Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 1

2009 – Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-200 flying from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France, crashes in the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 occupants, including 12 crew; bodies and aircraft debris are not recovered until several days later; the aircraft itself is not found until 2011. The crash is the first fatal accident of the A330 and the worst-ever disaster involving the A330.

2008 –A U.S. helicopter crashes south of Baghdad, injuring two soldiers. The type of helicopter has not been revealed.^[1]^[2]

2007 – A Tanzania People’s Defence Forces passenger plane (reg JW9036) developed dual engine failure as the pilot manoeuvred to land at Dodoma airport, the pilot, Lieutenant Colonel S. M. Mayenga, said, and crash landed in the Kizota area of Dodoma. All thirteen people aboard survived.

1999 – American Airlines Flight 1420, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, skids off the runway on landing at Little Rock, Arkansas during strong winds; eleven of 145 on board die.

1983 – Singapore Airlines announces it has bought six Boeing 747s and four Boeing 757s, making it the first Asian airline to buy the 757.

1976 – Aeroflot Flight 418, a Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain side on the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea; all 45 on board die.

1975 – A Kenyan Air Force Hawker Hunter crashes at Nairobi, Kenya, during celebrations marking the anniversary of self-rule in the former British colony, the airframe impacting only a few hundred yards from where President Jomo Kenyatta is addressing a public rally. The two crew of the fighter are killed instantly, with the jet narrowly missing a crowded bus as it skids across a four-lane highway. Passengers panic as the bus brakes to a halt and fills with smoke from the burning wreckage. A second Hunter jet makes an emergency landing at Nairobi International Airport, where, according to one witness, it narrowly misses a loaded Pan American jet "by a matter of feet." The airport closes briefly after the incident.

1961 – United Air Lines absorbs Capital Airlines to become the largest airline in the West, with a fleet of 267 aircraft.

1960 – Trans-Canada Air Lines begins transatlantic services, flying between Montreal and London

1953 – No. 423 Squadron was reformed at St. Hubert, Quebec and equipped with Avro Canada CF-100 fighters.

1953 – The United States Air Force Thunderbirds are activated as the 3600th Air Demonstration Team at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona on 25 May 1953, flying Republic F-84 Thunderjets.^[3]^{[better source needed]}

1951 – British European Airways commences helicopter services between London and Birmingham

1950 – British European Airways commences the first regular passenger service to be flown by helicopter, between Liverpool and Cardiff.

1949 – A survey conducted by a firm of New York aviation consultants shows that for the first time in history air travel volume are greater than first class rail travel. Revenue passengers-miles for domestic airlines totals 603 million compared to 582 million for Pullman trains.

1948 – British European Airways commences the first helicopter airmail service in the UK

1948 – British European Airways (British European Airways) commences the first helicopter air mail service in the United Kingdom.

1948 – First flight of Cessna 170. The Cessna 170 is a general aviation aircraft produced by the Cessna Aircraft Company between 1948 and 1956. Over 5,000 were built, and over 2,000 are still accounted for today. The Cessna 170 landing gear is a taildragger configuration. It was replaced by the Cessna 172 which became the most popular light plane in history.

1944 – North West Air Command was formed at Edmonton under the command of A/V/M T. A. Lawrence.

1943 – Allied aircraft begin a final period of heavy bombing of Pantelleria during the ten days prior to the scheduled invasion of the island, during which they will fly 3,647 sorties.

1943 – In response to the Nazi dictatorship, the RCAF Second Tactical Air Force (2nd T. A. F.) was formed.

1943 – BOAC Flight 777, a Douglas DC-3, is shot down by Luftwaffe fighter aircraft over the Bay of Biscay, killing 17 passengers and crew, including actor Leslie Howard and leading to speculation that the flight was attacked because German intelligence believed that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was aboard.

1942 – Because of the similarity of the red disc in the center of the national insignia for U. S. military aircraft USAAC to Japanese markings, the United States adopts a new national insignia without the red disc, consisting simply of a white star centered in a blue circle USAAC roundel.The new marking will remain in use until July 1943.

1942 – (Overnight) – Royal Air Force Bomber Command mounts what is nominally its second “thousand-bomber raid” – 956 bombers actually participate – Targeting Essen, Germany. Industrial haze spoils the attack; the British bombers kill only 15 people in Essen and destroy only 11 homes there, while widely scattered bombs strike Oberhausen, Duisburg, and at least eleven other cities and towns, which suffer more damage than Essen itself.

1941 – Germany completes the conquest of Crete. German airborne forces have suffered such heavy losses – probably 6,000 to 7,000 casualties and 284 aircraft lost – In the eleven days of fighting that Germany never again attempts a large airborne operation.

1941 – German Junkers Ju 88 bombers sink the British light cruiser HMS Calcutta 100 nautical miles (185 km) north of Alexandria, Egypt, as she retires after evacuating troops from Crete.

1940 – U. S. Army Air Corps announces plans for the construction of the world’s most powerful wind tunnel at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio.

1939 – The Douglas DC-4 makes its first passenger flight from Chicago to New York.

1927 – Western Canada Airways inaugurated weekly air service from Winnipeg to Long Lake, Manitoba via Lac du Bonnet.

1925 – A car dealer covers himself in stamps worth $718 in a bid to be sent airmail from San Francisco to New York; the U. S. Post Office refuses to accept him.

1919 – A permanent flight of aircraft is stationed in San Diego to serve as a forest fire patrol. The machines are war-surplus Curtiss JN-4s.

1915 – The United States Department of the Navy awards its first contract for an airship – The DN-1-Class Blimp – To the Connecticut Aircraft Company.

1912 – The first military aeroplane flight in Norway is made by Lt Hans Dons in HNoMS Start an Etrich Taube(pictured).

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