On This Day in Aviation History

March 23, 2012

March 23rd in Aviation History: Wilbur and Orville File Wright Flyer Patent

More articles by Phil Derner Jr. »

By: Phil Derner Jr.
Tags: Aeroflot Flight 593, Airbus A310, Antonov An-24, Boeing 707-300, C-130 Hercules, Canadair CP-107, de Havilland Vampire, Dniproavia Flight 207, Embraer ERJ-145, F-16 Fighting Falcon, FedEx, FedEx Flight 80, Gemini 3, Ilyushin IL-76, John Young, Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, McDonnell Douglas MD-11, Pope Air Force Base, Royal Canadian Air Force, Transaviaexport Airlines, Virgil Grisson, Wings

First successful flight of the Wright Flyer in 1903, for which the Wright Brothers filed a patent on March 23, 1902.

2009 – FedEx Flight 80 crashes on landing at Tokyo Narita Airport, killing the pilots. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 F (N526FE) lands in heavy winds, causing a bounce and an eventual left roll. The aircraft ends up on its back and in flames.

2009 – Dniproavia Flight 207, an Embraer ERJ-145 (UR-DNE) slighty overruns the runway at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey, with its main gear still on the runway. Everyone on the aircraft escapes unharmed.

2007 – A Transaviaexport Airlines Ilyushin IL-76 (EW-78849) is shot down when one of three missiles fired at it hits its wing after departure from Mogadishu Airport in Somalia, killing all 11 occupants. Ironically, the aircraft had been there to recover salvageable parts from a fellow IL-76 (EW-78826) that received damage, but survived, a missile attack.

2005 – Airline Transport Flight 982, an Ilyushin IL-76 (ER-IBR) crashes into the water beyond Mawanza Airport in Tanzania. Using a takeoff configuration for a weight almost 10 tons lighter than its actual weight, the aircraft is unable to maintain its climb and the pilots are unable to react appropriately in time. All 8 on-board are killed.

2001 – A Luxor Egypt Boeing 707-300 (SU-BMV) is severely damaged during a hard landing at Monrovia-Roberts Airport in Liberia. Though all 182 occupants survive, the aircraft is written off.

2001 – Mir, the Russian Space Station, is intentionally broken up in the atmosphere during re-entry over the Pacific Ocean after 15 years of service

1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593, an Airbus A310 (F-OGQS) crashes in Mezhdurechensk, Russia, killing all 75 people on-board. While flying to Kai Tak Airport in Honk Kong, the Captain lets his two children into the cockpit. After his daughter performs a slight turn from the right seat, his son repeats it from the left seat. A conflict with the autopilot then causes a hard right bank, and the pilot’s ability to recover is hindered by the F/O’s seat being in the aft position and the Captain not even in his. The aircraft plummets for over two minutes before hitting the ground.

1994 – A USAF C-130E Hercules (68-10942) and an F-16D Falcon (88-0171) collide over Pope Air Force Base in Fayetteville, North Carolina, causing the F-16 to plummet into a Lockheed C-141B Starlifter (66-0173) as it is boarding troops for an airdrop mission. Of the 500 troops on the ground in the area, 23 are killed.

1991 – An Aeroflot Antonov An-24 (CCCP-46472) overruns the runway while landing at Navoi Airport in Uzbekistan. The aircraft slams into a pile of concrete slabs and catches fire, killing 34 of the 63 aboard.

1965 – Gemini 3, the US’ first two-man spaceflight launches. The spacecraft makes 3 orbits over 4 hours before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean not far from Turks and Caicos. Astronauts Virgil Grissom and John Young are reprimanded upon returning home after one of them brings a corned beef sandwich aboard, as the crumbs could have damaged flight systems.

1965 – A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair CP-107 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Puerto Rico during a night exercise, killing all 15 on-board.

1948 – A de Havilland Vampire sets a new altitude record of 59,446 ft.

1939 – The Slovak–Hungarian War begins as Hungarian Air Force planes attack Slovak Air Force headquarters in the city of Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people.

1932 – French aviators Lucien Bossoutrot and Maurice Rossi take off in their Bleriot 110 in which they would set a record closed-circuit distance of 6,587.442 miles at Oran, Algeria.

1921 – US Army Lieutenant Arthur Hamilton sets a new world record when he jumps by parachute from 24,400 feet.

1908 – French industrialist Lazare Weiller signs a contract with the Wright Brothers to establish a Wright Airplane Company in France, on condition that the brothers make two demonstration flights covering 50 km (31.1 miles) within a hour’s flying time. They will receive 500,000 Francs and half the founders’ share

1902 – The Wright Brothers file a patent for motorized flying machine based on a revised version of the glider they had successfully tested earlier.