February 28th in Aviation History: Global Hawk Makes Its First Flight and SeaTac Tower is Damaged by an Earthquake
Tags: Discoverer 1, Iraq, Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk, Operation Desert Storm, Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
2001 – The air traffic control tower at Seattle Tacoma International Airport is heavily damaged during an earthquake, which measures 6.8 on the Richter scale. An interim control tower is used until a new, more earthquake resistant tower is built in 2004. The original tower is later repaired and used by ground controllers.
1998 – The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle makes its maiden flight.
1991 – The Persian Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm, waged by the U.S. and its allies against Iraq, formally ends.
1959 – Discoverer 1, a prototype spy satellite commissioned by the CIA with assistance from the US Air Force, is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Meant to be the first polar orbiting satellite, the space craft fails to reach orbit, and is believed to have landed somewhere near the South Pole.
