles without any motor. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 21 | The XB-70 experimental aircraft made its first flight. | Ref: 50 |
- 1965
| Feb 08 | (Long Island) Eastern DC-7B crashes into Atlantic off Jones Beach NJ, kills 84. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 06 | First nonstop helicopter crossing of North America, JR Willford. | Ref: 5 |
| May 20 | Pakistani Boeing 720-B crashes at Cairo Egypt, killing 121. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 29 | USAF Capt Joseph Henry Engle reaches 85,530 m in X-15. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 10 | Joe Engle in X-15 reaches 82 km. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 28 | Jack McKay in X-15 reaches 90 km. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 05 | Dick McInnes stays aloft almost 12 hours in a kite. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 14 | Joe Engle in X-15 reaches 80 km. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | 2 passenger planes collide above Danbury CT, 4 die. | Ref: 5 |
- 1966
| Jan 17 | The mid-air crash, over Palomares Spain, of a B-52 bomber and a KC-135 refueling plane killed eight crew members and dislodged a hydrogen bomb, which fell to an unknown location. The bomb was located 4 months later, intact. | Ref: 3 |
| Feb 01 | Nicholas Piantanida sets balloon flight record & dies in descent. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 04 | All-Nippon Airways 727 crashes off Haneda Airport (Japan); kills 133. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 04 | Canadian Pacific airliner explodes on landing in Tokyo, 64 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 05 | 75 MPH air currents cause BOAC 707 crash above Mount Fuji, 124 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 13 | Pan Am places $525,000,000 order for 25 Boeing 747s. | Ref: 5 |
| May 27 | 55th German F-16 Starfighter crashes. | Ref: 5 |
| May 27 | 6 French fighters crash above Spain. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 20 | Sheila Scott completes first round-the-world solo flight by a woman | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 24 | Bombay-NY Air India flight crashes into Mont Blanc (Switz), 117 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 01 | William Dana in X-15 reaches 93 km. | Ref: 5 |
- 1967
| Apr 09 | The Boeing 737 makes its inagural flight. | Ref: 5 |
| May 09 | First flight of Fokker F-28 Fellowship. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 03 | Major William J. Knight pilots the X-15 to a record speed of 7,297 KPH/4,534 MPH/Mach 6.72. | Ref: 50 |
| Oct 17 | Pete Knight in X-15 reaches 85 km. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 15 | Michael Adams in X-15 reaches 80 km. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 21 | Phillip & Jay Kunz fly a kite a record 28,000 feet. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 11 | The French prototype Concorde 001 was rolled out in Toulouse, France (the British 002 prototype was not quite finished in Bristol). The joint British-French venture and the world’s first supersonic airliner, took two more years of testing and fine-tuning the powerful engines before it made its maiden flight., is born. | Ref: 4 |
- 1968
| Mar 02 | USAF displays Lockheed C-5A Galaxy, biggest plane in the world. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 20 | South African Airways Boeing 707 crashes at Windhoek, 122 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 15 | Commercial air travel began between the United States and the USSR. with the first plane, a Soviet Aeroflot jet, landing at Kennedy International Airport in NY. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 21 | William Dana reaches 80 km (last high-altitude X-15 flight). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 19 | The British prototype of the Concorde (Concorde 002) is rolled out in Bristol, England. (USA Today, p 2B, 4/11/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Sep 30 | First Boeing 747 rolls out. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 24 | NASA test pilot Bill Dana was at the controls of the North American X-15 rocket-propelled research aircraft when it made the 199th--and what turned out to be the final--flight of the X-15 program. | Ref: 2 |
| Dec 31 | First supersonic airliner flown (Russian Tupolev TU-144). | Ref: 5 |
- 1969
| Jan 09 | The Concorde jetliner made its 1st test flight (Bristol, England). | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 09 | Concorde jetliner's first test flight (Bristol England). | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 09 | The Boeing 747 flew its inaugural flight this day. The milestone ushered in the age of the jumbo jet. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 19 | First Test flight of Boeing 747 jumbo jet. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 02 | The French version of Concorde makes its first 28 minute test flight at Toulouse, France. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 16 | Viasa DC-9 crashes at Maracaibo's Grano de Oro airport, killing 155. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 09 | First flight of Concorde 002 (Filton-Bristol). | Ref: 5 |
| May 12 | Kenneth H Wallis achieved record speed for an autogiro-179 KPH. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 09 | Allegheny 853 collides with Piper Cherokee above Indiana, kills 82. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 01 | The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight. (USA Today, p 2B, 4/11/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Dec 02 | The Boeing 747 jumbo jet gets its first public preview as 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, flew from Seattle to New York City. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 08 | Greek DC-6B crashes in storm at Athens, 93 killed. | Ref: 5 |
- 1970
| Jan 12 | Boeing 747 makes its maiden voyage. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 21 | The first Boeing 747, the largest jet airliner in the world, landed at London Heathrow Airport at the end of its maiden transatlantic flight. | Ref: 4 |
| Jan 22 | The first regularly scheduled commercial flight of the Boeing 747 began in New York City and ended in London some 6 1/2 hours later. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 15 | Dominican DC-9 crashes into sea at Santo Domingo, kills 102. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 02 | American Airlines' first flight of a Boeing 747. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 25 | Concorde makes its first supersonic flight (700 MPH/1,127 KPH). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 04 | Chartered Dan-Air Comet crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 112 vacationing Britons. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 05 | Air Canada DC-8 crashes 7 miles from Toronto's airport killing 109 | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 09 | Peruvian Airlines jet carrying 45 US exchange students explodes | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 12 | Concorde aircraft lands for the first time at Heathrow airport London; many noise complaints. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 04 | Herbert Schmidtz makes highest parachute jump from a tower by leaping from a 1,984 ft TV mast in Tulsa, OK | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 21 | Caledonian Airways takes over British United Airways. | Ref: 5 |
- 1971
| May 26 | Soviet Union's Concorde, TU-144, makes its first appearance. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 06 | Air West filght 706 collides with Navy Phantom jet over LA, 50 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | Japanese Boeing 727 collides with an F-86 fighter killing 162 | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 04 | Alaskan 727 crashes into Chilkoot Mountain near Juneau, kills 109 (Alaska) | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 24 | Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon, killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke found 10 days later. | Ref: 5 |
- 1972
| Jan 07 | Iberian Airlines crashes into 800' peak on island of Ibiza, 104 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 05 | US airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers & baggage. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 08 | First airship flown over Britain in 20 years (Europa). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 08 | First flight of the Goodyear blimp. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 15 | A Danish airliner hits a mountain in Sheikdom of Oman killing 112. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 25 | Hans-Werner Grosse glides 907.7 miles (1,461 km) in an AS-W-12. | Ref: 5 |
| May 05 | Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo Sicily; killing 115. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 18 | BEA Trident crashes after takeoff from Heathrow killing 118. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 14 | East German Aeroflot Illyushin 62 crashes near Moscow, killing 156. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 21 | First hot air balloon flight over the Alps. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 24 | Antique F86 Sabrejet fails to takeoff at air show, kills 22 | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 13 | Aeroflot Il-62 crashes in large pond outside Moscow, 176 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 13 | Uruguay to Chile plane crashes in Andes Mountain, (12/23 rescue). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 03 | Convair 990A charter crashes in Tenerife Canary Island, 155 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 08 | United Airlines airplane crashes at Chicago's Midway Airport killing 45. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 21 | After sixty-nine days, the remaining fourteen of sixteen survivors of an October plane crash are rescued from a remote location high in the Andes Mountains of South America. Tthe initial survivors managed to stay alive in the inhospitable conditions of the Andes Mountains, creating a makeshift shelter out of the wreckage of the plane, and cannibalizing the dead passengers to keep from starving to death. | Ref: 3 |
| Dec 23 | 16 plane crash survivors rescued after 70 days, survived by cannibalism. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 29 | Eastern Tristar Jumbo Jet crashes near Everglades killing 101. | Ref: 5 |
- 1973
| Jan 23 | Jordan Air crash at Kano, Nigeria kills 176 Moslem pilgrims. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 21 | Israeli fighter planes shot down a Libyan Airlines jet over the Sinai Desert, killing more than 100 people. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 22 | Israeli fighter planes shoot down a civilian Libyan Arab Airlines Boeing 727 killing 108. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 10 | BEA Vanguard Turboprop flight to Basel Switzerland, crashes into wooded hillside during landing, killing 107 of 143. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 20 | A Japan Airlines 747 was hijacked over the Netherlands. Four days later it was blown up at Benghazi. | |
| Jul 23 | Ozark AL plane knocked out of the air by lightning, St Louis-36 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | Delta Airlines DC-9 crashes in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, killing all but one of 89 aboard. Lone survivor dies 6 months later. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 31 | Delta Airlines DC-9 crashes in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, killing all but one of 89 aboard. Lone survivor dies 6 months later. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 26 | Concorde flies from Washington DC to Paris in 3h33m. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 23 | French Caravelle crashes in Morocco, 106 killed. | Ref: 5 |
- 1974
| Mar 03 | A Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed shortly after takeoff from Orly Airport in Paris, killing nearly 350 people. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 08 | Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris France. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 13 | Charles de Gaulle Airport opens near Paris France. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 27 | Pan Am 707 crashes into mountains of Bali, killing 107. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 17 | The Concorde makes its first double Atlantic crossing in one day. (USA Today, p 2B, 4/11/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Aug 31 | Aleksandr Fedotov sets an aircraft altitude record of 38.26 km (125,524'). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 01 | Boeing 727 crashes in Upperville VA, 92 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | Dutch DC-8 charter crashes in Sri Lanka killing 191 Moslem pilgrims. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 23 | The B-1 bomber makes its first successful test flight. | Ref: 2 |
- 1975
| Jan 19 | 4 mail truck assault on El Al B-747 in Paris, escape to Iraq. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 25 | First Boeing Jetfoil revenue service, Hong Kong to Macao. | Ref: 5 |
| May 24 | Dutch Government of De Uyl decides to obtain an F-16. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 24 | 113 people are killed when an Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 crashed while attempting to land during a thunderstorm at NY's John F. Kennedy International Airport. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Aug 20 | Il-62 crashes south of Damascus, Syria, killing 126. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 03 | Chartered 707 crashes in Atlas Mts of Morocco, 188 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 26 | The Soviet Union inaugurated the world's first supersonic transport service with a flight of its Tupolev-144 airliner from Moscow to Alma-Ata. | Ref: 5 |
- 1976
| Jan 21 | The French Concorde SST aircraft, with its droopy nose and sound-barrier smashing speed, begins regular commercial service for Air France (Paris-to-Rio service, via Cakar) and British Airways (London-to-Bahrain). | Ref: 4 |
| Apr 26 | Pan Am begins non-stop flights New York-Tokyo. | Ref: 5 |
| May 03 | Panama 747SP lands after record flight around world (46:26). | Ref: 5 |
| May 24 | Supersonic Concorde flights begin to the U.S. from France; first flight from Washington takes 4 hrs. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 28 | Eldon Joersz & Geo Morgan set world air speed record of 3,530 kph. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 10 | Two airliners collide over Yugoslavia, kills all 176 aboard. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 13 | Longest non-stop passenger airflight (Sydney to San Francisco 13 hours 14 minutes). | Ref: 5 |
- 1977
| Mar 27 | 582 people were killed when a KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| May 16 | Five people are killed when a NY Airways helicopter, idling atop the Pan Am Building in midtown Manhattan, toppled over, sending a huge rotor blade flying. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 23 | First man-powered flight of a mile (Bryan Allen in Gossamer Condor) | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 31 | Aleksandr Fedotov sets aircraft alt rec of 38.26 km (125,524'). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 26 | Sir Freddie Laker begins cut-rate "Skytrain" service, London to NY. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 19 | The supersonic Concorde made its first landing in New York City. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 21 | First flight of the Concorde (London to NY). | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 22 | Regular passenger service between NY and Europe on the supersonic Concorde began on a trial basis. | Ref: 70 |
- 1978
| Jan 01 | Air India B747 explodes near Bombay killing 213. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 14 | Korean Air Lines Boeing 707, fired on by Soviets, crashes in Russia. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 20 | A Korean Air Lines Boeing 707 crash-landed in northwestern Russia after being fired on by a Soviet interceptor after entering Soviet airspace. Two passengers are killed and 13 are injured. | Ref: 17 |
| Jul 14 | Boeing begins production of the 767. | |
| Aug 17 | Three American men left Presque Isle, Maine in a balloon six days earlier. After traveling 137 hours, 18 minutes and approximately 3,200 miles, Max Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed at Miserey, France. The balloon that carried the three for this, the first completed transatlantic flight by balloon, was named the Double Eagle II. (XDG, p 4A, 8/17/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 28 | The helium balloon "Double Eagle II" sets sail from Presque Ilse, ME en route to Miserey, France. The balloon is captained by Larry Newman and crewed by Ben Abruzzo and Maxie Anderson. (Ref: Sports Illustrated, p. 16, 2/18/2002) | |
| Aug 31 | Boeing begins production of the 757. | |
| Sep 02 | John McClain performs 180 outside loops in an airplane over Houston. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 17 | The first successful trans-Atlantic balloon flight ended as Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman landed their "Double Eagle Two" outside Paris. | Ref: 6 |
| Sep 25 | 144 people are killed when a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 and a Cessna private plane collide over San Diego. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Nov 15 | 183 die as Icelandic Airlines DC-8 crashes in Colombo, Sri Lanka. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 25 | American Airlines DC-10 crashes on takeoff from Chicago, kills 275. | Ref: 5 |
- 1979
| Jan 12 | British Airways and Air France begin Concorde flights to Dallas/Fort Worth. (USA Today, p 2B, 4/11/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| May 11 | The Chinook CH-47D makes its inaugural flight. | |
| May 25 | American Airlines DC-10 crashes taking off from O'Hare. 275 killed highest death toll to date in aviation history. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Jun 12 | 26 year old cyclist Bryan Allen flew man-powered Gossamer Albatross over English Channel in a human-powered aircraft; flight took 2 hrs, 49 min | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 16 | American Airlines is fined $500,000 for improper DC-10 maintenance. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 28 | An Air New Zealand DC-10 en route to the South Pole crashed into a mountain in Antarctica, killing all 257 people aboard. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
- 1980
| Mar 14 | A Polish airliner crashed while making an emergency landing near Warsaw, killing all 87 people aboard, including 22 members of a U.S. amateur boxing team. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| May 12 | First nonstop crossing of US via balloon (Maxie Anderson & son Chris). | Ref: 5 |
| May 15 | First trans-US balloon crossing. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 07 | First solar-powered aircraft crosses English Channel. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 19 | 301 people aboard a Saudi Arabian L-1011 died as the jetliner made a fiery emergency landing at the Riyadh airport. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Sep 28 | Jaromir Wagner is first to fly the Atlantic standing on the wing. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 31 | Julian Nott sets world hot-air balloon altitude record (16,806 m). | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 20 | Steve Ptacek in Solar Challenger makes first solar-powered flight. | Ref: 5 |
- 1981
| Feb 27 | Greatest passenger load on a commercial airliner-610 on Boeing 747. | Ref: 5 |
| May 26 | A Marine jet crashed onto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz off Florida, killing 14 people. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 19 | Boeing commercial Chinook 2-rotor helicopter is certified. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 07 | First solar-powered aircraft, Solar Challenger, crosses English Channel. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 26 | The twin-engine Boeing 767 made its maiden flight in Everett, Wash. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 22 | The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 12 | The 1st balloon crossing of the Pacific is completed (Double Eagle V). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 01 | Yugoslavic DC-9 crashes into mountain at Corsica, 174 killed. | Ref: 5 |
- 1982
| Jan 13 | Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737, took off in a snowstorm, crashes into the 14th St Bridge in Washington, DC, & falls into the Potomac River, killing 78. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 23 | World Airways DC-10 skids at Boston Logan Airport killing 2. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 03 | Greatest helicopter lift, 56,888 kg, Podmoscovnoe, USSR. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 04 | Indoor distance record for a paper airplane (47 meters) Tacoma WA. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 05 | Laker Airways collapse owing £270 million ($351 million). | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 19 | The Boeing 757-200 makes its inaugural flight. | |
| Mar 19 | National Guard jet tanker crashes killing 27. | Ref: 5 |
| May 13 | Braniff Airlines files for bankruptcy. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 02 | Larry Walters using lawn chair & 42 helium balloons, rose to 16,000'. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 09 | A Pan Am Boeing 727 crashed in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 146 people aboard and eight people on the ground. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Aug 05 | Dick Smith starts first solo 'round the world helicopter flight from Fort Worth, TX. | Ref: 10 |
| Sep 13 | 50 die in Spantax Airlines DC-10 on takeoff from Malaga, Spain. | Ref: 5 |
- 1983
| Jun 02 | Toilet catches fire on Air Canada's DC-9, 23 die at Cincinatti. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 27 | Maxie Anderson & Don Ida balloonists, die during a race. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 16 | 20 killed in Britain's worst helicopter accident. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 22 | Dick Smith makes first solo helicopter flight around the world. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 30 | Official speed record for a piston-driven aircraft, 832 kph, CA. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 01 | A Soviet interceptor plane destroyed a Korean Air Boeing 747 that had strayed 100 miles off course, flying over Soviet military installations. Flight 007, carrying 240 passengers and 29 crew members, had departed from NY and was en route to Seoul, Korea. All 269 on board perished. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 27 | 183 people were killed when a Colombian Avianca Airlines Boeing 747 crashed near Madrid's Barajas airport. (XDG, p 4A, 11/27/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 07 | 2 jets collided at Madrid Airport killing 93. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 13 | British Airways incorporates. | Ref: 5 |
- 1984
| Jan 10 | Bulgarian Tupolev 134 crashes at Sofia airport in Bulgaria, 50 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 19 | First female to captain a 747 across the Atlantic (Lynn Rippelmeyer). | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 18 | Joe Kittinger completes first solo balloon crossing of Atlantic. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 15 | Public telephones flew on 20 flights beginning this day for those who had credit cards. Costs: $7.50 for a three-minute call, $1.25 for each additional minute anywhere you wanted to call in the United States. | Ref: 4 |
- 1985
| Feb 19 | 150 killed when a Spanish jetliner crashed approaching Bilbao, Spain. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 23 | All 329 people aboard an Air-India Boeing 747 were killed when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland, apparently because of a bomb. (TWA, 1988) | Ref: 95 |
| Jul 16 | F-86 Sabre sets world aircraft speed record of 1152 kph (716 mph). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 02 | 137 people are killed when a Delta Air Lines jetliner crashes while attempting to land at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. (XDG p 4A, 8/2/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 05 | Flexible-wing glider altitude record (214,250') set by Larry Tudor. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 12 | At 6:50 p.m. local time, a Japan Air Lines Boeing 747SR crashed into Mount Otsuka, 70 miles NW of Tokyo. There were 524 people aboard, and all but four had died by the time rescuers reached the remote crash-site 12 Hours later. It was the worst catastrophe involving a single airplane in history. (XDG, p. 4A, 8/12/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 12 | An Arrow Air charter crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland, killing 248 American soldiers and eight crew members. | Ref: 70 |
- 1986
| Feb 24 | Texas Air buys Eastern Airlines for $676 million | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 31 | 167 people died when a Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashed in a remote mountainous region of Mexico. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Apr 11 | Dodge Morgan sails solo nonstop around the world in 150 days. | Ref: 2 |
| Apr 18 | Marcel Dassaul, French aircraft designer, dies at age 94. | Ref: 70 |
| May 03 | Air Lanka crashes, killing 22. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 18 | 52 die in plane/helicopter collision over Grand Canyon | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 31 | 82 people are killed when an Aeromexico jetliner and a small private plane collided over Cerritos CA. (XDG, p. 4A, 8/31/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Nov 01 | British Airways Concorde flies around the world in 29 hours 59 minutes. (USA Today, p 2B, 4/11/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Dec 12 | Microlite aircraft circles world non-stop. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 12 | Russian Tupolev-134 crashes in East Berlin, 70 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 14 | The experimental aircraft Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, took off from Edwards Air Force Base in CA on the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 23 | The experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling as it landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California. (Go to article.) | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 29 | The first all female crew on a commercial airliner was arranged by the seven crew members swapping shifts to get on the same 747 flight. | Ref: 62 |
- 1987
| Apr 18 | An unconscious skydiver is rescued by another diver in mid-air. | Ref: 5 |
| May 09 | 183 die aboard a Polish jetliner that crashes in Warsaw. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 03 | 2 men became first hot-air balloon travelers to cross Atlantic. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 16 | Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed while trying to take off from a Detroit airport, killing 156 people; the sole survivor was a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 20 | Ten die as Air Force jet crashed into a Ramada Inn near Indianapolis. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 15 | 28 of 82 aboard Continental Airlines DC-9 die in crash at Denver. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 28 | South African Airways Boeing 747 crashes into Indian Ocean, 159 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 29 | Korean Air Boeing 707 disappears off Burma, on route to Seoul. All 115 lost. South Korean authorities claimed that North Korean agents planted a bomb aboard the aircraft. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 07 | 43 die in Pacific Southwest Airline crash in California (man shot pilots). | Ref: 5 |
- 1988
| Jan 18 | Airliner crashes in SW China, killing all 108 on board. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 23 | Experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan & Jeana Yeager, complete first nonstop, round-the-world flight without refueling lands. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 29 | United Airlines Boeing 747SP, circles world in 36 hours 54 minutes 15 seconds. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 27 | Gulfstream G-IV goes around the world 36 08 34. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 05 | A 15-day hijacking ordeal began as gunmen forced a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet to land in Iran. | Ref: 64 |
| Apr 23 | A Greek pedals self-powered aircraft, 74 miles. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 23 | Federal smoking ban during domestic airline flights of 2 hours or less. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 28 | A flight attendant was killed and 61 persons injured when part of the roof of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 peeled back during a flight from Hilo to Honolulu. (TWA, 1989) | Ref: 95 |
| Aug 28 | Seventy people were killed when three Italian stunt planes collided during an air show at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein, West Germany, sending flaming debris into a crowd of spectators. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 31 | 14 people are killed when a Delta Boeing 727 crashes during takeoff from Dallas-fort Worth Airport. (XDG, p. 4A, 8/31/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Oct 17 | 31 reported dead as Ugandan jetliner crashes in fog near Rome. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 22 | In the presence of members of Congress and the media, the B-2 "stealth" bomber is shown publicly for the first time at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. | Ref: 3 |
| Dec 21 | PanAm Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, 35 minutes after it departed London's Heathrow airport en route to the United States. All 259 people on board plus 11 more on the ground were killed. Two Libyan's are the key suspects: Abd al-Basit al-Magrahi and Lamin Khalifa Fhimah. | Ref: 9 |
- 1989
| Jan 07 | British Midland Boeing 737 crashes on Motorway. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 08 | Boeing 737-400 crashes in England, 46 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 08 | 144 people were killed when an American-chartered Boeing 707 filled with Italian tourists slammed into a fog-covered mountain in the Azores. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Feb 24 | United Airlines Flight 811, out of Honolulu on its way to Sidney, was 100 miles southwest of Hawaii when its cargo door blew out. The explosion in the Boeing 747 created a 10x40-ft. hole in the fuselage, knocked out the two engines on the right side and caused damage to the flaps and hydraulics. Nine passengers were sucked out of the jetliner to their deaths 20,000 ft over the Pacific. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 09 | Eastern Airlines files for bankruptcy. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 19 | The B-2 stealth bomber makes its inaugural flight. | |
| Mar 19 | Boeing V-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft makes maiden flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 31 | (Trump) Donald Trump purchases Eastern's Northeast Shuttle. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 12 | Peter Ueberroth deal to purchase Eastern Airlines falls through. | Ref: 5 |
-
| Jul 19 | 112 people were killed when a United Air Lines DC-10 crashed while making an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa; 184 other people survived. The aircraft had no rear engine, part of the tail gone and no hydraulics for steering. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Jul 21 | Eastern Airlines submits a reorganization plan to creditors. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 07 | A small plane carrying Congressman Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 15 others disappeared during a flight in Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the plane was found six days later; there were no survivors.) (TWA, 1990) | Ref: 95 |
| Aug 13 | Searchers find the wreckage of a plane that disappeared almost a week earlier while carrying Congressman Mickey Leland and fifteen others. There were no survivors. (XDG, p 4A, 8/13/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 03 | A Cubana de Aviacion jetliner crashed after takeoff in Havana, killing all 126 aboard and 26 people on the ground. (TWA, 1990) | Ref: 95 |
| Nov 01 | Scandinavian Airlines System bans smoking on many flights. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 22 | Eastern Airlines pilots & flight attendants end their strike, but most are not rehired. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 19 | American Airlines purchases Eastern Airline's Latin American route. | Ref: 5 |
- 1990
| Jan 25 | Avianca Flight 52, runs out of fuel & crashes in Cove Neck NY, 73 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 14 | Ninety-four people of 146 are killed when an Indian Airlines passenger jet crashed while landing at Bangalore in southern India. (TWA, 1991) | Ref: 95 |
| Mar 06 | SR-71 sets a transcontinental record, flying 2,404 miles in 1:08:17. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 18 | Bankruptcy court forces Frank Lorenzo to give up Eastern Airlines. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 13 | Boeing 767 sets nonstop commercial flight, Seattle to Narobi Kenya | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 29 | C-5 transport plane crashes at Ramstein AFB, Germany, killing 13 | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 03 | A Northwest Airlines DC-9 collides on the ground with a Northwest Boeing 727 at Detroit Metropolitan Airport resulting in a fire that claimed eight lives. (XDG, p. 4A, 12/3/2000) | Ref: 83 |
- 1991
| Jan 18 | Financially strapped Eastern Airlines shut down after 62 years in business. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 31 | Robert Gibson flies record 27,040 feet altitude. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 01 | US Air & Skywest Fairchild commuter jet collide at Los Angeles Airport killing 32. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | A United Airlines 737-200 crashes while approaching the Colorado Springs airport, kills 25. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 05 | Southeast Airlines Embracer 120 crashes in Georgia, killing 23. | Ref: 5 |
| May 26 | A Lauda Air Boeing 767 crashes in Thailand killing all 223 people aboard. (XDG, p 4A, 5/26/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| May 27 | Austrian Boeing 767-300 explodes at Bangkok, 223 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 11 | A Nigerian Airlines carrying Muslim pilgrims crashes at the Jiddah, Saudi Arabia international airport, killing all 261 people on board. (XDG, p 4A, 7/11/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 11 | 14 die in a Continental Express commuter plane crash near Houston. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 24 | (Long Island) The first international flight from Long Island's MacArthur Airport (to Mexico). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 04 | Pan American World Airways ceased operations (however, a new, smaller version of Pan Am was later formed). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 29 | Boeing 747-200F of China Airlines crash into mountain at Taipei. | Ref: 5 |
- 1992
| Feb 06 | Sixteen people are killed when a C-130 military transport crashes in Evanston IL. (XDG, p 4A, 2/06/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Feb 11 | F-16 jet crashes at residential district of Hengelo Netherlands (No deaths). | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 16 | Former silver Goodyear blimps are now painted yellow & blue. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 22 | US Air flight from NY to Cleveland crashes on take off at Laguardia, 27 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 24 | Sudanese Boeing 707 crashes on mountain Hymettos at Athens; 5-6 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 12 | (Trump) Trump Shuttle becomes US Air Shuttle. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 13 | American Airlines reduce its 1st-class fares 20%-50%. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 22 | Plane crash at Perris Valley Airport, California, kills 16 parachutists. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 15 | Ghana Airways inaugurates flights to JFK Airport (NYC) | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 24 | Chinese air crash kills 141 | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 01 | 2 C-141B Starlifters collide in Montana & crash, 13 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 20 | Northwest & KLM introduce a new joint logo "Worldwide Reliability". | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 21 | Dutch DC-10 on fire at landing on Faro Portugal, 56 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 22 | Libyan MIG-23UB attacks Boeing 727 at Souk al-Sabt, 158 die. | Ref: 5 |
- 1993
| Jan 10 | Maiden flight of Ultrair (Houston to Los Angeles). | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 23 | Indian Airlines B737 crashes art Aurangabad, 61 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 27 | DC-3 crashes in Kinshasa, killing 12. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 08 | Suchoi-24 crashes into Tupolev passenger flight, 134 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 05 | Fokker 100 crashes at Skopje Macedonia, 81 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 02 | First test flight of Fokker 70 (Amsterdam). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 02 | Venezuelan DC-10 crashes at Margarita, killing 10. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 06 | First test flight of Ilyushin IL-96M (Moscow). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 26 | Boeing 737 crashes at Aurangabad, kills 56. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 27 | Afghan Antonov AN-32 crashes at Tashqurgan, kills 76. | Ref: 5 |
| May 19 | Boeing 727 crashes into mountain at Medellín Colombia, kills 132. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 27 | DC-3 crashes in Kinshasa, killing 12. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 01 | Northwest Airlink commuter plane crashes in Minnesota, killing 18. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | C-130 flies into a Philippines hill & explodes, 16 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | Y-12 crashes at Phonesavanh, Laos: 18 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 26 | Antonov-26 crashes at Gyumri, Armenia, 36 killed. | Ref: 5 |
- 1994
| Jan 03 | Tupolev-154M crashes at Irkutsk, Siberia 122 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 07 | United Express commuter plane crashes in Ohio, killing 5. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 28 | Helicopter crashes into office building in San Jose CA, 1 dead. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 25 | Peruvian Yak-40 crashes into mountain near Tingo Maria, kills 31. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 08 | B737 collides with Ilyushin-86 in New Dehli, at least 8 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 17 | Iran transport aircraft crashes in Azerbaijan (32 killed). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 23 | Russian Airbus A-310 crashes in Siberia (74-75 killed). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 24 | An F-16 collides with C-130 Hercules above AFB in North Carolina, 120 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 04 | KLM Saab 340B crashes at Schiphol, 3 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 06 | Rockwell B-1B Lancers break 11 world speed records. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 26 | Taiwan Airbus A-300 crashes at Nagoya Japan, 262 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 02 | A DC-9 crashes in poor weather at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, NC, killing 37 of 57 aboard. (XDG, p 4A, 7/2/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 08 | USAir flight 427 crashed as it was approaching Pittsburgh International Airport. All 132 people on board the Boeing 737 were killed. In March of 1999, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that rudder malfunction was the most likely cause of the crash. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 31 | A Chicago-bound American Eagle ATR-72 crashed in northern IN, killing all 68 people aboard. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Dec 13 | An American Eagle commuter plane carrying 20 people crashed short of Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, killing 15. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 17 | KLM's last DC-10 goes out of service. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 29 | B737-400 flies into a mountain at Edremit East Turkey, 54 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 31 | BAM "Bob" Schreiner airline owner (S Aviation Group), dies at 79. | Ref: 5 |
- 1995
| Jan 05 | Lockheed C-140 Jetstar crashes at Isfahan Persia, 18 killed. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 11 | DC-9 crashes near Maria La Baya, Colombia 51 die, 9 yr old girl lives. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 21 | Former Chicago stockbroker and U.S. balloonist Steve Fossett made history. He was the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon, landing in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada on this day. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 21 | RAF-pilot Jo Salter is first woman to fly in a tornado. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 22 | Steve Fossett completes first air balloon over Pacific Ocean (9600 km). | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 28 | Denver International Airport opened after 16 months of delays and $3.2 billion in budget overruns. | Ref: 70 |
| Apr 28 | Sri Lankaan BAE748 crashes at Palaly, 52 die. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 20 | An American Airlines Boeing 757 en route to Cali, Colombia, slammed into a mountain, killing all but four of the 163 people aboard. | Ref: 70 |
- 1996
| Feb 24 | Cuba shot down two small planes operated by a Cuban-American group over the waters north of Havana. The two planes with four people on board were twin-engine Cessna aircraft operated by the group ‘Brothers to the Rescue’, a Miami-based group of Cuban exiles funded by private donations. The group has flown hundreds of missions to spot Cuban rafters attempting to flee their island nations. Group founder Jose Basulto was on a third plane that escaped the gunfire and made it safely back to Miami. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 29 | A Peruvian commercial jetliner crashes in the Andes, killing all 123 people on board. | Ref: 6 |
| Apr 10 | Jessica Dubroff attempting to be youngest pilot, dies in crash at 7 | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 11 | Seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff, who'd hoped to become the youngest person to fly cross-country, was killed along with her father and flight instructor when her plane crashed after takeoff from Cheyenne, Wyoming. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| May 10 | Two Marine helicopters collided in the dark and crashed in a swamp at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during a US-British training exercise, killing 14 people. | Ref: 5 |
| May 11 | An Atlanta-bound ValuJet DC-9 caught fire shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| May 12 | Authorities in Florida called off the search for possible survivors from the crash of ValuJet Flight 592, a day after the jetliner nose-dived into the Everglades with 110 people on board. | Ref: 6 |
| May 13 | Recovery workers in the Florida Everglades retrieved the flight data recorder from ValuJet Flight 592. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| Jun 18 | Two Army transport helicopters collided and crashed during training exercises near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, killing six and injuring 33. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 17 | TWA (Trans World Airlines) flight 800, carrying 230 people, including four cockpit crew members and 14 flight attendants, exploded, falling into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island, NY. The Boeing 747 had lifted off from NY’s John F. Kennedy Airport at 8:19 p.m. bound for Paris, France. The explosion happened about 26 minutes later, some 40 miles east of NY, as the plane was climbing through 13,800 feet. US missile. After a 16-month probe, the FBI concluded that the crash was caused by electrical arcing in the plane’s center fuel tank igniting fuel vapors. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 25 | Divers searching the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island, NY, recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders. | Ref: 6 |
| Sep 10 | A plane carrying members of a skydivers club crashed in Shacklefords, Virginia, killing ten parachutists, the plane's pilot and a man on the ground. | Ref: 6 |
| Sep 22 | An AWACS plane carrying US and Canadian military personnel crashed on takeoff from Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska, killing all 24 people aboard. | Ref: 6 |
| Oct 02 | An AeroPeru Boeing 757 crashed into the Pacific Ocean killing all 61 passengers and 9 crewmembers. (XDG, p 4A, 10/02/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Nov 12 | World's worst mid-air collision of a 747 and charter flight 50 miles from New Delhi kills 350. (TWA, 1998) | Ref: 95 |
| Nov 19 | Fourteen people were killed when a commuter plane collided with a private plane at an airport in Quincy, Ill. | Ref: 64 |
| Dec 15 | Boeing Co. jolted the aerospace world with a $13.3 billion deal to buy McDonnell Douglas Corp. The merger formed the world’s largest aerospace company. | Ref: 4 |
- 1997
| Jan 09 | A Comair commuter plane crashed 18 miles short of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing all 29 people on board. (TWA, 1998) | Ref: 95 |
| Feb 20 | The National Transportation Safety Board called for a a speedup in the redesign of the Boeing 737 rudder controls, citing suspected problems in two deadly crashes. (XDG, p 4A, 2/20/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Feb 24 | South Africa announces it is constructing largest modern day blimp. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 18 | Russian AN-24 plane crashes in Turkey, 50 die | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 02 | A Boeing 777-200 sets a record for flying around the world, eastbound, in 41 hours 59 minutes. | |
| May 28 | Linda Finch completes Amelia Earhart attempted around-the-world flight. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 03 | Lockheed Martin Corporation announces it was buying Northrop Grumman Corporation for $7.9B. The merger falls through when the Justice Dept objects on anti-trust grounds. (XDG, p 4A, 7/03/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 06 | A Korean Air 747, Flight 801, plowed into a hillside short of the Guam International Airport, killing 226 of the 254 aboard. The impact had broken the fuselage into six pieces. The tail, with its distinctive Korean Air logo, was the only part of the plane still recognizable. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 07 | The F-22 Raptor makes is inaugural flight. | |
| Sep 26 | An Indonesian Airbus A-300 crashed while approaching Medan Airport in north Sumatra, killing all 234 people aboard. (TWA, 1998) | Ref: 95 |
| Nov 18 | The FBI officially pulled out of the probe into the TWA Flight 800 disaster, saying the explosion that destroyed the Boeing 747, killing all 230 people aboard, was not caused by a criminal act. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 09 | At least 69 people are killed when a Russian military cargo plane crashed in the Siberian city of Irkutsk seconds after takeoff. (XDG, 12/06/2002, p 4A) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 12 | TWA 800 hearings end in Baltimore MD. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 19 | SilkAir Boeing 737-300 plunges from the sky, crashing into an Indonesian river killing all 104 aboard. (XDG, p 4A, 12/19/2002) | Ref: 83 |
- 1998
| Jan 27 | Crane crashes into Roosevelt Is (New York City NY) Tram, injuring 10. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 02 | Philippine DC-9 crashes apparently killing all 104 on board. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 16 | A China Airlines Airbus A300-600-R trying to land in fog in Taipai, Taiwan, crashes, killing all 196 aboard plus 6 on the ground. (XDG, p 4A, 2/16/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 30 | United and Delta airlines form an alliance that would control one-third of all US passenger seats. (XDG, p 4A, 4/30/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| May 10 | The FAA grounds older models of the Boeing 737 after mandatory inspections of some aircraft reveal extensive wear in power lines running through their wing fuel tanks. (XDG, p 4A, 5/10/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 07 | The Federal Aviation Administration, in a follow-up to the probe of the 1996 explosion that destroyed TWA Flight 800, ordered the inspection of Boeing 747 fuel tanks. | |
| Aug 24 | The United States and Britain agreed to allow two Libyan suspects wanted in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 to be tried in a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 02 | Swissair Flight 111 went down about five miles off the Nova Scotia hamlet of Peggy’s Cove. The Boeing MD-11, enroute to Geneva, Switzerland, from NY, plunged into the water off Canada while attempting an emergency landing at Halifax International Airport. The Canadian Transportation Safety Board has collected over a million pieces of wreckage from the Atlantic Ocean for its ongoing investigation. An in-flight entertainment system is suspected as one possible cause of the crash. Swissair and Boeing have offered compensatory damages to relatives of all 229 people who perished in the crash. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 06 | Divers working off the coast of Nova Scotia find the data recorder from Flight 111, which had crashed killing all 229 aboard. However, it turned out that the recorder had stopped working several minutes before the crash. (XDG, p 4A, 9/06/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Sep 11 | Divers working off the coast of Nova Scotia find the cockpit voice recorder from Flight 111, which had crashed killing all 229 aboard. (XDG, p 4A, 9/11/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Nov 24 | The first Palestine Airlines flight touched down at Gaza International Airport. | Ref: 83 |
- 1999
| Jan 02 | A UN chartered cargo plane carrying nine people was downed in Angola's central highland war zone. There were no survivors. (XDG, p 4A, 1/02/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Mar 20 | Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland and Brian Jones of Britain became the first aviators to fly a hot-air balloon around the world nonstop. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 21 | First hot air balloon to circumnavigate world non-stop lands with Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard. | Ref: 10 |
| Jun 01 | An American Airlines MD-82 landed off-center during a severe thunderstorm in Little Rock AK and barreled off the end of the runway, breaking apart and catching fire. Eleven people, including the pilot, die. | |
| Oct 25 | Golfer Payne Stewart and five others were killed when their Learjet flew uncontrolled for four hours before crashing in South Dakota. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 31 | EgyptAir flight 990, a Cairo-bound Boeing 767-300ER with 217 people aboard, crashes at 1:52 a.m, less than an hour after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. (2 Nov 1999) | Ref: 9 |
| Nov 10 | Investigators said that the flight recorder form EgyptAir Flight 990 showed things were going normally until the autopilot mysteriously disconnected and the Boeing 707 began what appeared to be a controlled descent. (XDG, p 4A, 11/10/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 06 | SabreTech, an aircraft maintenance company, was convicted of mishandling the oxygen canisters blamed for the cargo hold fire that caused the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Everglades that killed 110 people. | Ref: 70 |
- 2000
| Jan 30 | A Kenya Airways jet bound for Lagos, Nigeria, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, killing all but 10 of the 179 people on board. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 31 | An Alaska Airlines jet plunged into the ocean off Southern CA on a flight from Mexico to San Francisco, killing all 88 people on board. | Ref: 70 |
| Feb 10 | The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered inspections of MD-80, MD-90, DC-9 and Boeing 717 series jetliners in the wake of the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which crashed off the California coast January 31, killing all 88 people on board. | Ref: 4 |
| Apr 19 | The worst air crash in Philippine history killed 131 people aboard an Air Philippines Boeing 737. (TWA, 2001) | Ref: 95 |
| May 03 | The trial of two alleged Libyan intelligence agents accused of blowing Pan Am Flight 103 out of the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 opened in the Netherlands. (Earlier, one of the defendants, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, was convicted of murder; the other defendant, Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted.) | Ref: 6 |
| May 21 | Nineteen people were killed when a charter plane crashed in the Pocono Mountains in PA. (TWA, 2001) | Ref: 95 |
| Jul 16 | Families and friends of the victims of the TWA Flight 800 explosion broke ground for a new memorial on the Long Island shore not far from where the plane went down, killing all 230 people on board. | Ref: 6 |
| Jul 17 | A jet smashed into two homes in Patna, India, killing a total of 56 people on board and on the ground. | Ref: 6 |
| Jul 25 | A NY-bound Air France Concorde crashed outside Paris shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and four people on the ground; it was the first-ever crash of the supersonic jet. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 22 | A China Airlines jet burst into flames at Hong Kong's new airport, killing three people and injuring more than 200. | Ref: 6 |
| Aug 31 | An LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashed on takeoff from Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 72 people, including five on the ground. | Ref: 6 |
| Sep 01 | Ten American tourists and two Tanzanians were killed when their small plane crashed as they were leaving Serengeti National Park. | Ref: 6 |
| Dec 12 | The Marine Corps grounded all eight of its high-tech V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft following a fiery crash in North Carolina that killed four Marines. | Ref: 70 |
- 2001
| Mar 26 | Comair pilots walked off the job, beginning a 3-month strike after contract talks with regional airlines broke off. (XDG, p 4A, 3/26/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 09 | American Airlines' parent company acquired bankrupt Trans World Airlines, becoming America's No. 1 carrier. | Ref: 70 |
| May 10 | Boeing chose Chicago as the site for its new headquarters, replacing Seattle. | Ref: 70 |
| Sep 27 | President George W. Bush announced plans to bolster airline security, including expanded use of federal marshals on airliners, making cockpits more secure and putting the federal government in charge of airport security. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 07 | At least 114 people were killed after an SAS MD 87 airliner collided with a private jet, a twin-engine Cessna Citation II, during its takeoff roll on an airport runway in Milan, Italy. Four airport groundworkers were missing. Ref | |
| Oct 28 | United Airlines replaces embattled chairman and CEO James Goodwin with board member John Creighton. (XDG, p 4A, 10/28/2002) | Ref: 83 |
| Nov 07 | Concorde flights resume after being grounded after the July 25, 2000 crash in Paris. (USA Today, p 2B, 4/11/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 12 | A European-made A300 Airbus jetliner, American Airlines Flight 587 en route to the Dominican Republic with 255 people aboard, crashed into the Rockaway Beach neighborhood is on a peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay, which separates it from Kennedy airport, shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy airport in NY. Early reports do not indicate where there was a mechanical problem or if this was a terrorist attack. Ref | |
- 2002
| Jan 07 | Charles Bishop, a 15-year-old student pilot, deliberately crashed a small plane into a skyscraper in Tampa, Fla., killing himself. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 28 | An Ecuadorian jetliner crashes in the Andes across the border in Columbia, killing all 92 aboard. (XDG, p 4A, 1/28/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Feb 12 | An Iranian passenger jet crashes, killing all 119 aboard. (XDG, p 4A, 2/12/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jul 02 | American Steve Fossett became the first person to fly a balloon solo around the world as he returned to western Australia. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 27 | A Ukrainian fighter jet crashed during an air show in Lviv, killing 77 people. | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 25 | General Chuck Yeager, the man who first broke the sound barrier on Oct 14, 1947, breaks the sound barrier for the last time before retiring. (USA Today, p. 3A, 10/28/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Nov 11 | A Fokker 27 commuter plane crashes shortly after takeoff in Manilla Bay in the Philippines. 14 are dead, 4 missing. (USA Today, p.19A, 11/12/2002) | Ref: 13 |
| Dec 23 | A passenger plane crashes in central Iran during a flight from Turkey, killing 45 people, mostly from Ukraine. (XDG, p 4A, 12/23/2003) | Ref: 83 |
- 2003
| Jan 05 | Franz-Stephan Strambach, a student, stole a small aircraft at gunpoint and flew it over downtown Frankfurt, Germany, threatening to crash into the European Central Bank. He landed safely two hours later and was arrested. (Dayton Daily News, p A1, 1/06/2003) | |
| Jan 08 | The National Aviation Hall of Fame opens next to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB. (XDG, p 1A, 1/09/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jan 08 | A communter plane carrying 21 people crashes into a hangar on takeoff from the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, NC and bursts into flames killing all aboard. (XDG, p 12A, 1/09/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Jan 08 | A Turkish Airlines jet crashes in Turkey, killing 75 people. (XDG, p 4A, 1/08/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Mar 19 | Six men hijacked a Cuban airliner at knife-point to the Florida Keys to seek asylum in the US. The six were later convicted on federal hijacking charges. (XDG, p 4A, 3/19/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Apr 10 | British Airways announces the retirement of the supersonic passenger airliner, the Concorde, by October 31, 2003, due to increased costs and failing demand. (USA Today, p 2B, 4/11/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Apr 13 | (Airport Security Breach) A British Airways employee enters a terminal through and exit lat a the Newark NJ airport. (WSJ, p B1, 9/03/2003) | Ref: 33 |
| May 24 | (Airport Security Breach) A flight attendant discovers a man asleep aboard an American Eagle flight in Pittsburgh. He had breached several layers of security to reach the plane. (WSJ, p B1, 9/03/2003) | Ref: 33 |
| May 29 | (Airport Security Breach) A man stabs two flight attendants with sharp wooden instruments aboard a Quantas flight shortly after it departs Melbourne, Australia. Several passengers overpower him. (WSJ, p B1, 9/03/2003) | Ref: 33 |
| Jun 11 | (Airport Security Breach) A man brings a 4-inch knife aboard a United Airlines flight. (WSJ, p B1, 9/03/2003) | Ref: 33 |
| Jun 12 | (Airport Security Breach) Police at Ancona Falconara airport in Italy find a seven-ounce package of explosives aboard an Alitalia flight. (WSJ, p B1, 9/03/2003) | Ref: 33 |
| Jun 12 | Air France turns over the oldest of its Concordes to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. (XDG, p 4A, 6/12/2004) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 02 | (Airport Security Breach) A woman brushes past security at Chicago's Midway Airport. Thousands of passengers have to be rescreened. (WSJ, p B1, 9/03/2003) | Ref: 33 |
| Oct 22 | An article in USA Today announces Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner, a 200-passenger, twin-engine airliner with a range of 7600 miles and a cruising speed of 625 MPH. First deliveries are planned for 2008. (USA Today, p 3B, 10/22/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Oct 24 | British Air flies its last Concorde flight. (WSJ, p A1, 10/24/2003) | Ref: 33 |
| Dec 16 | A B-2 stealth bomber is scheduled to go on permanent public display at Wright Patterson AFB near Dayton OH. (XDG, p 7, 12/09/2003) | Ref: 83 |
| Dec 17 | A $1.2M replica of the original 1903 Wright Flyer fails to gain sufficient speed for flight on the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight. (USA Today, p 15A, 12/18/2003) | Ref: 13 |
| Dec 25 | United Transit Airlines flight 141, a chartered Boeing 727 enroute from the west African nation of Benin to Beruit, Lebanon crashed on take-off, killing at least 82 and at least 24 survived. The flight carried upwards of 200 passengers. Officials said the flight had trouble retracting its landing gear and smashed into a building at the end of the runway. (USA Today, p 3A, 12/26/2003) | Ref: 13 |
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The History of Flight Chronology