From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1961:
[edit] Events
[edit] January
[edit] February
- March 14 – A U.S. Air Force B-52F Stratofortress carrying two nuclear weapons crashes in Sutter County, California, west of Yuba City. The weapons do not arm and the eight-man crew ejects safely, although a firefighter responding to the crash is killed and several people are injured in a road accident.
- March 28 – Air Afrique is formed.
- May 3 – The Boeing Airplane Company changes its name to Boeing Company.[1]
- May 22[2] or 24 – To celebrate the 50th anniversary of naval aviation in the United States, five United States Navy McDonnell F4H-1F Phantom II fighters fly across the United States in less than three hours in Operation LANA. The fastest, flown by Lieutenants Richard F. Gordon, Jr., (pilot) and Bobbie Long [3] (radar intercept officer), sets a new record for a transcontinental flight across the United States, flying from Ontario, California, to Floyd Bennett Field in New York City in 2 hours 47 minutes at an average speed of 869.74 mph (1,400.28 km/hr) with three in-flight refuelings.[2] They receive the 1961 Bendix Trophy for their flight.
- May 30 – Viasa Flight 897, a Douglas DC-8-53, crashes in the Atlantic Ocean during a flight from Lisbon, Portugal, to Santa Maria Island in the Azores, killing all 61 people on board.
- July 1 – The Royal Air Force deploys Hawker Hunter combat aircraft to reinforce Kuwait, which is under threat from Iraq. Simultaneously it deploys Canberras and Valiant aircraft to Malta.
- July 11 – United Airlines Flight 859, a Douglas DC-8, strikes several ground vehicles and catches fire while landing at Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado. Of the 122 people on board, 18 are killed and 84 injured. One person on the ground also dies.
- July 19 – Trans World Airlines becomes the first airline to show regularly scheduled movies during its flights, presenting By Love Possessed to first-class passengers.[4]
- July 19 – Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 644, a Douglas DC-6, encounters severe turbulence during climbout 30 minutes after takeoff from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and crashes 12 km (7.5 miles) west of Pardo, Buenos Aires, killing all 67 people on board.
- July 21 – Alaska Airlines Flight 779, a Douglas DC-6 cargo plane operating under contract to the United States Air Force's Military Air Transport Service, strikes an embankment just before landing at Shemya Air Force Base on Shemya in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and crashes, killing the entire crew of six.
- July 24 – Deliveries of the McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo to the Royal Canadian Air Force commence.
[edit] August
- August 9 – The British Eagle Vickers 610 Viking 3B Lord Rodney, carrying a crew of three and taking 34 boys from a London school and two of their masters to a camping holiday crashes at Holta in Strand, Norway, killing all 39 people on board. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Norwegian history at the time.
- August 21 – A Canadian Pacific Air Lines Douglas DC-8 sets two world records during a single test flight. First, it reaches 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) at a weight of 107,600 pounds (48,807 kg), a new altitude record for a loaded transport jet. Then, in a dive from that altitude, it reaches Mach 1.012 with a true air speed of 662.5 mph (1,066.8 km/hr) at an altitude of 39,614 feet (12,074 meters), becoming the first airliner to break the sound barrier.[5]
- August 28 – In Operation Sageburner, a United States Navy McDonnell F4H-1 Phantom II fighter sets a low-altitude speed record, averaging 902.769 mph (1,452.826 km/h) over a 3-mile (4.82-km) course flying below 125 feet (38.1 meters) at all times.
- August 29 – A French military aircraft clips a cable of the aerial tramway connecting Pointe Helbronner and the Aiguille du Midi in the French Alps. Three cars of the tramway fall, killing five people. The pilot lands his plane safely.[6]
- August 31 – Chance Vought Incorporated and Ling-Temco Electronics merge to form Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc..[7]
[edit] September
- September 1 – Trans World Airlines Flight 529, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation, crashes near Hinsdale, Illinois, shortly after takeoff from Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois, killing all 78 people on board. It is the deadliest single-aircraft aviation accident in American history at the time.
- September 12 – The Hawker P.1127 makes its first transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and back
- September 12 – Air France Flight 2005, a Sud Aviation Caravelle, crashes 8.4 km (5.2 mi) short of the runway while on approach to land in bad weather at Rabat-Salé Airport in Morocco, killing all 77 people on board.
- September 14 – Two West German Luftwaffe F-84F Thunderstreak fighters stray off course into East German airspace. Pursued by a large number of Soviet Air Force fighters, the two West German planes manage to evade them in heavy cloud cover and land in West Berlin unharmed.
- September 17 – Due to a maintenance error, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes on takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, killing all 37 people on board.
- September 23 – A Turkish Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship 100 crashes into the hill Karanlıktepe in Ankara Province while on approach to Esenboğa Airport in Ankara, Turkey, killing 28 of the 29 people on board.
[edit] October
[edit] November
- The U.S. Air Force begins its Farm Gate counterinsurgency training mission in South Vietnam, teaching South Vietnamese Air Force personnel at Bien Hoa Air Base to fly T-28 Trojan trainer aircraft.[8]
- November 8 – The crew of Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8, a Lockheed L-1049 Constellation chartered by the United States Army to carry new recruits to Columbia, South Carolina, for training, mishandles fuel flow problems to the aircraft's starboard engines, then attempts an emergency landing at Byrd Field in Richmond, Virginia, where it crashes. Although all 79 people on board survive the impact, all but the captain and flight engineer die of carbon monoxide poisoning after they are trapped in the fuselage during a post-crash fire.
- November 14 – A Zantop Air Transport Douglas DC-4 cargo aircraft on final approach to Greater Cincinnati Airport in Hebron, Kentucky, crashes in a wooded area near the airport. Two of the three-man crew are injured.
- November 22 – The first aircraft carrier designed as such to be completed in France, Clemenceau, is completed at the Brest Arsenal at Brest.[9]
- November 22 – In Operation Skyburner, United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Robert B. "Bob" Robertson sets a new world absolute speed record of 1,606.3 mph (2,585.1 km/hr) in a McDonnell F4H-1 Phantom II.[2]
- November 23 – Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 322, a de Havilland DH 106 Comet 4, strikes eucalyptus trees immediately after takeoff from Viracopos-Campinas International Airport in Campinas, Brazil, and crashes. Its fuel tanks explode, and all 52 people on board die.
- November 25 – The U.S. Navy commissions its first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVA(N)-65).
- November 30 – Ansett-ANA Flight 325, a Vickers Viscount Type 720, crashes into Botany Bay just after takeoff from Sydney, Australia, killing all 15 people on board.
[edit] December
[edit] First flights
[edit] January
[edit] February
[edit] August
[edit] September
[edit] October
[edit] November
[edit] Entered service
[edit] February
[edit] September
- Sikorsky HSS-2 Sea King (redesignated SH-3 Sea King in 1962) with United States Navy Antisubmarine Helicopter Squadrons 3 (HS-3) and 10 (HS-10)[14]
[edit] October
[edit] References
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 66.
- ^ a b c Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 311.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 311, claims the radar inytercept officer's name was B. R. Young.
- ^ Today in History, The Washington Post Express, July 19, 2011, Page 37.
- ^ Wilkinson, Stephan, "The First Airliner to Go Supersonic," Aviation History, September 2011, p. 13.
- ^ "21 Dead in French Cable Car Crash," The Guardian, 1 July 1999 11:10 EDT
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 978-0-517-56588-9, pp. 429-430.
- ^ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 6.
- ^ Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1982, Part One: The Western Powers, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, ISBN 0-87021-418-9, p. 28.
- ^ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 7.
- ^ a b Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 8.
- ^ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 274.
- ^ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 74.
- ^ Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The King of the Sea", Naval History, February 2012, p. 12.
|
|
|
| General |
|
|
| Military |
|
|
| Accidents/incidents |
|
|
| Records |
|
|
