January ;8 January •
West Air Sweden Flight 294, a
Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200PF on a domestic cargo flight in
Norway from
Oslo to
Tromsø, suddenly descended after a brief
Mayday and crashed near
Akkajaure, Sweden, killing both crew. ;9 January •
Tracey Curtis-Taylor completed a solo flight from
England to Australia, in the
Stearman open-
cockpit biplane Spirit of Artemis. During the 100-day, flight, begun on 1 October 2015, she flew over 23 countries to recreate the first solo flight by
Amy Johnson between the two countries by a woman in 1930. ;14 January •
Air France retired the
Boeing 747 with a send-off formation flight with the
Patrouille de France aerobatic team, which departed
Charles de Gaulle Airport in
Paris and made a clockwise circuit around France before returning. Air France has operated 68 747s since 1974 which carried 250 million passengers, and will be replaced by Airbus A380s and
Boeing 777s on long-haul flights. ;28 January • Iran agreed to buy 12 A380, 16
A350-1000, 45 A330, and 45
A320-family aircraft from
Airbus in a
$27 billion deal but requires United States export licenses, where some Airbus parts are manufactured. Iran does not plan on delivery of them until ca. 2020 as airport expansions and more urgent
civil aviation needs come first.
February ;2 February •
Daallo Airlines Flight 159, an
Airbus A321-100 flying from
Mogadishu to
Djibouti City had an explosion which blew a hole in the fuselage and ignited a passenger who was sucked out at altitude. The airliner returned to Mogadishu and the burned body was found near
Balad, Somalia. Two others on board had minor injuries. ;18 February • The US government allowed
Boeing to enter into talks with airlines in Iran. Replacing Iran's aging fleet would be a significant sale for Boeing, although the company requires additional United States government approvals before selling aircraft. • Sir
Richard Branson unveils
Virgin Galactic's new
VSS Unity, a
SpaceShipTwo-class rocket-powered
suborbital spaceplane in
Mojave, California. ;22 February • British
Royal Navy test pilot Eric "Winkle" Brown died at the age of 97. He survived 11 aircraft crashes and the sinking of an
escort carrier, flew a record 487 different types of aircraft, and made 2,407 carrier landings, also a world record, and he made the first jet carrier landing, with a
de Havilland Sea Vampire in 1945. Although retired in 1970, he continued flying until 1994. ;24 February •
Tara Air Flight 193, a
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter on a domestic flight in
Nepal from
Pokhara Airport to
Jomsom Airport, crashes and burns near
Dana shortly after takeoff, killing all 23 passengers. ;26 February • An
Air Kasthamandap PAC 750XL crashes at
Chilkhaya, Nepal, killing both crew and injuring all nine passengers. •
Solar Impulse 2 made its first 90-minute test flight over the Pacific after repairs following being grounded in
Kalaeloa, Hawaii, on 3 July 2015 when the first manned
solar-powered aircraft circumnavigation attempt stopped with damaged batteries. They plan to resume in late April 2016, continuing on to
Phoenix, Arizona. ;29 February • Part of what appears to be skin from a Boeing 777
horizontal stabilizer is found on a
sandbar on the
Mozambique coast by a tourist, raising hopes that it is debris from
Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 missing since 8 March 2014. • The
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced a $20 million contract to
Lockheed Martin for a
Quiet Supersonic Technology demonstrator to reduce
sonic boom noise and damage, to allow "low-boom"
supersonic transports to be supersonic over populated areas.
March ;3 March • A man finds a piece of debris with a blue border on
Réunion on the
Indian Ocean near where he found a
flaperon from
Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in July 2015 raising hopes that it is from the same aircraft. ;9 March •
True Aviation Flight 21, an
Antonov An-26, suffered an engine failure shortly after takeoff from
Cox's Bazar Airport in
Bangladesh, and crashed into the
Bay of Bengal while attempting to return, killing three of the four on board and critically injuring the fourth. ;12 March • A South African family contacted authorities in
South Africa the previous week to report debris their son found on a
Mozambique beach on 30 December 2015 which they took to South Africa. Aviation officials will examine it to see if it is from Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. ;13 March • The accident investigation into the 25 March 2015 crash of
Germanwings Flight 9525 leads French authorities to call for stricter international monitoring of pilot mental health and guidelines under which doctors would report pilots whose psychological condition might put flight safety at risk. The French also urge German authorities to limit legal penalties on doctors breaching patient confidentiality in good faith to report psychological problems with pilots and to define "imminent danger" to flight safety. ;15 March • An
Ecuadorian Air Force IAI Arava carrying 22
Ecuadorian Army troops for
parachute training and an air force crew of three
crashes in Hacienda la Palmira near
Shell Mera, Ecuador, killing all on board. ;19 March •
Flydubai Flight 981, a
Boeing 737-8KN aborts two landings in poor visibility at
Rostov-on-Don Airport. During the second go-around, it crashes after an abrupt and rapid descent from an altitude of , killing all 62 occupants. It is
Flydubai's first fatal accident in seven years of operation. ;21 March • A South African
archaeologist finds debris on a beach in South Africa. The next day, a
Malaysia official announced that the debris bears an aircraft engine company logo and will be examined for any connection to Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. ;22 March •
Two bombs detonated at
Brussels Airport in
Belgium, killing at least 11 people and injuring around 100. The airport was closed until 3 April, with all flights re-routed. A third bomb later exploded at
Maelbeek (or Maalbeek) metro station in the
City of Brussels, killing 20 and injuring 130. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. ;27 March • The Portuguese
regional airline Portugália is rebranded as Tap Express. ;29 March • A man said to be wearing an explosive belt
hijacks EgyptAir Flight 181 Airbus A320-200 during a domestic flight from
Alexandria, Egypt to Cairo and forces it to fly to
Larnaca International Airport in
Larnaca, Cyprus. He is arrested and no one is harmed. • A chartered
Aero Teknic Mitsubishi MU-2 flying in bad weather
crashed into the
Gulf of St. Lawrence on approach to
Îles-de-la-Madeleine Airport in the
Magdalen Islands in
Quebec, Canada, killing all seven on board. Canadian television commentator and former
Minister of Transport Jean Lapierre, his wife, two brothers and a sister had been en route to Lapierre's father's funeral and are among the dead.
April ;3 April • The
Australian government stated that hotel guests on
Mauritius found the first debris possibly from the interior of missing
Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 Boeing 777 the previous week which will be examined to determine if it is from the missing airliner. • Limited flight operations resume at
Brussels Airport in
Zaventem, Belgium, by
Brussels Airlines who make three departures, following the
22 March terrorist bombings there. •
Alaska Airlines agrees to buy
Virgin America for
$2.6 billion including debt and leases in a deal worth about $4 billion. The combined airline has 1,200 daily departures and
hubs in
Anchorage, Alaska,
Seattle, Washington,
Portland, Oregon,
San Francisco, California and
Los Angeles, California. Virgin America began operations in 2007. ;13 April • A
Sunbird Aviation Britten-Norman BN-2T Turbine Islander crashes just short of the runway at
Kiunga, Papua New Guinea, killing all 12 occupants. ;17 April •
Air France resumes flights to Iran after an eight-year hiatus with a flight from Paris to
Imam Khomeini International Airport in
Tehran, beginning a three-times-per-week service. Air France joins Lufthansa and
Austrian Airlines in providing air passenger service between
Europe and Iran. ;29 April • A
Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma helicopter operated by
CHC Helikopter Service loses its main
rotor in flight while carrying oil workers from the
Gullfaks B oil field in the
North Sea to
Bergen Airport, Flesland, in
Norway, and
crashes on Norway's Skitholmen islet between the islands of
Turøy and
Toftøy, killing all 13 occupants.
May ;12 May •
Malaysia announced that debris from an engine cowling with a partial
Rolls-Royce logo found in March on the coast of
South Africa and an interior panel from an aircraft cabin found on
Rodrigues were "almost certainly" from
Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. ;18 May • A
Silk Way Airlines Antonov An-12 cargo airplane had an engine failure taking off from
Dwyer Airport in Afghanistan and
crashed, killing seven of the nine crew. •
Saab debuts its new
JAS 39 Gripen E fighter in a rollout at
Linköping, Sweden. ;19 May •
EgyptAir Flight 804 Airbus A320-232 crashed into the
Mediterranean south of
Karpathos due to a cockpit fire, killing all 66 occupants on a flight from Paris to
Cairo. ;27 May •
Korean Air Flight 2708 Boeing 777-300 aborted its takeoff due to an engine failure and fire at
Haneda Airport in
Tokyo, Japan and during the evacuation twelve of the 319 people were injured. ;28 May • A
World War II-era
P-47 Thunderbolt crashes into the
Hudson River off
Edgewater, New Jersey, killing its pilot.
June ;10 June • The F-35 Lightning II makes its international airshow debut when two
Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A aircraft perform at the
Luchtmachtdagen 2016 airshow at
Leeuwarden Air Base in the
Netherlands. ;15 June • The
Government of Egypt announces the discovery and imaging of the wreckage of
EgyptAir Flight 804 Airbus A320-232 in the Mediterranean which crashed on 19 May 2016, killing all 66 on board. ;16 June • The
cockpit voice recorder from
EgyptAir Flight 804 is recovered from a depth of about in the Mediterranean. ;17 June • EgyptAir Flight 804's second
flight data recorder is recovered from a depth of about in the Mediterranean. They were badly damaged prior to recovery and required repairs before data could be processed. •
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Administrator
Charles Bolden announces plans for the
X-57 Maxwell, a 14-motor, all-electric airplane at an
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference in
Washington, D.C., to spur the development of more energy-efficient and cleaner
general aviation aircraft. ;21 June • Boeing announced a tentative agreement for
Iran Air to buy
Boeing 737s and Boeing 777s airliners to replace its pre-1979 Boeings in the first major U.S. trade deal in Iran following the 2015 Iran-United States nuclear accord. It still faces political and regulatory hurdles, but the first new airliners could be in Iran in October 2016. The deal could be worth $25 billion, depending on how many are new or leased. ;29 June • After a nonstop transatlantic flight from
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort,
South Carolina, a
Royal Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II aircraft arrived at
RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom, making the first F-35 in the United Kingdom.
July •
Tunisair inaugurates its first
transatlantic service, operating between
Tunis and
Montreal. ;1 July • A Russian
Ministry of Emergency Situations Ilyushin Il-76 aerial firefighting airplane
crashed near
Lake Baikal while fighting a
forest fire, killing all 10 on board. The wreck was found on 3 July. ;10 July • At the
Farnborough International Airshow Boeing said they saw strong interest in a new mid-range airliner seating between 200 and 270, creating a new, larger market beyond that of the
Boeing 757 and
Airbus A321neo. It would cost $10 to $15 billion to develop and be the company's biggest potential product development over the next decade. ;14 July • Airbus and Boeing have their lowest airliner sales at the
Farnborough Air Show in six years, with deals for about 400 aircraft worth about $50 billion, half of the previous year's sales. American, European, and
Persian Gulf carriers made almost no deals, and only
Asian carriers made large orders. No orders are made for the Boeing 777,
Airbus A330neo, or
Bombardier C-Series, and
Airbus A380 production was greatly reduced. Industry analysts blame reduced sales on uncertainty over the global economy and on the United Kingdom's
23 June 2016 vote to leave the
European Union. ;20 July • A
network router fails in Southwest Airlines' computer system and back-up systems fail to activate, causing a 12-hour outage that cripples the airline's flight operations throughout the United States. Normal operations do not resume fully until 24 July, during which time Southwest cancelled about 2,300 of approximately 19,500 scheduled flights. ;22 July • An
Indian Air Force Antonov An-32 with 29 people on board
crashes in the
Bay of Bengal during a flight from
Tambaram, India, to
Port Blair in the
Andaman Islands. In January 2024, the wreckage of the aircraft was found. ;30 July • A
hot-air balloon operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides
caught fire and crashed in a field in
Maxwell, Texas, killing all 16 people on board in the deadliest ballooning accident in U.S. history and second-deadliest in world history, exceeded only by
a Luxor crash in
Egypt in February 2013 that killed 19.
August ;5 August • An
ASL Airlines Hungary Flight 7332 Boeing 737-476SF cargo aircraft slid off a runway at
Il Caravaggio International Airport in Italy while landing in bad weather conditions. It crashed through a perimeter fence onto a highway, narrowly avoiding oncoming cars but destroying several in an adjacent parking lot. Neither crew members are injured. The airport closed for three hours, and flights diverted to
Milan, Italy. ;8 August •
Delta's computer problems forced it to canceled 2,300 flights over three days, delaying tens of thousands of passengers and cost Delta $100 million in revenue. ;16 August •
Air Djibouti relaunches flight operations, using a
Boeing 737-400. It is the first time the airline has flown since 2002. ;17 August • The
Hybrid Air Vehicles Airlander 10 hybrid airship made its first flight, of 30 minutes, at
Cardington Airfield in
England. ;27 August • While
Southwest Airlines Flight 3472, a
Boeing 737-700 was flying to Orlando, Florida from
New Orleans, Louisiana the left
nacelle exploded at altitude, damaging the
fuselage and causing the cabin to lose air pressure. No-one is injured and an
emergency landing was made at
Pensacola, Florida. ;30 August •
Joe Sutter, the chief engineer leading the 2,700 engineers who designed the Boeing 747 in the 1960s, died at the age of 95.
September ;16 September • The United States Air Force announced the grounding of 13 of its own
F-35A Lightning IIs and two belonging to the
Royal Norwegian Air Force due to fuel tank insulation problems which also affect 42 undelivered F-35As. •
Bulgaria's national airline
Bulgaria Air announced that it will make commercial flights to the United States for the first time since the 1990s, beginning in March 2017. ;19 September •
United States Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James announced that a new bomber, the
B-21 Raider is under development by
Northrop Grumman for the U.S. Air Force's
Long-Range Strike Bomber program. The B-21 is expected be operational in the mid-2020s. ;20 September • Bulgaria Air confirms the lease of 14 new
Boeing 737 aircraft to replace the Airbus A320s it operates in a deal valued at more than $8 billion. ;28 September • A team from the
Netherlands investigating the July 2014 Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 crash in Ukraine announced that the airliner was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by a
Buk missile system smuggled from Russia into a pro-Russian separatist area of eastern
Ukraine a few hours before it fired on the airliner, and was returned to Russia the next day. They identified over 100 people involved in the operation and are investigating who ordered that it be fired. The team's findings matched those of American investigators, while the Russians dismissed some of the evidence. They said that its investigation was biased while Russian separatists in Ukraine said they have no access to surface-to-air missiles and said the airliner's destruction was caused by the Ukrainian armed forces.
October ;21 October •
Skol Airlines Flight 9375, a Mil Mi-8 helicopter with at least 22 occupants, crashed in Russia's
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, killing at least 19. ;24 October • A
Luxembourg-registered
CAE Aviation Fairchild SA227-AT Merlin IVC on a surveillance mission for the French
Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes crashed just after takeoff from
Malta International Airport, killing its crew of five. ;25 October •
World War II,
air show, and
test pilot Bob Hoover dies at the age of 94. ;28 October • The right engine of
American Airlines Flight 383 Boeing 767-300ER suffers an
uncontained failure during the airliner's takeoff roll at
O'Hare International Airport in
Chicago, Illinois, with pieces of the engine hitting a nearby building, but no one on the ground is injured. The
General Electric CF6 engine then catches fire. The crew aborts the takeoff and brings the plane to a stop before the end of the runway and all 170 people and a dog evacuate, with 20 having minor injuries. •
FedEx Express Flight 910, a
McDonnell Douglas MD-10-10F cargo aircraft has its
landing gear collapse as it lands at
Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Florida. The plane skids to a halt and a fire breaks out that destroys the left engine and
wing. The crew of three escaped. ;31 October •
Alfa Indonesia PEN Turbo DHC-4T Turbo Caribou crashed during a domestic flight from
Timika to
Ilaga, Indonesia, into the side of Ilaga Pass in
Papua, at an altitude of , killing all four on board. Its wreckage was found the next day.
November ;15 November •
Boom Technology unveiled its XB-1 Baby Boom supersonic technology demonstrator, a scaled-down version of a 45-passenger
supersonic airliner it hopes to fly in 2018, and have in service by 2023. ;22 November • Approximately 250
ABX Air cargo aircraft pilots go on strike, as the airline is violated their contract by assigning too many flights. ABX Air said this is illegal. The strike impacts deliveries for ABX Air's two biggest customers, Amazon and
DHL Express, as the 2016
Christmas shopping season begins. ;28 November • The first scheduled commercial airline flight between the United States and
Havana, Cuba since the early 1960s takes place as an American Airlines jet arrived at Havana's
Jose Marti International Airport. JetBlue initiated their Havana service later in the day. •
LaMia Flight 2933, a
Avro RJ85 crashed in Colombia after its crew declared electrical and fuel emergencies, killing 71 of the 77 people on board, including 19 members of the
Associação Chapecoense de Futebol team, and leaving all six survivors injured. Survivors included three team members, while a fourth died in hospital. ;29 November
December ;7 December • After an engine failure,
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 661 ATR 42-500 crashed near
Havelian, Pakistan, killing all 47 on board, including Pakistani actor, singer-songwriter, and televangelist
Junaid Jamshed. ;12 December • In the wake of the 7 December crash of Flight 661, Pakistan International Airlines grounds five ATR 42 and
ATR 72 airliners in its fleet after the
Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority tested all of them. ;18 December • Flying in poor weather, an
Indonesian Air Force C-130H Hercules with of food and
cement crashed on Mount Lisuwa while on approach to
Wamena Airport in
Indonesia, killing all 13 on board. ;23 December • Two supporters of the late Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi hijacked
Afriqiyah Airways Flight 209, an Airbus A320 during a flight in Libya from
Sebha to Tripoli, stated they had a
hand grenade and forcing the pilots to fly to
Malta where they demanded
political asylum and surrendered. No one was injured. •
Vesna Vulović, the sole survivor of the 26 January 1972
JAT Flight 367 crash, died at age 66. After the airliner broke up at altitude over
Czechoslovakia, she set a record for surviving the longest fall without a parachute, which still stood when she died. ;25 December • A Russian military
Tupolev Tu-154 transport
crashes into the
Black Sea after departing
Sochi International Airport in Russia, killing all 92 on board, including 64 members of the
Alexandrov Ensemble "Red Army Choir", Russian humanitarian
Elizaveta Glinka, known as "Doctor Liza", who was accompanying medicine for a hospital in Syria, and 9 journalists. ;31 December • Philippine Airlines announced they will join the
Oneworld airline alliance. It is the second southeast Asia airline to join, following
Malaysia Airlines. ==First flights==