2002 in aviation

Years in aviation:	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Centuries:	20th century · 21st century · 22nd century
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years:	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

This is a list of aviation-related events from 2002:

Events

• A depression in North American commercial aviation begins in the aftermath of an economic recession and the 11 September attacks of 2001.

January

• 5 January – A Cessna 172 piloted by high-school student Charles J. Bishop crashes into the side of the Bank of America Plaza in downtown Tampa, Florida, killing the teenager and damaging an office.
• 16 January – Both engines of a Boeing 737-3Q8 operating as Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 with 60 people on board flame out while the aircraft is flying through a thunderstorm with heavy rain and hail during an Indonesian domestic flight from Ampenan on Lombok to Yogyakarta on Java. Unable to restart the engines, the pilots attempt to ditch the aircraft in the Bengawan Solo River on Java. A flight attendant is sucked from the aircraft after it strikes a rock; she is the only fatality.

March

• 4 March – Ansett (Mark II) permanently ceases operations.
• 8 March – A Portuguese Air Force 201 Squadron F-16 crashes in Monte Real while landing, killing the pilot.
• 31 March – Swiss International Air Lines begins operations, taking over many routes from bankrupt Swissair.

April

• 9 April – A Portuguese Air Force 552 Squadron Alouette III crashes, killing the three crewman.
• 15 April – Air China Flight 129 a Boeing 767, crashes at a mountainside near Busan. 128 of 166 on board are killed.
• 18 April – A Rockwell Commander 112 crashes into the upper floors of the Pirelli Tower in Milan, Italy, killing its pilot and four people in the building. Sixty more people in the building and on the ground sustain injuries .

May

• 4 May – EAS Airlines Flight 4226 a BAC One-Eleven, crashes shortly after takeoff in Kano, Nigeria, killing 75 people on board and 73 on the ground.
• 7 May – EgyptAir Flight 843, a Boeing 737-566, crashes near Tunis, Tunisia, killing 14 of the 62 people on board.
• 25 May – China Airlines Flight 611, a Boeing 747-200B, breaks apart in flight and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 passengers and crew. An investigation blames the accident on metal fatigue caused by inadequate maintenance 22 years earlier.

July

• 1 July
  • Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154, collides with DHL Flight 611, a Boeing 757, over Germany, killing all 69 on the Tu-154 and the two pilots on the DHL 757.
  • The captain and first officer of America West Flight 556, an Airbus A319 with 132 people on board, are arrested at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, for being legally drunk just after pushback from the gate for a flight to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. They later are jailed.
• 4 July – An Egyptian-American man, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, opens fire on the El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, killing two Israelis and wounding four other people before an El Al security guard shoots him to death.
• 7–14 July – The 15th FAI World Precision Flying Championship takes place in Zagreb, Croatia. The individual winners are 1. Lubos Hajek (Czech Republic, in a Cessna 152), 2. Janusz Darocha (Poland, in a Cessna 152), 3. Predrag Crnko (Croatia, in a Cessna 150). Team winners are 1. the Czech Republic, 2. Poland, 3. Croatia.
• 17 July – Midway Airlines suspends operations.
• 27 July – A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter plane crashes into a crowd of spectators at an air show in Sknyliv near Lviv, Ukraine, killing 77.
• 29 July – Vanguard Airlines ceases operations. The next day it files for reorganization under Chapter 11 of United States bankruptcy law.
• July–December – Italian conservationist and pilot Angelo d'Arrigo guides a flock of 10 endangered Western Siberian cranes bred in captivity with a foot-launched powered hang glider 5,500 km ( miles) from the Arctic Circle in Siberia across Kazakhstan to the shores of the Caspian Sea in Iran, avoiding Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he feared the birds would fall victim to the abundant guns there.

August

• 10 August – US Airways files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• 13 August – Midway Airlines files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

October

• 18 October – Boeing reveals its Bird of Prey stealth technology demonstrator, which has conducted a number of flights during the period 1996 to 1999.
• 25 October – United States Senator Paul Wellstone and all seven other people on board die in the crash of a Beechcraft King Air A100 into dense forest two miles (3.2 km) short of the runway as it attempts to land at Eveleth, Minnesota.

November

• 6 November – National Airlines, already operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, permanently ceases operations.
• 18 November – American Airlines and British Airways announce plans to codeshare some transatlantic flights, but the partnership is heavily restricted by US regulators.

December

• 9 December – United Airlines files for Chapter 11 reorganization, the largest airline bankruptcy in US history.

First flights

Section Source:

January

• 15 January – Millennium Jet SoloTrek XFV
• 15 January – Airbus A318
• 23 January – IITB PADD Micro airship

February

• 11 February – Airbus A340-500
• 16 February – WD D5 Evolution
• 19 February – Embraer 170
• 27 February – Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign
• February ?? – Socata TBM 700C2

March

• 4 March – Van's RV-9
• 7 March – Aviat Husky Pup
• 28 March – AATG AT-10 airship

April

• 4 April – Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk
• 21 April – Irkut A-002
• 26 April – Extra 500
• 29 April – Saab AB JAS 39C Gripen

May

• 18 May – Tomair Cobra Arrow
• 22 May – Zlin Z 400 Rhino
• 22 May – Boeing X-45
• 29 May – Aceair Aeriks A-200
• 31 May – Toyota TAA-1

June

• 1 June – Aero L159B
• 22 June – Tupolev Tu-214VSSN
• 28 June – CAC J-10
• 30 June – 21st Century Airships SPAS-R1

July

• 1 July – Pilatus PC-21
• 9 July – CargoLifter Scala
• 11 July – Adam A500
• 18 July – Boeing YAL-1A Airborne Laser (ABL)
• 31 July – Boeing 747-400ER

August

• 1 August – Scaled Composites White Knight
• 5 August – BAE Systems Hawk NDA
• 20 August – KAI T-50 Golden Eagle
• 26 August – Eclipse Aviation Eclipse 500
• 31 August – Learjet 40

September

• 18 September – GE90-115B, world's most powerful jet engine
• 20 September – BAE Systems Harrier GR Mk 7A

November

• 9 November – MVEN MVEN-1 Fermer
• 30 November – Sauper Aviation Papango

December

• 9 December – Diamond Twin Star
• 12 December – Grob G 140TP

Entered service

• Airbus A340-600 with Virgin Atlantic Airways

March

• 18 March – HAL Dhruv with the Indian Coast Guard