1998 – Cebu Pacific Flight 387, a DC-9-32 (reg RP-C1507) crashes into a mountain near Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, killing 104. The plane had been off course and the top of the mountain may have been covered in fog, leading to the tragedy.
1987 – After racking up an unmanageable amount of debt in only four years of existence, Newark-based PEOPLExpress Airlines ceases operations and merges with Continental.
1974 – The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon makes its 90-minute maiden flight out of Edwards AFB. (However, a few days earlier on January 20th its actual first flight occurred accidentally during a high-speed taxi test. While gathering speed, a roll-control oscillation caused a fin of the port-side wingtip-mounted missile and then the starboard stabilator to scrape the ground. The test pilot, Phil Oestricher, decided to take the aircraft up to avoid a potential crash, safely landing six minutes later.)
1950 – Japan Air Lines begins twice-weekly service to San Francisco, the carrier’s first international route.
1872 – French navy-engineer Dupuy de Lome gets his elbow-grease powered airship up to a top speed of 11 km/h.
