Portal:Aviation/Today in aviation

November 20

• 2010 – Two people were taken to Pensacola Naval Hospital for evaluation after landing an Air Force Beechcraft T-6 Texan II with the landing gear up. The names of the two crew members were not released after the 1300 hrs. incident, Pensacola Naval Air Station Public Affairs Officer Harry White said. Both people safely exited the plane, which landed at Forrest Sherman Field at the air station, White said. The aircraft and crew are assigned to the U.S. Air Force's 455th Flying Training Squadron at NAS Pensacola. The incident is being investigated by a board of officers, a NAS Pensacola news release said.

• 2009 – Interlink Airlines commences first every passenger flights from Wonderboom Airport outside Pretoria, South Africa. This is the first time the South African capital is connected to other centres in South Africa, instead of using OR Tambo International, Johannesburg. Flights started with 737-200 aircraft, although the runway is inadequate for these aircraft, so severe weight penalties, supposed to use BAe146 aircraft in the near future. Currently flights only to Cape Town and Durban.

• 2007 – A RAF HC.1 Puma ZA938 crashes. 2 SAS troopers die after the Puma troop transporter goes down in an urban area during a covert mission over Baghdad. Two other men from 22 Special Air Service Regiment were seriously injured in the crash although their condition is not thought to be life threatening. A further seven SAS and three RAF survived the impact and were later rescued by Coalition forces.

• 2006 – Flying imams incident: Six Muslim imams were removed from US Airways Flight 300 to Phoenix, Arizona, at Minneapolis airport, because several passengers and crew members became alarmed by what they felt was suspicious behavior.The airport police and Federal Air Marshal agreed the circumstances were suspicious enough to warrant asking the men to leave the airplane. The airline has stated that the captain delayed takeoff and called airport security workers to ask the imams to leave the plane; the men refused, and that the captain then called police. The plane left without the imams on board about three hours later. The imams were detained, questioned, and then released.

• 1993 – Avioimpex Flight 110, a Yakovlev Yak-42, crashed on approach to Ohrid Airport in Macedonia. All 116 passengers and crew died as a result of the crash though one passenger did live for 11 days before succumbing to his injuries.

• 1991 – 1992 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown occurred when an Azerbaijani helicopter MI-8 military helicopter, carrying peacekeeping mission team consisting of observers from Russia, Kazakhstan, government officials from Azerbaijan and several journalists, was shot down by Armenian military forces near the Karakend village of Khojavend district in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan. All 22 people (19 passengers and 3 crew) on board were killed in the crash.

• 1978 – The US Air Force orders development of the KC-10 Extender

• 1974 – Lufthansa Flight 540 crashes shortly after takeoff in Nairobi, Kenya; 59 of 157 on board are killed in the first crash of a Boeing 747.

• 1970 – The US Air Force and Army assault the Son Tay prison camp. No POWs are found.

• 1969 – Nigeria Airways Flight 825, a Vickers VC-10, crashes on approach to Lagos International Airport killing all 87 passengers and crew on board.

• 1967 – TWA Flight 128, a Convair 880, crashes in Constance, Kentucky on approach to Greater Cincinnati Airport, killing 70 of 82 persons on board.

• 1964 – Linjeflyg Flight 277, a Convair CV-340, crashes during the approach to Engelholm, Sweden, when, in instrument meteorological conditions, the crew abandons the set procedure and descends prematurely; 31 people are killed; 12 survive.

• 1963 – Tenth Lockheed U-2A, Article 350, 56-6683, delivered to the CIA on 24 April 1956, converted to U-2F by spring 1963; loaned to SAC for Cuba overflight missions, crashes into the Gulf of Mexico 40 miles (64 km) NW of Key West, Florida, killing pilot Capt. Joe Hyde, Jr. Pilot was returning from a Brass Knob mission and was hand-flying the aircraft back to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, at 69,000 feet (21,000 m) after failure of autopilot when it entered a flat spin and impacted in the Gulf. Wreckage retrieved from shallow water near Florida coast but ejection seat, seat pack and parachute missing - pilot never found.

• 1956 – It was announced that No. 435 (Transport) Squadron would move from Namao, Alberta to Capodichino, Naples, Italy to assist UNEF in the Egyptian-Israeli crisis.

• 1953 – Scott Crossfield flies the Douglas Skyrocket past Mach 2, the first flight to reach this speed. The world airspeed record is now set at 1,291 mph (2,078 km/h)

• 1949 – In the Hurum air disaster, an Aero Holland Douglas DC-3 crashes near Hurum, Norway, killing 34 of the 35 on board, including 25 Jewish children.

• 1948 – American balloon reaches a record height of 26 miles.

• 1945 – First flight of the Saab 91 Safir

• 1945 – The Boeing B-29 Pacusan Dreamboat sets a world nonstop distance record of 8,198 miles on a flight from Guam to Washington, D. C.

• 1943 – Battle of Tarawa - Operation Galvanic, the American invasion of the Gilbert Islands, begins with amphibious landings on Betio island at Tarawa Atoll and on Butaritari. The invasion is supported by 11 fleet and light aircraft carriers, eight escort aircraft carriers, and land-based aircraft of the U. S. Navy and the U. S. Army Air Force’s Seventh Air Force. To oppose them, the Japanese have only 46 aircraft in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands combined. During the evening, Japanese torpedo bombers hit the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVL-22) with on torpedo, forcing her to withdraw for repairs but losing eight of their number; it is the only damage Japanese aircraft inflict on any American ship during the Gilbert Islands campaign.

• 1942 – The completion of the Alaska Highway allows the opening of the Northwest Staging Route (or Alaska-Siberia (“Alsib”) Lend-Lease route). It includes flights of American-made aircraft from Great Falls, Montana, to Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska, where they are turned over to Soviet pilots who fly them to Nome, Alaska, and then on to Siberia. By December 31, the United States will have supplied 148 aircraft to the Soviet Union via this route.

• 1919 – The first municipal airport in the United States opens in Tucson, Arizona and is still in use today.

• 1917 – The Battle of Cambrai (1917) begins.

References

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