2015 Event The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is planning rules for commercial drones that will limit flights to uncrowded areas within the operator's line of sight, meaning that uses such as package delivery or long-range news reporting are off limits 2015 Event TransAsia Airways suspends flights and begins retraining all its pilots in compliance with orders from Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration after the crash of Flight 235 into the Keelung River three days ago 2014 Event Russia counters sanctions by the U.S. and the European Union by banning all imports of dairy, fish, meat, fruit and vegetables; Ukrainian flights have also been prohibited from Russian air space 2014 Event U.S. Southern states of Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina experience a mix of snow and ice, declaring emergencies as over 3,400 flights are cancelled; temperatures dip 10 to 20 degrees below normal 2013 Event An error on the Delta Air Lines website allows thousands of customers to buy tickets for super-low fares, some 90% below regular ticket prices; Delta takes responsibility for the error, and will honor ticket purchases as well as frequent flier miles earned on the reduced-fare flights 2013 Event Shanghai officials deliver the highest level health warning as a record level of smog shrouds the city; hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled 2013 Event Dunedin and Christchurch, New Zealand, have roads cut off and flights cancelled due to adverse weather conditions 2013 Event Heavy snowfall in Great Britain and Ireland causes Heathrow airport in London to cancel 100 flights; many passengers spend the night sleeping on the floor in the terminal 2012 Event The largest solar flare in five years, occurring March 6, 2012, nears the Earth, threatening to disrupt airline flights, GPS systems and power grids 2011 Event In Mexico, Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson opens the world's first commercial spaceport, Spaceport America, with flights expected to being by 2013 2011 Event A large dust storm strikes Phoenix, Arizona, leaving thousands without power and grounding flights at the Phoenix Airport 2011 Event Due to a range of safety concerns, all Tiger Airways flights in Australia are grounded until July 9th by the country's Civil Aviation Safety Authority 2011 Event The ash cloud from the 2011 Puyehue-Cordon Caulle eruption closes 39 flights in Chile and Argentina 2011 Event Volcanic ash from the 2011 Puyehue-Cordon Caulle eruption in Chile continues to disrupt flights in Australia 2011 Event NATO increases its surveillance flights over Libya, patrolling the area on a 24/7 basis 2010 Event The first snowfall in the last 128 years occurs in the U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia; 500 flights are affected 1993 Event Aeroflot starts non-stop flights between Moscow and NY 1992 Event Ghana Airways inaugurates flights to JFK Airport, New York City 1992 Event U.N. Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya 1989 Event Law banning smoking on most domestic flights signed by President Bush 1989 Event Scandinavian Airlines System bans smoking on many flights 1988 Event Federal smoking ban during domestic airline flights of 2 hours or less 1976 Event Pan Am begins non-stop flights New York City - Tokyo 1976 Event Supersonic Concorde, 1st commercial flights, by Britain and France 1968 Event U.S. end regular flights with nuclear bombs 1964 Event U.S. begin intelligence flights above Laos 1963 Event 2 Russian reconnaissance flights over Alaska 1962 Event U.N. command forbids flights to Katangese airports 1961 Event 1st shuttle flights between Washington D.C., Boston and New York City begin (Eastern) 1961 Event USAF launches Samos spy satellite to replace U-2 flights 1959 Event Pan Am begins regular flights around World 1957 Event 3 B-52s leave California for 1st non-stop round world flights 1954 Event 1st regularly scheduled commercial flights over North Pole begins 1949 Event Berlin Airlift ends after 277,000 flights 1942 Event 1st U.S. flights to land on Guadalcanal 1936 Event H. R. Ekins of "NY World-Telegram" beats 2 other reporters in a race around the world on commercial flights, by 18 days 1936 Event Pan-Am Clipper begins regular passenger flights from San Francisco to Honolulu 1928 Event Maddus Airlines starts 1st regular passenger flights between San Francisco and LA 1880 Birthday Lincoln Ellsworth, led 1st transarctic, transantarctic flights 1859 Birthday J Arthur S Berson, Austria meteorologist, Balloon flights, Amazon 1753 Birthday Jean-Pierre-Francois Blanchard, 1st balloon flights in England, US
