• The
Vatican City Heliport, a
helipad in the
Vatican Gardens located in the westernmost
bastion of the
Leonine Wall, opens in
Vatican City.
January • January 1 • A bomb explodes in the forward cargo compartment of
Middle East Airlines Flight 438, a
Boeing 720-023B, at an altitude of over
Saudi Arabia. The airliner breaks up and crashes northwest of
Al Qaysumah, killing all 81 people on board. Responsibility for the bombing has never been established. •
Bell Helicopter becomes
Bell Helicopter Textron. • January 3 –
Aeroflot Flight 2003, a
Tupolev Tu-124V (registration CCCP-45037) enters clouds immediately after takeoff from
Vnukovo Airport in
Moscow. Its
artificial horizons fail, and the crew loses its spatial orientation, banking 95 degrees and diving the airliner into the ground west of the airport at a rate of descent of per second. The crash kills all 61 people on board and one person in a house on the ground. • January 5 – Two
hijackers commandeer
Japan Air Lines Flight 768, a
Douglas DC-8 with 223 people on board during a flight from
Manila, the
Philippines, to
Tokyo, Japan. The airliner returns to
Manila International Airport, where the hijackers surrender. • January 15 – A
Taxi Aéreo El Venado Douglas C-54A-5-DC Skymaster (registration HK-172) crashes into a cloud-covered mountain peak east of
Chipaque,
Colombia. The airliner strikes the mountain at an altitude of and falls into a canyon, killing all 13 people on board. • January 20 –
TAME Hawker Siddeley HS 748-246 Srs. 2A (registration HC-AUE/683), flying at an altitude of , loses altitude over mountainous terrain, strikes trees with its wing, and crashes into the side of a mountain near
Loja,
Ecuador, killing 34 of the 42 people on board. • January 21 • A
CAAC Airlines Antonov An-24 (registration B-492) crashes on approach to
Changsha Huanghua International Airport in
Changsha in the
People's Republic of China, killing all 40 people on board. • The world's first supersonic air passenger service begins, when the
Concorde begins commercial passenger flights for both
Air France and
British Airways. Air France makes its first Concorde flight from
Charles de Gaulle Airport in
Paris to
Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport in
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil with a stop at
Dakar,
Senegal, initiating a twice-weekly Paris-Rio de Janeiro service that will continue until 1982. •
Angola formally establishes the
People's Air Force of Angola.
February • February 9 –
Aeroflot Flight 3739, a
Tupolev Tu-104A (registration CCCP-42327), banks hards to the right on takeoff from
Irkutsk Airport in
Irkutsk in the
Soviet Union's
Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and crashes, killing 24 of the 115 people on board. • February 29 – A
Colombian man
hijacks an
Aerolineas Centrales de Colombia (ACES)
Saunders ST-27 (registration HK-1286) shortly after it arrives at
Medellín, Colombia, after a domestic flight from
Turbo and forces it to fly to
Chigorodó, Colombia, with 18 people on board. At Chigorodó, he allows eight passengers to disembark, then orders the airliner to return to Medellín, where police storm the plane during the evening and kill him.
March • March 2 – A
TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar IAI Arava 201 (registration TAM-76) on a military flight crashes in the
jungle in southeastern
Bolivia, killing 19 of the 22 people on board. The plane's wreckage is not found until March 4. • March 6 –
Aeroflot Flight 909, an
Ilyusin Il-18V (registration CCCP-75408), suffers an electrical failure that knocks out its
compass system, two main
gyroscopes, and
autopilot while it is flying at night at an altitude of . The crew loses its spatial awareness and loses control of the airliner, which crashes near
Verkhnyaya Khava in the
Soviet Union's
Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, killing all 111 people on board. • March 17 - A
Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 makes the first non-stop flight from
Tokyo to
New York, taking 11½ hours for the journey.
April • April 5 –
Howard Hughes dies aboard a
Learjet, aged 70. • April 7 – Three men
hijack a
Philippine Air Lines BAC One-Eleven during a domestic flight in the
Philippines from
Cagayan de Oro to
Mactan, demanding
US$300,000 and the release of a large number of prisoners. The airliner diverts to
Manila, where the hijackers receive the money and exchange all the passengers for a new set of hostages. Over the next six days, the hijackers force the plane to fly to
Kota Kinabalu and
Kuala Lumpur in
Malaysia and to
Bangkok,
Thailand. At Bangkok, Philippine Air Lines provides the hijackers with a
Douglas DC-8. The hijackers transfer to the DC-8, bringing 12 Philippine Air Lines employees with them as hostages, and force it to fly to
Karachi,
Pakistan, and then on to
Benghazi,
Libya, where the hijackers release the hostages and request
political asylum. • April 14 – The right
wing of the
Avro 748-105 Srs. 1 Ciudad de Corrientes (registration LV-HHB), operated by
YPF, fails due to
metal fatigue at an altitude of about during a staff transfer flight for the company, followed by separation of the right
tailplane. The rest of the plane corkscrews and crashes north of
Cutral Có,
Argentina, killing all 34 people on board. • April 24 – A 22-year-old male passenger board an
Avianca Boeing 727-59 (registration HK-1400) draws a
revolver and hijacks the airliner shortly after it takes off from
Pereira,
Colombia, for a domestic flight to
Bogotá. The plane lands at Bogotá, and he surrenders to the authorities there that evening. • April 27 –
American Airlines Flight 625, a
Boeing 727, crashes on approach to
St. Thomas in the
United States Virgin Islands, killing 37 of the 88 people on board. • April 30 – After a
Turkish Airlines Douglas DC-10-10 with 264 people on board takes off from
Paris′s
Orly Airport for a flight to
Istanbul,
Turkey, a
Turkish migrant worker who had lost his job and was being expelled from
France and sent home to Turkey hijacks the plane, demanding to be flown to
Marseille or
Lyon, France. The airliner returns to Orly Airport, where the hijacker surrenders two-and-a-half hours later.
May •
Uganda Airlines is founded. It will begin flight operations in
1977. • May 1–3 • Carrying 98 passengers, the
Pan American World Airways Boeing 747SP-21 Clipper Liberty Bell (registration N533PA) makes an around-the-world flight during which it sets several world records. Departing
John F. Kennedy International Airport in
New York City on May 1, it flies eastward nonstop to
Indira Gandhi International Airport in
New Delhi,
India, arriving on May 2 after flying at an average speed of 869.63 kilometers per hour (540.363 miles per hour), a record average speed for a commercial aircraft flying the route. It then flies nonstop to
Tokyo International Airport in
Tokyo, Japan, arriving on May 3 after covering at an average speed of 421.20 kilometers per hour (261.722 miles per hour), a record average speed for a commercial aircraft flying the route. It then flies its final leg, returning to John F. Kennedy International Airport with a nonstop flight of at an average speed of 912.50 kilometers per hour (567.001 miles per hour), a record speed for a commercial aircraft on that route. The flight takes 46 hours 1 second, of which 39 hours 25 minutes 53 seconds are in the air, and covers at an average speed of 809.24 kilometers per hour (502.838 miles per hour), a record average speed for an aircraft on an eastward around-the-world flight. • May 3 – A
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 (registration C-GDHA) operated by
de Havilland Canada suffers the failure of its No. 2 engine on takeoff from
Monze Airport in
Monze,
Zambia, and crashes beyond the end of the runway, killing all 11 people on board. • May 9 – An
Imperial Iranian Air Force Boeing 747-131F cargo plane operating as Flight 48 is struck by lightning near
Madrid,
Spain, causing the fuel tank in its left wing to explode and the wing to separate. The aircraft
crashes in farmland, killing all 17 people on board. • May 11 – British Airways Flight 888, a
Boeing 747-100 was on the finals at the old Kuala Lumpur Airport when it flew below the normal flight path, hitting trees 2.2 nautical miles before the runway threshold. On landing, inspection of the aircraft revealed damage on the main landing gear; strike marks on the fuselage and engine intakes; and evidence of debris ingestion on the two left-side engines. • May 15 – Flying at its cruising altitude of during a domestic flight in the
Soviet Union from
Vinnitsa to
Moscow,
Aeroflot Flight 1802, an
Antonov An-24V (registration CCCP-46534), experiences a sudden, sharp rudder deflection. It goes into a
spin and crashes southeast of
Chernigov in the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, killing all 52 people on board. • May 21–23 – Six
Muslim rebels
hijack Philippine Air Lines Flight 116, a
BAC One-Eleven 527FK (registration RP-C1161), during a domestic flight in the
Philippines from
Davao City to
Manila with 81 other people on board. They force it to fly to
Zamboanga Airport in
Zamboanga City, where they demand
$375,000 and a plane to fly them to
Libya. When Filipino security forces storm the plane on May 23, a gun battle breaks out and the hijackers detonate
hand grenades. Three hijackers and 10 passengers die, and the three surviving hijackers are arrested and later sentenced to death. • May 24 – Air France and British Airways simultaneously initiate
transatlantic Concorde service with flights to
Washington Dulles International Airport in
Virginia.
June • June 1 –
Aeroflot Flight 418, a
Tupolev Tu-154M, crashes into a mountain near
Bioko,
Equatorial Guinea, killing all 46 people on board. • June 4 –
Air Manila International Flight 702, a
Lockheed L-188A Electra (registration RP-C1061), crashes on takeoff from
Naval Air Station Agana on
Guam, striking an automobile as it slides across a highway.
The crash kills all 45 people on board the plane and the driver of the car and seriously injures a woman and her son, who are burned and struck by debris while standing outside their residence. • June 6 – A
Sabah Air GAF Nomad crashes at
Kota Kinabalu,
Malaysia, while on approach to
Kota Kinabalu International Airport, killing all 11 people on board. Among the dead are eight
Sabah officials, including Chief Minister
Tun Fuad Stephens. • June 27 – Two
Palestinians of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO) and two
West Germans –
Wilfried Böse and
Brigitte Kuhlmann – from the
Revolutionary Cells group
hijack Air France Flight 139, an
Airbus A300B4-203 with 256 other people on board on a flight from
Athens,
Greece, to
Paris,
France, and force it to fly to
Benghazi,
Libya, where they release one passenger. On June 28, they force the plane to fly on to
Entebbe International Airport near
Entebbe in
Uganda, where at least four more hijackers join them. Demanding the release of various prisoners in
Israel,
Kenya,
France,
Switzerland, and
West Germany, they release 149 more hostages over the next week, but continue to hold 106 hostages in the transit hall at the airport.
July • July 1 •
Clive Canning arrives in the
United Kingdom, having flown from
Australia in a
Thorp T-18 homebuilt aircraft. • The
National Air and Space Museum opens in
Washington, D.C. • July 3 – A
Burmese Air Force Douglas C-47 Skytrain crashes and burns near
Daiku,
Burma, killing all 17 people on board. • July 4 – In
Operation Entebbe, three
Israeli Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft carrying about 100
Israeli commandos land at
Entebbe International Airport at
Entebbe,
Uganda, to rescue the 106 passengers of
Air France Flight 139 still being held hostage in a transit hall there by
Palestinian and
West German hijackers. The Israelis kill seven hijackers and between 33 and 45 Ugandan soldiers, destroy 11
Ugandan Air Force MiG-17 fighters on the ground, and rescue 102 of the hostages; one Israeli commando is killed, three hostages die during an Israeli exchange of gunfire with the hijackers, and in retaliation for the raid Ugandan government forces murder the final hostage, who is being held at a hospital. • July 6 – A lone hijacker commandeers a
Libyan Arab Airlines Boeing 727 during a domestic flight in
Libya from
Tripoli to
Benghazi and forces it to fly to
Palma de Mallorca on
Mallorca in Spain's
Balearic Islands, where the hijacker surrenders to the authorities. • July 28 –
ČSA Flight 001, an
Ilyushin Il-18B, crashes into
Zlaté Piesky lake after its crew inadvertently engages
thrust reversal while attempting to land at
M. R. Štefánik Airport in
Bratislava,
Czechoslovakia, killing 76 of the 79 people on board and injuring all three survivors. • July 30 –
Prime Minister of Madagascar Joel Rakotomalala dies along with all three other people on board in the crash of a helicopter into the sea off
Madagascar.
August • August 1 – After his
1973 round-the-world attempt was aborted by bad weather between
Hokkaidō and the
Aleutian Islands,
Don Taylor of
California departs
Oshkosh,
Wisconsin, in the
United States, flying eastbound in his
Thorp T-18, beginning an attempt to become the first person to fly around the world in a home-built aircraft. He will complete his flight on
October 1. • August 3 –
Jerry Litton, a member of the
United States House of Representatives representing
Missouri's
6th Congressional District, and all five other people – Litton's wife, their two children, the pilot, and the pilot's son – aboard a
Beechcraft Model 58 Baron die when the plane suffers a broken
crankshaft in its left engine and crashes on takeoff at
Chillicothe Municipal Airport at
Chillicothe,
Missouri. • August 15 –
SAETA Flight 232, a
Vickers Viscount 785D, crashes into
Ecuador′s highest mountain, the
stratovolcano Chimborazo, at an altitude of , killing all 59 people on board. Its wreckage and the bodies of its crew and passengers will not be discovered until October 17, 2002. • August 23 – Three armed passengers
hijack an
Egyptair Boeing 737-266 with 101 people on board during a domestic flight in
Egypt from
Cairo to
Luxor. They demand to be flown to
Libya, but the plane is nearing Luxor at the time of the hijacking and the pilot tells them that it must land there because it does not have enough fuel to fly to Libya. After the airliner lands at Luxor, the hijackers demand the releaseof five prisoners who had plotted the assassinations of dissident
Libyan and
Yemeni political leaders. Late in the afternoon,
Egyptian Army commandos storm the plane at Luxor and arrest the hijackers. • August 28 • A
Vietnamese man hijacks an
Air France Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III with 20 people on board as it is about to depart
Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam, for a flight to
Bangkok,
Thailand. The plane flies to Bangkok, where he releases the passengers and crew, then detonates two
hand grenades as security forces approach the airliner to arrest him. The explosions kill him and damage the airliner beyond repair. • With its
weather radar out of order, a
United States Air Force Lockheed C-141A-LM Starlifter enters a very strong line of
thunderstorms over
Peterborough,
England. It apparently encounters a 100-mile-per-hour (161 km/h) vertical
downdraft which causes its right
wing, its
vertical stabilizer, and all four of its engines to fail. It crashes, killing all 18 people on board. • Attempting a
go-around at
Kangerlussuaq Airport in
Kangerlussuaq,
Greenland, a U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-141A-LM Starlifter
stalls, crashes, catches fire, and disintegrates, killing 23 of the 27 people on board.
September •
IRI-
Finmeccanica buys out
Fiat to become sole owner of
Aeritalia. • September 3 – On approach to
Lajes Field on
Terceira Island in the
Azores in heavy rain and
hurricane-force winds associated with
Hurricane Emmy after two previous failed landing attempts, a
Venezuelan Air Force Lockheed C-130H Hercules crashes into a hill short of the runway, killing all 68 people on board. Among the dead are 58 members of the
Central University of Venezuela choir bound for
Barcelona, Spain. At the time, it is the deadliest aviation accident in the history of
Portugal. • September 4 • Three
hijackers commandeer
KLM Flight 366 – a
Douglas DC-9-33RC (registration PH-DNM) with 84 people on board flying from
Nice, France, to
Amsterdam, the Netherlands – and demand the release of prisoners. They force the plane to fly to
Larnaca, Cyprus, where they surrender the next day. • An
Austin Airways de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter (registration CF-MIT) strikes power cables and crashes at
Fraserdale,
Ontario, Canada, killing all 10 people on board. • September 6 –
Viktor Belenko of the
Soviet Air Defense Forces defects to the West, landing his
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (
NATO reporting name "Foxbat") at
Hakodate Airport in
Hakodate, Japan. For the first time,
Western experts get a close look at a MiG-25. • September 9 –
Aeroflot Flight 31, a
Yakovlev Yak-40 (registration CCCP-87772) with 18 people on board,
collides head-on with Aeroflot Flight 7957, an
Antonov An-24RV (registration CCCP-46518) carrying 46 people, over the
Black Sea south of
Anapa in the
Soviet Union's
Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. Both aircraft crash, killing everyone on board, and sink in waters deep. • September 10 • Six hijackers take control of an
Air India Boeing 737-200 with 83 people on board during a domestic flight in
India from
Delhi to
Bombay. They force it to fly to
Lahore,
Pakistan. • In the worst mid-air collision disaster up to this time, all 176 people aboard the two aircraft die when a
British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident and an
Inex Adria Douglas DC-9 collide over
Zagreb,
Yugoslavia. This mid air collision was the deadliest
until 1996. • Five members of the
Croatian National Resistance hijack Trans World Airways Flight 355, a
Boeing 727 with 36 other passengers on board flying from
LaGuardia Airport in
New York City to
O'Hare International Airport in
Chicago,
Illinois, and divert it to land at
Mirabel International Airport in
Montreal,
Quebec, Canada. They then force it to fly to
Gander, Newfoundland (now
Newfoundland and Labrador), where they release 35 of the passengers. From there, they order the plane flown to
Reykjavík, Iceland, and finally to
Paris, France, where they release their remaining hostages and surrender. • September 14 – A U.S. Navy
Grumman F-14 Tomcat rolls off the deck of the aircraft carrier and sinks in international waters. A major salvage operation is launched to retrieve the fighter lest it fall into
Soviet hands. • September 18 – The legendary
test pilot Albert Boyd dies. • September 19 – During a night approach to a landing at
Antalya Airport in
Antalya, Turkey, with the
captain out of the
cockpit, the
first officer of
Turkish Airlines Boeing 727-2F2 Antalya, operating as
Flight 452, mistakes a long straight highway filled with truck traffic north of
Isparta for the runway at Antalya, which is away to the south-southeast. The captain reenters the cockpit and attempts an emergency climb from an altitude of , but the plane crashes into a hill, killing all 154 people on board. It remains the deadliest aviation accident on Turkish soil. • September 26 • The pilot and sole occupant of a stolen Aeroflot
Antonov An-2 crashes the aircraft into an apartment complex where his ex-wife lives in
Novosibirsk in the Soviet Union's Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, killing himself and 11 people on the ground. His ex-wife survives. • On approach to
Ingalls Field in
Hot Springs,
Virginia, a
Grumman G-1159 Gulfstream II operated by
Johnson & Johnson crashes into terrain below the airport's altitude, killing all 11 people on board. • A
United States Air Force Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker experiences a probable
cabin pressurization problem and crash-lands in rugged terrain southwest of
Alpena,
Michigan, breaking up and coming to rest in a swamp. The crash kills 15 of the 20 people on board.
October • October 1 –
Don Taylor of
California successfully completes a circumnavigation of the world eastbound in his
Thorp T-18, arriving at his starting point in
Oshkosh,
Wisconsin, in the
United States two months after his departure on
August 1. He becomes the first person to fly around the world in a home-built aircraft. • October 6 – Two time bombs planted by members of the
Cuban anti-Castro Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations group explode aboard
Cubana Flight 455, a
McDonnell Douglas DC-8, at shortly after takeoff from
Seawell Airport at
Bridgetown,
Barbados, starting an uncontrollable fire that incapacitates the flight crew. The plane crashes into the
Atlantic Ocean, killing all 78 people on board, including the members of the
Cuban national
fencing team. • October 13 – After its fatigued crew selects insufficient thrust for takeoff from
El Trompillo Airport in
Santa Cruz de la Sierra,
Bolivia, a
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano Boeing 707-131F cargo aircraft N730JP (registration N730JP) has an extra-long takeoff roll and then reaches an altitude of only before striking trees and crashing into a
football (soccer) field beyond the runway. The crash kills the entire crew of three and 88 people on the ground. It remains the deadliest plane crash in Bolivian history. • October 17 –
United States Air Force Colonel Ralph S. Parr retires from military service as one of the most decorated Air Force officers in history. Seeing action in
World War II, the
Korean War (during which he scores ten kills), and the
Vietnam War, he has received over 60 decorations, including a
Silver Star, a
Bronze Star Medal, the
Air Force Cross, 10
Distinguished Flying Crosses, and 41
Air Medals. • October 25 – After the No. 1 engine of a
Taxi Aéreo El Venado Douglas C-47-DL Skytrain (registration HK-149) fails shortly after takeoff from
El Yopal Airport in
Yopal,
Colombia, its crew attempts to return to the airport, but the airliner noses down, crashes, and burns from the airport, killing all 36 people on board. • October 28 – A
hijacker commandeers a
CSA Czech Airlines Ilyushin Il-18 with 105 people on board during a domestic flight in
Czechoslovakia from
Prague to
Bratislava and forces it to fly to
Munich,
West Germany, where the hijacker surrenders.
November • November 4 • Attempting to begin a
go-around after overshooting its approach at
Syamsudin Noor Airport in
Banjarmasin,
Indonesia, a
Bali International Air Service Fokker F27 Friendship 100 (registration PK-KFR), crashes short of the runway, killing 29 of the 38 people on board. • A
hijacker commandeers a
LOT Polish Airlines Tupolev Tu-134A during a flight from
Copenhagen,
Denmark, to
Warsaw,
Poland, and forces it to fly to
Vienna,
Austria, where the hijacker surrenders. • November 23 – On approach to
Kozani National Airport "Filippos" in
Kozani,
Greece,
Olympic Airways Flight 830, the
NAMC YS-11A-500 Isle of Milos (registration SX-BBR), crashes into a cloud-covered mountain southeast of the airport at an altitude of , killing all 50 people on board. It is the second-deadliest accident involving a YS-11 and at the time it is the second-deadliest aviation accident in Greek history. • November 28 – After an
artificial horizon failure in bad weather causes its crew to lose spatial awareness and bank too steeply shortly after takeoff from
Sheremetyevo Airport in
Moscow, an
Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-104B (registration CCCP-42471) crashes from the airport, killing all 72 people on board.
December •
Trans International Airlines purchases
Saturn Airways and merges Saturn's operations into its own. • December 17 – On a night approach in bad weather to
Zhulhyany Airport in
Kyiv in the
Soviet Union's
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, an
Aeroflot Antonov An-24 (registration CCCP-46722) strikes a concrete obstruction short of the runway and crashes into a railway embankment from the airport, killing all 48 of the 55 people on board. • December 19 – A
Piper Cherokee buzzes
Memorial Stadium in
Baltimore,
Maryland, minutes after the conclusion of a
National Football League playoff game between the
Baltimore Colts and the
Pittsburgh Steelers and crashes into the stadiums upper deck. There are no serious injuries, and the pilot is arrested for violating air safety regulations. • December 21 – A lone
hijacker commandeers a
United Air Lines Douglas DC-8 with three people on board parked at
San Francisco International Airport in
South San Francisco,
California, and demands to be flown to the
United States East Coast, but then surrenders. • December 25 –
EgyptAir Flight 864, a
Boeing 707-366C, crashes in an industrial complex in
Bangkok,
Thailand, while on approach to land at Bangkoks
Don Mueang International Airport, killing all 52 people on board and 19 people on the ground. • December 30 – About seven minutes after takeoff from
Trujillo Airport in
Trujillo,
Peru, a
Faucett Perú Douglas C-54A-1-DO Skymaster (registration OB-R-247) crashes into
Cerro Pintado north of the airport, killing all 24 people on board. == First flights ==