2008 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashes short of the runway while on approach to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. A faulty altimeter on the Boeing 737-800 (TC-JGE) led to a decrease in the autothrottle to idle. Noticing too late, the crew was unable to recover, and the aircraft broke apart while landing in the mud. Among the 135 people on-board, 9 die, including the two pilots.
1990 – All flights in North America become smoke-free.
1982 – American Airlines cancels 15 Boeing 757-200 orders.
1975 – Brig. General Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier, flies his final US Air Force sortie.
1970 – TWA operates the first 747 domestic service, flying between Los Angeles and New York.
1965 – The Douglas DC-9 makes its first test flight.
1964 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 304, a Douglas DC-8 (N8607), crashes into Lake Pontchartrain after departing New Orleans. All 58 aboard perish due to an abnormal trim component which led to instability when experiencing turbulence while climbing through 16,000ft.
1933 – USS Ranger (CV-4) is launched as the first American ship actually designed to be an aircraft carrier. (Earlier conventional ships had been converted to carriers).
1932 – Russia’s civil airline changes its name to “Aeroflot” as we know it today.
1929 – The Royal Air Force from Britain rescue over 500 civilians from Kabul after an uprising in what is the first large air evacuation, taking all of the passengers to India.
1784 – Chevalier Paul Andreani makes the first hot-air balloon flight in Italy.
