On This Day in Aviation History

February 11, 2011
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On This Day in Aviation History: February 11th

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By: Phil Derner Jr.
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JetBlue founder David Neeleman hanging out by one of his aircraft before the airline began operations. (Photo by Michael F. Mclaughlin)

JetBlue founder David Neeleman hanging out by one of his aircraft before the airline began operations. (Photo by Michael F. Mclaughlin)

2000: JetBlue launches operations out of New York’s JFK Airport.

1997: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

1992: An F-16 jet crashes in residential district in the Netherlands. There are no fatalities.

1987: Following its privatization, British Airways shares begin trading on the London Stock Exchange.

1986: United completes its purchase of Pan Am’s Pacific division for $715 million and begins service to an additional 11 cities for a total of 13 cities in 10 Pacific Rim countries.

1978: Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a 737-200 (C-FPWC) crashes at Cranbrook Airport in British Columbia, after an aborted landing in which the reverse thrusters did not retract properly. The aircraft was trying to avoid a snowplow on the runway, which was faulted to ATC. There were 7 survivors and 42 fatalities on the aircraft.

1959: A United States meteorological balloon reaches a record height of 146,000 ft. carrying a special package of detectors sending information by radio signal to the ground.

1958: Ruth Carol Taylor becomes the first African American flight attendant in the United States after being hired by Mohawk Airlines.

1946: U.S. and British negotiators reach The Bermuda Agreement is completed between the United States and Britain, making it the first bilateral agreement regulating air transport. The two countries agree by which air rates and frequencies of international services should be set through the International Air Transport Association.

1939: The XP-38, later to become the P-38 Lightning, flies from California to New York in 7 hours, 2 minutes.

1935: The first flight in the United States with a car slung underneath the fuselage takes place.

1914: H. Berliner sets a distance record for balloons, flying from Bitterfeldt, Germany to Kirgishano, Russia, covering 1,890 miles.

1913 The Chilean Air Force is founded.

1909: New Zealand’s first powered flight: Vivian C. Walsh takes off in a Howard-Wright biplane.