Tag: aviation history
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Chuck Yeager Broke the Sound Barrier at Mach 1.06. He Flew an Experimental Orange Rocket Plane Despite Two Broken Ribs. One Daring Flight Changed Military Aviation Forever!
On October 14, 1947, a daring U.S. test pilot changed aviation history forever! Captain Chuck Yeager climbed into the cockpit of the Bell X-1, an experimental rocket-powered aircraft nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis” after his wife. The tiny orange aircraft was carried beneath a B-29 Superfortress before being released high above the California desert. Then came the…
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On This Day In 1972: Aeroflot Flight 217 Plunged Toward Moscow During Final Approach, Killing All 174 People Aboard. Investigators Examined Crew Incapacitation and Other Theories but Never Determined the Exact Cause
On October 13, 1972, Aeroflot Flight 217 crashed while approaching Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, killing all 174 people aboard. The disaster involving an Ilyushin Il-62 became one of the deadliest aviation accidents of its era, and its exact cause remains undetermined. The aircraft, registered CCCP-86671, was operating an international passenger service from Paris-Orly Airport to…
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On This Day In 1972: Andes Plane Crash Kills 29 People and Leaving 16 Survivors Fighting Starvation, Freezing Temperatures and an Avalanche for 72 Days, Forcing Them to Make an Unthinkable Decision to Stay Alive
On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into the remote Andes Mountains while carrying 45 people, including members of the Old Christians rugby team, their relatives and friends, from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile. What followed became one of aviation history’s most extraordinary survival stories. The aircraft, a Fairchild FH-227D, had stopped…
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The First To Warn America: How Betty Ong And Amy Sweeney Informed Authorities That Flight 11 Had Been Hijacked On 9/11
On September 11, 2001, Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney became two of the first people to alert authorities that America was under attack. American Airlines Flight 11 was flying from Boston to Los Angeles when terrorists hijacked the Boeing 767. After crew members were attacked and the cockpit was taken over, flight attendants Ong and…
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On This Day In 1981: Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 Disintegrated Midair Due To Severe Fuselage Corrosion, Killing All 110 Aboard
On August 22, 1981, Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 was flying from Taipei Songshan Airport to Kaohsiung in Taiwan when a Boeing 737-222 suddenly broke apart in midair. All 110 people aboard were killed. What made the disaster especially disturbing was that the same aircraft had already suffered cabin-pressure problems earlier that day —…
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Pulkovo Flight 612 Climbed To 39,000 Feet To Escape A Thunderstorm – Then Entered A Deep Stall No One Could Recover From, 170 Souls Perished
On this day in history… On August 22, 2006, Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 was flying from Anapa, Russia, to Saint Petersburg when a routine passenger flight turned into one of the deadliest aviation disasters of the year. The Tupolev Tu-154M, registration RA-85185, was carrying 160 passengers and 10 crew members. None survived. The aircraft…
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On This Day In 1994: Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 Plunged Into The Atlas Mountains – Investigators Said The Pilot Deliberately Disconnected The Autopilot
On August 21, 1994, Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 departed Agadir-Al Massira Airport in Morocco for a routine domestic flight to Casablanca. The aircraft was an ATR 42-312, registration CN-CDT, a relatively young turboprop that had first flown in January 1989 and had been delivered to Royal Air Maroc that March. On board were 40…
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On This Day In 1995: Flight 529 Crashed After A Propeller Blade Failed At 18,100 Feet – 8 People Died; Fatigue And Corrosion Were Blamed
On August 21, 1995, Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 departed Atlanta, Georgia, for Gulfport, Mississippi, carrying 26 passengers and three crew members aboard an Embraer EMB-120RT Brasilia, registration N256AS. What began as a routine regional flight turned into a desperate emergency when a propeller blade broke apart at 18,100 feet, leaving the aircraft struggling to…
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On This Day In 2008: Spanair Flight 5022 Crashed Seconds After Takeoff, Killing 154 – The Three Safety Barriers That Failed Before It Left The Ground
On August 20, 2008, Spanair Flight 5022 was preparing to fly from Madrid-Barajas Airport to Gran Canaria with 166 passengers and six crew members aboard. Seconds after takeoff, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 stalled, rolled, and crashed beside the runway. Of the 172 people on board, 154 died and only 18 survived. It became one of…
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On This Day In 2002: 147 Soldiers Boarded A Giant Mi-26 – Then A Missile Strike Sent It Crashing Into A Minefield, Killing 127 Near Khankala
On this day, August 19, 2002, one of the deadliest helicopter disasters in history unfolded near Khankala, Chechnya. A massive Russian Air Force Mil Mi-26 was approaching Khankala military base carrying 142 soldiers and five crew members. The helicopter was designed to carry around 80 troops—but this aircraft was heavily overloaded. Then, without warning, a…
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