On This Day in Aviation History

September 12, 2010
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On This Day in Aviation History: September 12th

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By: Phil Derner Jr.
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The wreckage of the Cessna 150 that crashed into the south lawn of the White House in 1994.
The wreckage of the Cessna 150 that crashed into the south lawn of the White House in 1994.
The wreckage of the Cessna 150 that crashed into the south lawn of the White House in 1994.

The wreckage of the Cessna 150 that crashed into the south lawn of the White House in 1994.

1994: A man named Frank Eugene Corder flies a Cessna 150 into the south lawn of the White House, killing himself. He was supposedly drunk and had no intention of harming the President, but merely sought attention. President Bill Clinton was not home at the time.

1992: Space Shuttle Endeavor launches on the 50th Space Shuttle mission, STS-47. On this flight, the first African American woman, Mae Carol Jemison, and the first Japanese citizen, Mamoru Mohri, enter space. Also, Mark Lee and Jan Davis are the first couple to marry in space.

1961: A predecessor of the first Harrier fighter jet, the experimental Hawker Siddeley P.1127 makes the first transition between horizontal and vertical flight.

1918: The US Army Air Service and French Army assemble over 1200 war planes for the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, in what is at the time the largest aircraft force ever assembled for a single operation. The Allies would win the battle.

1916: The US Army tests the first ever radio-controlled flying bomb, a small biplane that can carry 308 pounds of ordnance around 50 miles.