2009 – A Manaus Aerotaxi EMB-110 (PT-SEA) crashes into Mancapuru River in Amazonas, Brazil. The aircraft carried more passengers than it was meant to, then lost an engine just after departure, ditching in the river. Four survivors escaped through an emergency exit in the rear of the aircraft, whereas the other 24 aboard drowned.
1984 – Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger become the first to use the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) in space during the first untethered space walk. Mission Specialist Bruce McCandless II makes the most distant space walk from a spacecraft at 320 feet.
1964 – The Canadian Golden Hawks military aerobatic flying team is disbanded due to financial reasons.
1964 – The Beatles arrive at JFK in what is their first tour in the United States.
1959 – After much refueling, a Cessna lands in Las Vegas after 65 days in the air.
1937 – The prototype Blackburn B-24 Skua two-seat fighter/dive-bomber makes its maiden flight, piloted by “Dasher” Blake at Brough, Yorkshire. It is Britain’s first dive-bomber.
1934 – The first airmail flight between Australia and New Zealand is made by Charles Ulm in an Avro Ten. The flight time is 14 hours 10 minutes.
1928 – Bert Hinkler leaves Croydon in an Avro Avian, attempting the first solo flight from England to Australia. He is to arrive in Darwin on February 22.
1927 – Georgetown University medical school in Washington, D.C., offers the first aviation medicine course in the United States.
1920 – French aviator Sadi Lacointe, piloting a Nieuport-Delage 29V, becomes the first pilot to set a new Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) world speed record after World War I. He reaches a measured speed of 171.141 mph along the 3,280-foot course.
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