On This Day in Aviation History

March 4, 2012
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March 4th in Aviation History: American Begins Flying the Douglas DC-4 on Cross-Country Flights

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By: NYCAviation Staff
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An American Airlines Douglas DC-4.
An American Airlines Douglas DC-4.
2012 – Boeing’s 787 Dream Tour makes an appearance at Boston Logan Airport.

2012 – The US Navy takes delivery of the first production Boeing P-8A Poseidon, a new anti-submarine aircraft based on the 737-800 airliner.

2007 – Recently merged US Airways and America West combine their reservations systems.

2006 – The final attempt to contact Pioneer 10 results in no response, more than three years after the last contact was made from the spacecraft. It is considered to be the first human-built object to be on a solar system-leaving trajectory.

2002 – The second go of Ansett Australia ceases operations, and is later liquidated.

1966 – Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 falls shorts of the runway and strikes a seawall while trying to land at Tokyo International Airport. The pilots of the Douglas DC-8-43 (CF-CPK) are suspected to have had difficulty landing in poor visibility, causing 64 of the 72 people aboard to perish.

1962 – Caledonian Airways Flight 153, a Douglas DC-7 (G-ARUD) crashes just after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Cameroon. An elevator trim jam causes the plane to plummet into a swamp in the jungle, killing all 111 on-board. Because of the terrain, it would take rescuers 6 hours to reach the wreck.

1957 – A US Navy airship sets an airborne endurance record of 264 hours and 12 minutes, covering 9,448 miles.

1948 – Herbert Hoover becomes the first civilian to break the sound barrier in a Bell X-1 in Muroc, California.

1946 – American Airlines begins using the Douglas DC-4 cross country on trips that lasted 13-to-14-hours.

1936 – The 803-foot long, hydrogen-filled Hindenburg airship takes its first flight.

1909 – The Wright Brothers receive Presidential approval for Congressional Gold Medals.