• The
United States Navy adopts the probe-and-drogue
aerial refuelling system.
January • January 6 – A
Royal Air Force Vickers Valetta T3 carrying a
rugby team
crashes at
Albury,
Hertfordshire,
England, in bad weather, killing 16 of the 17 people on board. • January 10 • A
de Havilland Comet 1, operating
BOAC Flight 781, crashes into the
Mediterranean Sea near
Elba following
fatigue failure, killing all 35 people aboard.
Australian broadcast journalist
Chester Wilmot is among the dead. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Italian history at the time. • A chartered
Grumman G-73 Mallard flying boat (registration N4949N) crashes due to
atmospheric icing into woods along the north shore of Wallace Lake, southeast of
Shreveport,
Louisiana, while on approach to
Shreveport Regional Airport, killing al 12 people on board.
Thomas Elmer Braniff, co-founder of
Braniff Airways, is among the dead. • January 11 – An
Avianca Douglas C-47A-80-DL Skytrain (registration HK-160) crashes into a mountain near
Manizales,
Colombia, killing all 21 people on board. • January 12 – A
CSA Czech Airlines Douglas C-47A-1-DK Skytrain (registration OK-WDS) fails to gain altitude after takeoff from
Praha-Ruzyne International Airport in
Prague,
Czechoslovakia, strikes a chimney and power lines, and crashes, killing all 13 people on board. • January 14 – The pilot of a
Philippine Air Lines Douglas DC-6 (registration PI-C294) loses control of the aircraft at an altitude of while approaching
Rome towards the end of a flight from
Beirut. The airliner crashes in
Italy east of
Roma-Ciampino Airport, killing all 16 people on board.
February • February 1 – A
United States Air Force Curtiss C-46D-15-CU Commando (registration 44–78027) suffers an in-flight fire while flying over
Japan. Its pilot attempts to
ditch the aircraft in the
Tsugaru Strait between
Honshu and
Hokkaido, but loses control of the plane. It crashes into the sea, killing all 35 people on board. • February 5 – A U.S. Air Force
Douglas C-47D Skytrain (registration 45-895) crashes into a snow-covered hillside about north of
Curry in the
Territory of Alaska, during a flight from
Ladd Air Force Base in
Fairbanks to
Elmendorf Air Force Base in
Anchorage, killing 10 of the 16 people on board.
Bush pilots rescue the six survivors. • February 9 – A
steam catapult is tested aboard a U.S. Navy
aircraft carrier for the first time, when a 15-
short-ton (13.6-
metric ton) metal mass is catapulted down the deck of the
attack aircraft carrier while she is anchored in
Puget Sound. • February 12 – A
Royal Air Force Avro Shackleton MR.2 crashes into the
Mediterranean Sea southwest of
Gozo,
Malta, while exercising with a
submarine, killing all 10 people on board the aircraft. • February 18 – A
Junkers Ju 52 (registration 1015/4S-5) of the
Aeronavale (the French naval air service) crashes into the side of a mountain near
Zaghouan,
French Tunisia, during a night flight, killing all 15 people on board. • February 23 – Flying a
Douglas XF4D-1,
Robert Rahm climbs to in 56 seconds.
March •
No. 845 Squadron,
Fleet Air Arm, begins service as the
Royal Navys first operational
antisubmarine helicopter
squadron. • March 3 – A
Royal Air Force Short Sunderland MR.5 flying boat porpoises, dives, and crashes during takeoff at
RAF Pembroke Dock in
Pembroke Dock,
Wales, in the
United Kingdom, killing seven of the 11 people on board. • March 4 – Flying from
Rome Ciampino Air Base outside
Rome,
Italy, to
Frankfurt–Hahn Airport outside
Kirchberg,
West Germany, in snow and low overcast, a
United States Air Force Douglas C-47A Skytrain's crew fails to correct for wind drift. The C-47A drifts off course, and crashes into a mountain near
Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée,
France, at an elevation of , killing all 20 people on board. • March 13 – Arriving from
Djakarta,
Indonesia, a
British Overseas Airways Corporation Lockheed L-749A Constellation (registration G-ALAM) lands short of the runway at
Kallang Airport in
Singapore and strikes a
seawall with its
landing gear, puncturing a fuel tank. It becomes airborne briefly before touching down on the runway, where its landing gear collapses, its right
wing breaks off, and it rolls to the right, coming to rest inverted. The crash kills 33 of the 40 people on board. • March 16 – Kuwait National Airways, the future
Kuwait Airways, begins flight operations with a fleet of two
Douglas Dakotas. • March 19 – A U.S. Air Force
Fairchild C-119F-FA Flying Boxcar (registration 51–7993) attempting to fly under
visual flight rules in
instrument conditions during a flight from
Bolling Air Force Base in
Washington, D.C., to
Mitchel Air Force Base in
Nassau County,
New York, crashes near
Lothian,
Maryland, killing all 18 people on board. • March 25 – An
Aeronaves de Mexico Douglas C-53-DO Skytrooper (registration XA-GUN) waiting for permission to land at
Del Norte Airport outside
Monterrey,
Mexico, after a scheduled flight from
Mazatlán Airport in
Mazatlán, Mexico, crashes into
Friar's Peak, killing all 18 people on board. • March 28 – After a successful mail-drop mission at
Bear Island,
Norway, a
Royal Norwegian Air Force Boeing Canada Catalina IVB attempts a low pass over the island at an altitude of . Its right wing hits the ground during a right turn and it crashes, killing eight of the nine people on board. • March 30 – A U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-119F Flying Boxcar suffers engine failure on takeoff from
Pope Air Force Base in
Fayetteville,
North Carolina. It strikes a
United States Army building housing a mess hall at neighboring
Fort Bragg and crash-lands on a parade ground, killing five of the nine people on board and two soldiers in the mess hall and injuring five other people on the ground.
April • As French fortunes wane in the
Battle of Dien Bien Phu in northwestern
Vietnam, the
Chairman of the U.S.
Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Admiral Arthur W. Radford, places U.S. Navy aircraft carriers on a 12-hour alert to intervene. •
Aer Lingus introduces the
Vickers Viscount 700, its first
turboprop airliner, into its fleet. • April 1 – The last operational flight by a
Royal Air Force Spitfire takes place. It is a
photographic reconnaissance sortie against bandits in
Malaya. • April 3 – A
Devlet Hava Yolları Douglas C-47A-80-DL Skytrain crashes 15 minutes after takeoff from
Adana Airport in
Adana,
Turkey, for a flight to
Istanbul-Yesilköy Airport in
Istanbul, killing all 25 people on board. • April 8 • A
de Havilland Comet 1, operating
South African Airways Flight 201 from Rome to
Cairo and
Johannesburg, disintegrates in mid-air over the
Mediterranean Sea near
Naples following
fatigue failure, killing all 14 passengers and seven crew. • A
Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a
Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over
Moose Jaw,
Saskatchewan,
Canada, killing 36 people aboard the two aircraft and one person on the ground. • April 13 • A
Société Indochinoise de Ravitaillement Lockheed C-60A-5-LO Lodestar (registration F-OALK) crashes on takeoff at
Xiengkhouang,
Laos, killing 16 of the 23 people on board. • A
Chilean Air Force Douglas C-47-DL Skytrain with nine passengers, five crew members, and a cargo of of meat on board crashes near
Batuco,
Chile, during a domestic flight from
Santiago to
Los Cóndores Air Base in
Iquique, killing all 14 people on board. • April 20 – A
United States Air Force Kaiser-Frazier C-119F Flying Boxcar on
instrument approach to
Burbank Airport in
Los Angeles County,
California, after a flight from
Williams Air Force Base in
Mesa,
Arizona, crashes into a fog-shrouded ridge on
Mission Point, killing all seven people on board. • April 23 – After its crew decides to divert to
La Rioja,
Argentina, during a flight from
El Plumerillo Airport in
Mendoza to
Pajas Blancas Airport in
Córdoba due to severe turbulence in the Córdoba area, an
Aerolineas Argentinas Douglas C-47A-5-DK Skytrain (registration LV-ACX) flies too low and crashes in mountainous terrain near
Sierra del Vilgo, killing all 25 people on board. The wreckage is discovered on April 26.
May • May 1 – The
Myasishchev M-4, the first
Soviet bomber purportedly designed to reach the
United States and return to the Soviet Union, is displayed to the public for the first time. In reality, however, it lacks the range to reach the United States and return. • May 6 – A
United States Navy Martin PBM-5 Mariner flying boat crashes into a ridge in mountainous terrain near
Caricitas,
Mexico, killing all 10 people on board. • May 26 – A
hydraulic catapult explodes aboard the U.S. Navy
attack aircraft carrier while she is steaming in
Narragansett Bay off
Naval Air Station Quonset Point,
Rhode Island, killing 104 men and injuring 201. • May 28 –
United States Air Force Major Arthur W. Murray flies the
Bell X-1A to a world-record altitude of . • May 31 – A
Transportes Aéreos Nacionales Douglas C-47A-80-DL Skytrain (registration PP-ANO) strays off course during a flight in
Brazil from
Governador Valadares Airport in
Governador Valadares to
Belo Horizonte-Pampulha Airport in
Belo Horizonte and crashes into
Mount Cipó in the
Serra do Cipó Mountains, killing all 19 people on board.
June • June 3 – Near
Maribor,
Yugoslavia, a
Yugoslav Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (
NATO reporting name "Fagot") attacks a
Sabena Douglas DC-3 (registration OO-CBY) on a cargo flight from the
United Kingdom to Yugoslavia, inflicting significant damage on it, killing its radio operator, and wounding its
captain and
flight engineer. Its copilot makes a forced landing at
Graz Airport in
Austria. • June 6 –
Orient Airways begins service between
East Pakistan and
West Pakistan, flying a route from
Karachi to
Dhaka. • June 19 • The
Swissair Convair CV-240 Ticino runs out of fuel and
ditches in the
English Channel off
Folkestone,
Kent,
England. Three of the nine people on board die in
the accident, and all six survivors are injured. • A
Mexican Air Force Douglas C-47 Skytrain crashes into a mountainside near
Ixtlahuaca,
Mexico, killing all 22 people on board. • June 21 • A
Royal Air Force Douglas Dakota C.4 (registration KN647) crashes into a hill during a night approach to
Eastleigh Airport in
Nairobi,
Kenya, killing all seven people on board. • Three
United States Air Force B-47 Stratojets cross the
Pacific Ocean in under 15 hours. • June 27 • A
P-38M Lightning fighter flown by an American pilot employed by the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – part of the covert CIA-run "Liberation Air Force" in support of rebel Guatemalan
Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas – attacks the British cargo ship with
napalm bombs at
Puerto San José,
Guatemala, while she unloads a cargo of
coffee and
cotton, setting her on fire and sinking her. The CIA station chief in Guatemala had ordered the attack under the belief that the ship was unloading arms for the
Government of Guatemala. • Arriving from
Altus Air Force Base in
Altus,
Oklahoma, a U.S. Air Force
Boeing KC-97G-25-BO Stratofreighter (registration 52–2654) crashes into
Box Springs Mountain north of
Riverside,
California, while attempting to divert from its destination,
March Air Force Base in Riverside, to
Norton Air Force Base in
San Bernardino, California, due to poor weather at Riverside. The crash kills all 14 people on board. • June 30 – R. W. Blackwood and Bill Lyles of
The Blackwood Brothers singing group die along with a third man when the
Beechcraft Model 18 Blackwood is piloting
stalls and crashes after Blackwood aborts a practice landing at
Clanton,
Alabama. • Star
University of Alabama halfback John McBride is one of two men killed in the crash of a
United States Army trainer during a
Reserve Officer Training Corps training flight at
Kelly Air Force Base,
Texas. • July 22 –
Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force Lavochkin La-7 fighters shoot down the
Cathay Pacific Airways Douglas C-54A-10-DC Skymaster VR-HEU off the coast of
Hainan Island, forcing it to
ditch. Ten of the 19 people aboard are killed in the attack and crash landing.
South Vietnamese,
French,
Royal Air Force, and
United States Air Force aircraft participate in rescuing the survivors. • July 26 – Two Peoples Republic of China
Lavochkin La-7s attack three U.S. Navy aircraft – two
AD Skyraiders and an
F4U Corsair – searching for survivors from the Cathay Pacific Airways flight. The American aircraft shoot them both down.
August • August 3 –
No. 1321 Flight RAF formed at
RAF Wittering in eastern England to bring the British
Blue Danube (nuclear weapon) into service with
Vickers Valiant aircraft. • August 6 – The
West German airline
Luftag acquires the name and logo of the defunct airline
Deutsche Luft Hansa. Renamed
Lufthansa, it will begin flight operations in
April 1955. • August 9 – Three minutes after takeoff from
Lajes Field on
Terceira Island in the
Azores, for a flight to
Bermuda, an
Avianca Lockheed L-749A-79 Constellation (registration HK-163) crashes into high ground near
Monte de Boi at an altitude of , killing all 30 people on board. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident in
Portugal's history at the time. • August 16 – An
Air Vietnam Bristol Type 170 Freighter on a domestic flight in
Vietnam from
Hanoi to
Saigon carrying refugees from the
Red River delta suffers engine trouble and attempts to divert to an emergency landing at
Pakse,
Laos. While on approach to Pakse, it crashes into a tributary of the
Mekong River, killing 47 of the 55 people on board. It is the deadliest aviation accident in the history of newly independent Laos at the time and will be the deadliest in history involving a Bristol Freighter. • August 22 – A
Braniff Airways Douglas C-47-DL Skytrain (registration N61451) on a flight from
Waterloo,
Iowa, to
Mason City, Iowa, crashes after entering a
thunderstorm near Mason City, killing 12 of the 19 people aboard. • August 23 – A
KLM Douglas DC-6B (registration PH-DFO) on a flight from
Shannon Airport in
Shannon,
Ireland, to
Schiphol Airport in
Amsterdam, the
Netherlands, crashes into the
North Sea off the Dutch coast, killing all 21 people aboard. The investigation of the accident lasts until November 1955, when it concludes without establishing a cause for the crash. • August 25 – The top-scoring American jet ace in history, U.S. Air Force
Captain Joseph C. McConnell, dies in the crash of an
F-86H Sabre fighter-bomber when its controls malfunction during a test flight at
Edwards Air Force Base,
California.
September • September 1 – The
United States Department of Defense establishes the
Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), with the
United States Air Force as its executive agent. CONAD's primary mission is the defense of the
continental United States from air attack. • September 3 – At the Dayton Air Show, being held for the first time at
James M. Cox-Dayton Municipal Airport in
Dayton,
Ohio,
United States Air Force Major John L. "Jack" Armstrong, sets a world speed-over-distance record over a course, flying an
F-86H-1-NA Sabre (serial number
52-1998) at an average speed of . • September 4 – Two Soviet
MiG fighters fire on a U.S. Navy
P2V Neptune patrolling off the east coast of the Soviet Union. It remains unclear whether the Neptune had remained over
international waters during its flight or had violated Soviet
airspace. • September 5 •
KLM Flight 633, a
Lockheed L1049 Super Constellation,
ditches on a mudbank in the
River Shannon after takeoff from
Shannon Airport in
Ireland, killing 28 of the 56 people on board. • Attempting to break the speed record he set on 3 September, U.S. Air Force Major John L. "Jack" Armstrong dies when his F-86H Sabre disintegrates in flight during the National Aircraft Show at Dayton, Ohio. • September 12 • Returning to
Santos Dumont Airport in
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, because of bad weather at its intended destination,
São Paulo, and with one propeller feathered due to severe vibrations, a
Cruzerio do Sul Douglas C-47A-70-DL Skytrain (registration PP-CDJ) comes in too high on final approach, overshoots the runway, and crashes in
Guanabara Bay, killing six of the 30 people on board. • Twelve minutes after takeoff from
Thule Air Base in
Greenland for a flight to
Westover Air Force Base in
Massachusetts, the pilot of a U.S. Air Force
Douglas C-124C Globemaster II (registration 52–1052) declares an emergency and attempts to return to Thule. The aircraft crashes short of Thule, killing 10 of the 15 people on board. • September 25 –
Karen rebels
hijack a
Union of Burma Airways Douglas C-47A-20-DK Skytrain (registration XY-ACT) during a domestic flight in
Burma from
Rangoon to
Akyab and force it to land on a deserted beach, intending to use it to smuggle guns. When they discover that the plane is carrying heavy metal chests containing cash being transferred between bank branches, they drop their smuggling plans and instead steal the money from the plane and escape. • September 28 – A
United States Navy Martin P5M-1 Marlin flying boat crashes on takeoff in bad weather from
Naval Station Sangley Point on
Luzon in the
Philippines, killing 12 people.
October • The
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA),
United States Air Force, and
United States Navy form the NACA-Air Force-Navy Research Aircraft Committee to develop a
Mach 6 rocket-boosted
hypersonic research aircraft. It is the beginning of the
North American X-15 program; the committee later will be known as the X-15 Committee. • October 12 –
North American Aviation chief
test pilot and
World War II ace George Welch is killed in the crash of a
North American F-100A Super Sabre during a test flight, resulting in the grounding of all F-100A aircraft. • October 13 –
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Lieutenant B. D. Macfarlane successfully ejects from underwater after his
813 Naval Air Squadron Westland Wyvern flames out and
ditches in the
Mediterranean Sea on launch from the
aircraft carrier and is cut in two by the carrier. He suffers only minor injuries. • October 24 – A U.S. Air Force
Douglas C-47A-90-DL Skytrain (registration 43–16044) strays off course during a flight from
Rome Ciampino Airport in
Rome,
Italy, to
Lyon-Bron Airport in
Lyon,
France, and crashes into a mountainside in the
Maritime Alps west of
Limone Piemonte, Italy, at an altitude of , killing all 21 people on board. • October 27 – The
Douglas X-3 Stiletto supersonic research aircraft makes its 36th and most significant flight. During the flight,
test pilot Joseph A. Walker experiences violent instability as the X-3 exhibits "
roll inertia coupling" – in which a maneuver in one axis causes an uncommanded maneuver in one or two others, a phenomenon also experienced in several incidents involving
North American F-100A Super Sabres – and comes close to breaking up. Walker regains control of the aircraft and lands safely. Findings from the flight contribute to saving the F-100 program. • October 28 –
Aeroflot Flight 136, an
Ilyushin Il-12 (registration CCCP-L1789) on a domestic flight in the
Soviet Union from
Irkutsk Airport in
Irkutsk to
Krasnoyarsk Airport in
Krasnoyarsk, flies into the side of
Mount Sivukha, killing all 19 people on board.
Wu Chuanyu, a swimmer who had competed in the
1948 Summer Olympic Games for the
Republic of China and in the
1952 Summer Olympic Games as the first Olympic representative of the
People's Republic of China in history, is among the dead. • October 30 • A
United States Navy Lockheed R7V-1 Constellation vanishes over the
North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of
Maryland during a flight from
Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to
Lajes Field in the
Azores. The search for the missing aircraft will end on November 4 because of extreme weather conditions, and no sign of the plane or the 42 people on board is ever found. • American
racing car driver and president of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Wilbur Shaw dies along with the other two men on the plane when a
Cessna crashes into a corn field and breaks up near
Decatur,
Indiana. • November 17 – A U.S. Air Force B-47 Stratojet is forced by bad weather to remain aloft for 47 hours 35 minutes, needing nine
aerial refuellings. • November 25 – Hungary acquires all of the
Soviet Union's shares of Maszovlet and renames the airline
Malév Hungarian Airlines. • November 30 –
West Germany establishes its national
civil aviation authority, the
Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Aviation Office).
December • December 4 – The first commercial flight by
Air Laos – from
Vientiane to
Muang Sing with stops at
Luang Prabang and
Luang Namtha by a
Douglas C-47A-70-DL Skytrain (registration F-BEIA) – ends in tragedy when the aircraft crashes during the Luang Prabang-to-Luang Namtha leg, killing all 28 people on board. • December 8 – A
Hellenic Air Force Douglas C-47 Skytrain crashes at
Elefsis Air Base in
Greece, killing all 19 people on board. • December 17 –
President Dwight D. Eisenhower presents
James H. "Dutch" Kindleberger and the
North American Aviation F-100 Super Sabre design team with the
Collier Trophy in recognition of their contributions to aviation. • December 18 – Making its fourth attempt to land at
Idlewild Airport in
Queens,
New York, a
Linee Aeree Italiane Douglas DC-6B (registration I-LINE) strikes the pier supporting Runway 04's slope line approach lights,
crashes in flames, and sinks in
Jamaica Bay, killing 26 of the 32 people on board. • December 22 –
Johnson Flying Service Flight 4844C, a Douglas C-47A-90-DL Skytrain (registration N24320) on a civil air movement flight of military personnel to
Tacoma,
Washington, ditches in the
Monongahela River near
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, due to fuel exhaustion during a leg of its flight from
Newark Metropolitan Airport in
Newark,
New Jersey, to
Allegheny County Airport in Pittsburgh, killing 10 of the 28 people on board. • December 25 – The
British Overseas Airways Corporation Boeing 377 Stratocruiser G-ALSA
crashes on landing at
Glasgow Prestwick Airport from London in poor visibility at 03:30, killing 28 of the 36 passengers and crew on board. • December 31 – An
Aeroflot airliner – possibly an
Ilyushin Il-14 – crashes on takeoff from
Irkutsk Airport in
Irkutsk in the
Soviet Union, killing all 17 people on board. == First flights ==