On December 16, 1960, a United DC-8 plane headed for Idlewild Airport (JFK) collided midair with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation descending into LaGuardia. Following the crash, the DC-8 spiraled to the ground for a minute and a half. With debris falling over Prospect Park, the plane crashed into brownstones and a church on Sterling…
Thirty years ago a British Airways captain was sucked halfway out of his cockpit when a windscreen blew out at 17,300ft over Oxfordshire. He survived because a steward held onto his trouser belt and legs – and thanks to his co-pilot managing to make an emergency landing. It was June 10, 1990, and the flight…
Ukraine International Boeing 737-800 was not the first civil aircraft to be shot down by military action. Libyan Arab Airline flight On February 21, 1973, a Boeing 727 of Libyan Arab Airline, from Tripoli to Cairo was shot down by the army of the Israeli air above the Sinai desert. 108 of the 112 people…
Former France Boeing 747-100 was blown up at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, UK to test the effects of terrorist bombs as a part of the continuing research into the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster over Lockerbie, Scotland. (21December 1988)
The last remaining survivor of the Hindenburg disaster, Werner Gustav Doehner, who suffered severe burns to his face, arms and legs before his mother managed to toss him and his brother from the burning airship, has died. Doehner, the last among 62 passengers and crew who escaped the May 6, 1937 fire, was 90. The…
Qantas has launched a special website to help celebrate it’s 100th year. Qantas was founded 16 November 1920, with operations commencing in March 1921. Qantas is the third oldest airline by years of service, and third oldest continuously operated airline in the world behind KLM and Avianca. The airline was created in the regional Queensland…
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the record breaking London-Sydney flight of QF7441, a record that still stands. The flight was undertaken by the first Qantas 747, registration VH-OJA. Planning for the flight was secretive, had started 2 years previous and involved the cooperation of Boeing and Rolls Royce. The 747 had a range of…
New research suggests that Allied bombing raids during World War II reached the edge of space and temporarily weakened the ionosphere. The find came about when researchers at the University of Reading analysed recordings made at the Radio Research Station at Ditton Park near Slough in England. The station took the “longest continuous set of…
35 years ago today, Air Canada Flight 143 (C-GAUN) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Montreal-Dorval International to Edmonton International Airport with a stopover at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, Canada. The Boeing 767-233 was carrying 61 passengers and 8 crew members. C-GAUN taxiing at San Francisco International Airport in 1985. ACCIDENT The cockpit crew…
35 years ago today, Air Canada Flight 797 (C-FTLU) was an international passenger flight operating from Dallas/Fort International Airport, Texas to Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, Canada with an intermediate stop at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 was carrying 41 passengers & 5 crew members. C-FTLU, the accident aircraft involved ACCIDENT The cockpit crew…
Writer and Historian, John Bull, has written a 3 part article on how Pan Am Flight 18602 accidently became the first commercial plane to circimnavigate the world. The article tells the story of Captain Robert Ford and his crew onboard their Clipper as it was flying from Hawaii to New Zealand when they received word…
On this day in 1994, an Aeroflot A310-300 (F-OGQS) crashed into mountain range in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. The service between Moscow and Hong Kong crashed killing all 63 passengers and 12 crew members. It was found that no mechanical fault where present when the aircraft crashed. After a further investigation it was found that the cause of the accident was due…
