2015 Event A memorial to the 40 people aboard Flight 93 opens in Shawshank, Pennsylvania, U.S.; terrorists hijacked the flight on September 11, 2001, but passengers rushed the cockpit, crashing the flight and averting the intended attack on the U.S. Capitol 2015 Event Airplane debris is found off the coast of France's Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean; officials believe the debris is from a Boeing 777 and may be part of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared over a year ago without a trace 2015 Event Concerns over security in the Asia-Pacific region are raised after a U.S. surveillance flight identifies artillery on one of the man-made islands under development by China in the South China Sea 2015 Event Amazon is again exempted from Federal Aviation Administration commercial drone flight prohibitions, allowing it to test delivery drones; the company had to reapply for exemption, as its drone fleet grew outdated while waiting for initial approval 2015 Event Officials find that Andreas Lubitz, co-pilot of downed Germanwings Flight 4U 9525, had mental and physical health problems that he hid from the airline; a doctor's note was found excusing him from work on the day that he crashed the plane 2015 Event Clues in the crash of a Germanwings flight during clear weather Tuesday suggest that the co-pilot locked the pilot out of the cabin before deliberately downing the jet in the French Alps; investigations of the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, are ongoing 2015 Event A report is released on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 today, one year after the incident, revealing that the flight's locator beacon battery had expired a year before the flight, but nothing unusual was otherwise detected 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 2015 Event Despite finding no wreckage to date, Malaysian officials announce that the March 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is being ruled an accident; the ruling lets families of the missing passengers seek compensation for the tragedy 2015 Event Divers have retrieved one of two black boxes from Air Asia Flight 8501, which crashed on December 28th during its flight from Indonesia to Singapore; the second black box has been found nearby, but debris must first be moved in order to access it 2014 Event Indonesia's search team finds plane wreckage and the remains of three people who were aboard AirAsia Flight 8501, which disappeared on December 28th; the findings confirm that the flight crashed in the waters between Indonesia and Singapore 2014 Event Rescuers continue searching for missing AirAsia Flight 8501, which disappeared en route to Singapore from Indonesia on December 28th; the plane carried 162 people 2014 Event NASA successfully tests its unmanned Orion spaceship for potential human flight over 3,500 miles from Earth; several years and more tests will be needed before the vessel is ready for human travel, potentially paving the way for manned trips to Mars 2014 Event Investigators will conduct a deep-sea sonar scan in the Indian Ocean for the remains of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370; satellite communication attempts have provided clues to the plane's likely trajectory before it disappeared eight months ago 2014 Event CEO Richard Branson says that Virgin Galactic will first determine the cause of a recent test space flight crash before deciding whether to continue developing commercial space travel 2014 Event Flight schedules will return to normal at Air France by September 30th after the pilots' union agreed to end a strike that began on September 15th; negotiations to settle contested issues are still ongoing 2014 Event Dutch and Australian police are headed to eastern Ukraine in the continuing search for bodies and evidence in the missile strike of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17; separatists have been accused of tampering with evidence and hindering investigations 2014 Event The U.S. states that evidence suggests a Russian-made missile was fired at Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17; the missile strike killed all 298 people aboard 2014 Event Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 is hit by a missile while flying over eastern Ukraine, the location of heavy fighting by pro-Russian separatists; the origin of the missile is not yet known; all 298 people aboard the plane were killed in the attack 2014 Event The Malaysian government has released the last transmission from Malaysian Air Flight 370; the data confirm that the plane was last located over the eastern Indian Ocean; over a year of mapping and search may be needed before remnants might be found 2014 Event An Australian geophysical company has identified a large aluminum deposit that appeared around the time of the Malaysian Air Flight 370 disappearance on March 8th, suggesting that the plane may have crashed in the Bay of Bengal and not the Indian Ocean 2014 Event Flight recorder signals from the missing Malaysia Air jet are no longer detectable; the flight, which disappeared on March 8th, may be located in a zone of over 57,000 square km of water about 2,200 km to the northwest of Perth, Australia 2014 Event French satellite images confirm Chinese detection of potential debris from missing Malaysian Air Flight 370, which disappeared March 8th 2014 Event China releases satellite images of debris possibly linked to the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines flight on March 8th 2014 Event The Midwest experiences life threateningly low temperatures and forces over 2,500 flight cancellations; the tunnel of arctic air called the "polar vortex" should head eastward during the week 2013 Event The LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470 that went off the radar Friday is discovered in Namibia's Bwabwata National Park; all 33 passengers died in the crash 2013 Event In France, the Airbus A350 XWB makes its maiden flight from the Toulouse Blagnac Airport 2012 Event A solar plane, called The Solar Impulse, lands in Morocco after completing the world's first intercontinental flight powered by the Sun 2011 Event NASA reveals its Space Launch System plan, intended to replace the Space Shuttle program with its first flight scheduled for 2017 2010 Event Monsoon rains delay salvage of the wreckage of Airblue Flight 202 which crashed in the Margalla Hills outside Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 152 people onboard 2010 Event The transcript of the flight data recorders from the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash that killed 96 Polish officials and intellectuals is published 2010 Event Air India Express Flight 812 crashes near Mangalore International Airport; eight passengers survive and 158 perish 2010 Event Ash from the Iceland volcano causes new flight restrictions at airports including Shannon Airport and Ireland West Airport Knock 2009 Event Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashes near Qazvin, Iran, all 168 on board are killed 2009 Event One person out of 183 passengers and crew survives the crash of Yemenia Flight 626 off the coast of Moroni, Comoros 2009 Event En route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic ocean, killing all 228 on board 2005 Event Shuttle Discovery STS-114 launches, first flight since Columbia disaster 2005 Event Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France 2005 Event Steve Fossett flies the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer to a world record by completing the first non-stop, non-refueled, solo flight around the world 2004 Event Flash Airlines flight 604 crashes near Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, killing 148 2003 Event Union des Transports Africains de Guinee flight 141 crashes on takeoff from Cotonou Airport 2003 Event The Concorde made its last commercial flight, landing at Heathrow Airport, London 2003 Event Sudan Airways flight 139 crashes near Port Sudan, killing 116 2003 Event Air Algrie flight 6289 crashes at Tamanrasset Airport in Alegeria, killing 103 2003 Event Iranian Revolutionary Guard military flight crashes into the Sirach Mountains, killing 275 2002 Event China Airlines flight 611 crashes near Taiwan, killing 225, crash probably due to structural failure 2002 Event China Northern Airlines flight 6163 crashes in the ocean near Dalian, China after a fire is reported onboard, killing 112 2002 Event Air China flight 129 crashes into a mountain near Pusan, South Korea killing 128 2002 Event Iran Air Tours flight 956 crashes into a mountain in Iran killing 119 2001 Event American Airlines flight 587 crashes in Belle Harbor, New York, killing 265, vertical stabilizer failure 2001 Event SAS flight 686 crashes near Milano-Linate, killing 114, crash caused by flight crew and tower confusion 2001 Event Vladivostokavia flight 352 crashes near Burdakovka, killing 145 2000 Event Gulf Air flight 72 crashes near Bahrain, killing 143 2000 Event Air Philippines flight 541 crashes into a hill near Davao, killing 131 2000 Event Alaska Airlines flight 261 crashes off coast of southern California, killing 88, crash caused by a bad stabilizer 2000 Event Kenya Airways flight 431 crashes near Cote d'Ivoire, killing 170, likely cause was a mechnical problem 1999 Event EgyptAir flight 990 crashes 60m off coast of Nantucket, killing 217, likely cause was an Islamist suicide replacement pilot 1998 Event SwissAir flight 111 crashes off the coast of Nova Scotia killing all 229 onbaord, likely cause was an electrical fire 1997 Event TV evangelist Robert Schuller attacks a flight attendant 1997 Event Linda Finch completes Amelia Earhart attempted around-the-world flight 1995 Event American Flight 965 crashes in Columbia, 159 die, 5 survive 1994 Death Nikolai Ogarkov, Russian marshal (Flight KAL 007), dies at 76 1993 Event 1st test flight of Ilyushin IL-96M (Moscow) 1993 Event 1st test flight of Fokker 70 in Amsterdam 1993 Event Suchoi-24 crashes into Tupolev passenger flight, 134 die 1993 Event Maiden flight of Ultrair (Houston to LA) 1992 Event Cuban Ilyushin IL-18 flight to Puerto Plata crashes, 34 die 1992 Event 1st test flight of Airbus A330 1992 Death James Brooks, U.S. mural painter (Flight, La Guardia New York), dies at 85 1991 Event 1st International flight from Long Island's MacArthur Airport (to Mexico) 1991 Event 1st non stop flight Schiphol-Flamingo airport Bonaire 1990 Event Boeing 767 sets nonstop commercial flight, Seattle to Narobi Kenya 1990 Event Avianca Flight 52, runs out of fuel and crashes in Cove Neck NY, 73 die 1989 Event Eastern Airlines pilots and flight attendants end their strike, but most are not rehired 1989 Event East Germans begin their flight to west (via Hungary and Czechoslovakia) 1989 Event 1st Test flight of U.S. stealth-bomber 1989 Event 1st U.S. private commercial rocket makes suborbital test flight (NM) 1989 Event Boeing B-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft makes maiden flight 1988 Event Soviet space shuttle makes unmanned maiden flight (2 orbits) 1988 Death Dayton Lummis, actor (Moonfire, Flight that Disappeared), dies 1988 Event Longest champagne cork flight is 177'9 in New York 1988 Event Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 roof tears off in flight; kills stewardess 1988 Event Experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, complete 1st nonstop, round-the-world flight without refueling lands 1987 Event Flight Readiness Firing of Discovery's main engines is successfully 1987 Event Don Brown sets flight record for handbow (1,336 yards 1'3") 1987 Event Crossbow flight record (2,005 yards 1'9") set by Harry Drake in Nevada 1987 Event Wrestler Jim Neidhart indicted for assaulting a flight attendant 1987 Death Larry Carr, pianist (Flight to Rhythm), dies at 72 1986 Event Rutan and Yeager make 1st around-the-world flight without refueling 1986 Event Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, took off from Edwards AFB, California on 1st non-stop, non-refueled flight around world 1986 Event Bryan O'Connor named chairman of Space Flight Safety Panel 1986 Event NASA publishes "Strategy for Safely Returning the Space Shuttle to Flight Status" 1985 Event 21st Shuttle Mission (51J)-Atlantis 1-all-military flight launched 1985 Event Flight readiness firing of Atlantis' main engines; 20 seconds 1985 Event Tinker Bell's nightly flight begins 1985 Event 39 remaining hostages from Flight 847 are freed in Beirut 1985 Event Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists hijacked TWA Flight 847 1984 Event 1st flight of Shuttle Discovery (41-D) scrubbed at T -4 1984 Event Flight readiness firing of Discovery's main engines 1983 Event Dick Smith makes 1st solo helicopter flight around the world 1983 Event 2nd flight readiness firing of Challenger's main engines; 22 seconds 1982 Event Flight readiness firing of Challenger's main engines; 20 seconds 1982 Event Space Shuttle Columbia completes its 1st operational flight 1982 Event 5th space shuttle mission-Columbia 5-launched 1st coml flight 1982 Event Conestoga 1, 1st private commercial rocket, makes suborbital flight 1982 Event Brazilian B-727 flight crashes into mountain; 135 die 1981 Event Marine jet crashes on flight deck of USS Nimitz, killing 14 1981 Event Flight readiness firing of Columbia's main engines; 20 seconds 1980 Event Steve Ptacek in Solar Challenger makes 1st solar-powered flight 1979 Event On a flight to Austin, TX, Daniel Okrent sketches out the first 1979 Event Crew of Soyuz 32 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 34 aft 175 d flight 1979 Event Bryan Allen flew man-powered Gossamer Albatross over English Channel in a human-powered aircraft; flight took 2 hours, 49 minutes 1978 Event 1st flight of McDonnell Douglas F-18A Hornet 1977 Event 1st flight of Concorde, London to New York 1977 Event Panama 747SP lands after polar flight around Earth in record 54:07 1977 Event 1st man-powered flight of a mile (Bryan Allen in Gossamer Condor) 1977 Event Space shuttle Enterprise makes 1st atmospheric flight 1977 Event 1st free flight test of space shuttle Enterprise 1977 Event 1st flight of Space Shuttle (atop a Boeing 747) 1977 Event Shuttle Enterprise makes 1st Test flight atop a 747 jetliner 1977 Event Space Shuttle above a Boeing 747 goes on it's maiden flight 1976 Event 5th Enterprise, approach and lands test (ALT) flight 1976 Event 4th Space Shuttle Enterprise, approach and land test (ALT) flight 1976 Event 2nd Enterprise, approach and lands Test Cricket (ALT) flight (5m28s) 1976 Event U.S.S.R. launches Luna 24, last Lunar flight to date from Earth 1976 Event U.S. Viking 2 goes into Martian orbit after 11-month flight from Earth 1976 Event U.S. Viking 1 goes into Martian orbit after 10-month flight from Earth 1976 Event 1st commercial SST flight to North America (Concorde to Washington D.C.) 1976 Event Panama 747SP lands after record flight around world (46:26) 1973 Event BEA flight to Basel, Switzerland, crashes on landing, killing 104 of 143 1972 Event 1st hot air balloon flight over Alps 1972 Event 1st flight of the Goodyear blimp 1971 Event Harry Drake sets longest arrow flight by a footbow (1 mile 268 yards) 1970 Event Russian passenger flight hijacked to Turkey 1970 Event Concorde makes its 1st supersonic flight (700 MPH/1,127 KPH) 1970 Event American Airlines' 1st flight of a Boeing 747 1970 Event 1st commercial Boeing 747 flight, New York to London in 6 hours 1970 Event World's largest airplane, Boeing 747, makes 1st commercial flight 1970 Event Panama Boeing 747 1st flight NY-London 1969 Event Concorde 001 test flight breaks sound barrier 1969 Event 22-year-old man sneaks into wheel pod of a jet parked in Havana and survives 9-hour flight to Spain despite thin oxygen levels at 29,000 ft 1969 Event 1st flight of Concorde 002 (Filton-Bristol) 1969 Event 1st test flight of the supersonic Concorde 1969 Event 1st Test flight of Boeing 747 jumbo jet 1969 Death James Lanphier, actor (Flight of Lost Balloon), dies at 48 1969 Event Concorde jetliner's 1st test flight from Bristol England 1968 Event 1st test flight of Tupolev TU 144 1968 Event Launch of Zond 6, 2nd unmanned circumlunar and return flight 1968 Event Zond 5 completes flight 1968 Event Probable Test flight for a manned fly-around (scooped by Apollo 8) 1968 Event U.S.S.R.'s Zond 5 is launched on 1st circumlunar flight 1968 Event William Dana reaches 80 km (last high-altitude X-15 flight) 1967 Event 1st unmanned Saturn V flight to test Apollo 4 reentry module 1967 Event 1st successful Test flight of a Saturn V 1967 Event 1st flight of Fokker F-28 Fellowship 1966 Event Gemini 12 (Lovell and Aldrin) launched on 4-day flight 1966 Event Gemini XI (Charles Conrad and R Gordon) launched for 71-hour flight 1966 Event Bombay-New York Air India flight crashes into Mont Blanc (Switzerland), 117 die 1966 Event Sheila Scott completes 1st round-the-world solo flight by a woman 1966 Event Gemini 9 launched; 7th U.S. 2-man flight, Stafford and Cernan 1966 Death Nicholas Piantanida, sets balloon flight record and dies in descent 1965 Birthday Barbara Lufthansa Herzog, born during Lufthansa Frankfurt-NY flight 1965 Event Gemini 4 launched; 2nd U.S. 2-man flight, McDivitt and White 1965 Death Helen Chandler, actress (Dracula, Salute, Last Flight), dies at 56 1965 Event Test flight of heavy Saturn S-1C-rocket 1965 Event Gemini 3 launched, 1st U.S. 2-man space flight (Grissom and Young) 1965 Event JPL proposes modified Apollo flight to fly around Mars and return 1964 Event Voskhod 1 launched: 1st flight with 3 cosmonauts 1964 Event Ranger 6 launched; makes perfect flight to Moon, but cameras fail 1963 Event Last Project Mercury flight, L Gordon Cooper in Faith 7, launched 1963 Event 1st flight of Boeing 727 jet 1962 Event 1st test flight of the Boeing 727 takes place 1962 Event U.S. U-2 flight sees SAM launch pads in Cuba 1962 Event Cosmonaut Micolaev set then record longest space flight - 4 days 1962 Event 1st flight Vickers (British Aerospace) VC-10 long-range airliner 1962 Event 1st test flight of Hoovercraft 1961 Event 1st Saturn launch vehicle makes an unmanned flight test 1961 Event 1st Saturn launch vehicle made a flight test 1961 Event American Harold Graham makes 1st rocket belt flight 1960 Event Mercury-Redstone 1A reaches 210 km in test flight 1959 Event X-15 makes 1st unpowered flight, from a B-52 at 11,500 m 1959 Event 1st transcontinental coml jet flight (American) (LA to New York for $301) 1958 Event 1st airplane flight exceeding 1200 hours, lands, Dallas, Texas 1958 Event 1st flight with black stewardess, Ruth Carol Taylor, Ithaca New York 1957 Event 1st coml flight between California and Antartica 1957 Event Scott Crossfield takes X-15 up for 1st powered flight 1957 Event 3 B-52's set record for around-the-world flight, 45 hours 19 minutes 1956 Event 1st non-stop transcontinental helicopter flight arrived Washington D.C. 1956 Event 1st flight 4-motor Cessna 620 1955 Event 1st test flight of Fokker's F-27 Friendship 1955 Event Bell X-2 rocket plane taken up for 1st powered flight 1954 Event Boscombe Down 1st flight of supersonic P-1 Lightning 1954 Event B-52A bomber made its maiden flight 1953 Event 1st west-to-east jet transatlantic nonstop flight 1952 Event 1st nonstop transpacific flight by a jet 1952 Event 1st transatlantic helicopter flight begins 1952 Event Soviet Fighters shoot Swedish Catalina reconnaissance flight down 1952 Event 1st B-52 prototype test flight 1951 Birthday Dana, singer and actress, Flight of the Doves 1951 Event 1st North Pole flight in single engine plane-CF Blair 1950 Birthday Willie Colon, born in born in Bronx, New York, actor, Last Flight 1950 Event Maiden flight by Canada's Avro Canada CF-100 military plane 1949 Event 1st British-produced jet bomber, Canberra, makes its 1st test flight 1949 Event Lucky Lady II (USAF B-50 Superfortress), completes 1st nonstop round- the-world flight at Fort Worth, Texas, covering 23,452 miles in 94 hours 1949 Event USAF plane began 1st nonstop around-the-world flight 1947 Event Chuck Yeager in Bell XS-1 makes 1st supersonic flight (Mach 1.015) 1947 Event XB-45, 1st U.S. 4-engine jet bomber, makes 1st test flight, Muroc, California 1946 Event Army rocket plane XS-1 makes 1st powered flight 1946 Event Dutch Dakota flight to Schiphol crashes, kills 11 1946 Event 1st transcontinental round-trip flight in 1-day, California-Maryland 1946 Event United flight 521 crashes on takeoff at LaGuardia Airport (NY) 42 die 1945 Event 1st gas turbine propeller-driven airplane flight tested, Downey, California 1944 Event Harry Crosby takes 1st rocket airplane, MX-324, for maiden flight 1944 Event Messerschmitt Me 262 Sturmvogel, 1st jet bomber, makes 1st flight 1943 Event Germany shoots down a civilian flight from Lisbon to London, all die 1943 Event Allied reconnaissance flight over Java 1943 Event Failed assassin attempt on Hitler during Smolensk-Rastenburg flight 1942 Event Oberkommando Wehrmacht orders strategist flight out of Kaukasus 1942 Event 1st powered flight of V-1 buzz bomb, Peenemunde, Germany 1942 Event Bell P-59 Airacomet fighter, 1st U.S. jet, makes maiden flight 1942 Event Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe, 1st jet fighter, takes 1st flight 1942 Event Helicopter makes its 1st cross-country flight 1942 Event 1st combat flight for Canada's Avro Lancaster military plane 1942 Event 1st around world flight, Pan Am "Pacific Clipper" 1941 Event 1st helicopter flight of 1 hour duration, Stratford, Connecticut 1941 Event Maiden flight by Canada's Avro Lancaster military plane 1940 Event Caproni-Campini CC-2, experimental jet plane, maiden flight (Milan) 1940 Event 1st successful helicopter flight, Stratford, Connecticut 1940 Event 1st successful helicopter flight in US: Vought-Sikorsky US-300 1939 Event Snip departs for 1st flight to Paramaribo/Curacao 1939 Event Erich Warsitz makes 1st jet-propelled flight (in a Heinkel He-178) 1939 Event Heinkel He-178 makes 1st manned flight with rocket/jet propulsion 1939 Event Clara Adams, New York City, is 1st woman to complete round world flight 1939 Event Dixie Clipper completes 1st commercial plane flight to Europe 1939 Event Pan Am's 1st U.S. to England flight 1939 Event Test flight of 1st rocket plane using liquid propellants 1938 Event Graf Zeppelin II, world's largest airship, makes maiden flight 1938 Event "Yankee Clipper" completes 1st passenger flight over Atlantic 1938 Birthday Timothy Elworthy, Captain of The Queen's Flight 1937 Event 1st commercial flight across Pacific, Pan Am 1936 Event 1st commercial flight from mainland to Hawaii 1936 Event 1st transatlantic round-trip air flight 1936 Event 1st flight of Fw61 helicopter 1936 Event 1st British air hostess (Daphne Kearley) flight to France 1936 Event Spitfire makes it's 1st flight (Eastleigh Aerodrome in Southampton) 1936 Event 1st flight of airship Hindenburg, Germany 1936 Event 1st rocket air mail flight, Greenwood Lake, New York 1935 Event China Clipper (flying boat) took off from Alameda, California, carrying 100,000 pieces of mail on 1st trans-Pacific airmail flight 1935 Event 1st test flight of British Hurricane aircraft 1935 Event Maiden flight by Canada's Hawker Hurricane military plane 1935 Event 1st U.S. airplane flight with auto slung beneath fuselage, New York 1935 Event KLM begins flight path between Curaeao and Aruba 1934 Event 1st flight from Netherland to Curacao (Christmas flight 1934) 1933 Event Wiley Post completes 1st round-the-world solo flight 1933 Event Wiley Post began 1st solo flight around world 1933 Event 1st flight over Mount Everest by Lord Clydesdale 1933 Event 1st airplane flight over Mount Everest 1933 Event 1st flight of all-metal Boeing 247 1932 Event Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental flight 1932 Event 1st transcontinental non-stop flight by a woman, Amelia Earhart 1932 Event 1st transatlantic solo flight by a woman, Amelia Earhart, lands 1931 Event 1st nonstop transpacific flight, Japan to Washington (Herndon and Pangborn) 1931 Event Wiley Post and Harold Catty took off for flight around world 1931 Event Piccard and Knipfer make 1st flight into stratosphere, by balloon 1930 Event 1st woman pilot on a transcontinental air flight Miss Ruth Nichols (Mineola, New York to California), in a Lockheed-Vega, took 7 days 1930 Event 1st nonstop airplane flight from New York to Panama 1930 Event 1st transcontinental flight by a woman completed, Laura Ingalls 1930 Event 1st non-stop airplane flight from Europe to U.S. (37 hours) 1930 Event Airship R100, 1st passenger-carrying flight from England to Canada 1930 Event 1st NewYork - Bermuda airplane flight lands in Bermuda 1930 Event 1st U.S. indoor glider flight, St. Louis Terminal Building 1930 Event 1st U.S. glider flight from a dirigible, Lakehurst, New Jersey 1929 Event Admiral Richard E Byrd makes 1st South Pole flight 1929 Event 1st manned rocket plane flight (by auto maker Fritz von Opel) 1929 Event Lt James H Doolittle guides a Consolidated N-Y-2 Biplane over Mitchell Field in New York in 1st all-instrument flight 1929 Event German airship Graf Zeppelin ends a round-the-world flight 1929 Event 1st airship flight around Earth flying eastward completed 1929 Event German airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight 1929 Event 1st non-stop England to India flight lands 1929 Event 1st non-stop England to India flight takes-off 1928 Event 1st autogiro (predecessor of helicopter) flight in US 1928 Event Juan de la Cierva makes 1st autogiro flight over English Channel 1928 Event Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm are 1st to fly across the Pacific when they end their flight from California to Brisbane 1928 Event 1st U.S. to Australia flight lands (Sir Charles Kingford) 1928 Event 1st trans atlantic flight Europe-U.S. (Fitzmaurice-von Hunefeld-Kohl) 1928 Event 1st solo England to Australia flight lands (Bert Hinkler) 1928 Event 1st solo England to Australia flight takes off (Bert Hinkler) 1927 Event KLM-plane "Homing Pigeon" leaves Netherlands-Indies after 1st regular flight 1927 Event Lindbergh begins New York flight (Spirit of St. Louis) 1927 Event 1st commercial airplane flight in Hawaii 1927 Event 1st flight from West Coast arrives in Hawaii 1927 Event 1st balloon flight over 40,000 feet (Scott Field, Ill) 1926 Event Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett make 1st flight over North Pole 1926 Event 1st flight over North Pole by Bennett and Byrd 1926 Event 2nd flight of a liquid-fueled rocket by Robert Goddard 1925 Event Goodyear airship "Pilgrim" makes 1st flight (1st with enclosed cabin) 1925 Event 1st film shown on an British Air flight 1924 Event Fokker F-7 1st flight (Amsterdam to Batavia) 1924 Event 2 U.S. Army planes end around-world flight, Seattle to Seattle, 57 stops 1924 Event 4 planes leave Seattle on 1st successful around-the-world flight 1924 Event Finnair begins scheduled flight of Helsinki-Tallinn 1923 Event 1st flight of Sabena: Brussel-Lympne, Great Britain 1923 Event 1st nonstop transcontinental flight (New York - San Diego) completed 1923 Event 1st flight of autogiro by Juan de la Cierva, Madrid, Spain 1921 Event 1st U.S. helium-filled dirigible makes 1st flight 1921 Event 1st transcontinental flight in 24 hours flying time arrives Florida 1921 Event 1st U.S. transcontinental air mail flight arrives in New York City from San Francisco 1920 Birthday James Lanphier, New York, actor, Flight of Lost Balloon 1920 Event 1st transcontinental airmail flight from New York to SF 1920 Event 1st De Havilland double-decker flight (London) lands in Schiphol 1920 Event 1st flight by Dutch airlines KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij) 1920 Event 1st flight from London to South Africa lands (1 month) 1920 Event 1st flight from London to South Africa takes-off 1919 Event Ross and Smith land in Australia from a flight from London 1919 Event Ross and Keith Smith start a 1 month flight from London to Australia 1919 Event 1st air flight over a major body of water in Australia (Harry Butler) 1919 Event 1st advanced monoplane airliner flight (Junkers F13) 1919 Event 1st nonstop Atlantic flight, Alcock and Brown, lands in Ireland 1919 Event 1st transatlantic flight ends; U.S. Navy flying boat takes 11 days 1919 Event 1st transatlantic flight take-off by a Navy seaplane 1919 Event America's 1st passenger flight (New York - Atlantic City) 1918 Birthday Marguerite Chapman, born in Chatham, New York, actress, Spy Smasher, Flight to Mars 1915 Event 1st military flight in Netherlands East Indies (Tandjong Priok) 1914 Event 1st air flight out of sight of land, Scotland to Norway 1914 Event 1st airplane flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco 1914 Event 1st scheduled airline flight, St. Petersburg-Tampa (Tony Jannus pilot) 1913 Event 1st aerobatic maneuver, sustained inverted flight, performed in France 1913 Event Piotr Nesterow 1st flight (Kiev Ukraine) 1912 Event J. Vedrines makes 1st airplane flight over 100 mph - 161.29 kph 1912 Event 1st eastbound U.S. transcontinental flight lands in Jacksonville, Fla 1912 Event World's 1st flying boat's maiden flight, (Glenn Curtiss in New York) 1912 Birthday Renato Guttuso, Italian painter, Flight from Etna, Crucifixion 1911 Event Calbraith Rodgers arrives in Pasadena completing 1st transcontinental airplane flight (84 days) (left Sheepshead Bay, New York, Sept 17) 1911 Event 1st non-stop London-Paris flight (Pierre Prier in 3h56m) 1911 Event 1st hydroplane flight to and from a ship (Glenn Curtiss, San Diego) 1910 Event 1st airplane flight from deck of a ship, Norfolk, Va 1910 Event Blanche Scott became 1st woman solo a public airplane flight 1910 Event 1st test flight of a twin-engined airplane (France) 1910 Event England's 1st aircraft flight 1910 Event 1st roundtrip flight over English Channel, C S Rolls, England 1910 Event 1st night air flight (Claude Grahame-White, England) 1909 Event France's Louis Bleriot, makes 1st airplane flight across English Channel 1909 Event Etten-Leur 1st airplane flight in Netherlands (Belgium count De Lambert) 1908 Event Thomas Selfridge becomes 1st fatality of powered flight 1908 Event Orville Wright makes 1st 1-hour airplane flight, Fort Myer, Va 1908 Event 1st passenger flight in an airplane 1906 Event 1st airplane flight in Europe 1905 Event Orville/Wilbur Wright's "Flyer III" flight 38.5 km in 38.3" 1904 Event 1st airplane flight to last more than 5 minutes 1904 Event Wilbur Wright makes his 1st airplane flight 1903 Event At 10:35 AM, 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight (Orville Wright) 1903 Event Wright Bros make 1st flight at Kittyhawk 1900 Birthday Ralph Graves, born in Cleveland, Ohio, actor, Dirigible, Flight, Dream Street 1893 Birthday Earnest Julius pik, Estonian astronomer, Physics of meteor flight 1892 Birthday John Alcock, English pilot, 1st non-stop flight across Atlantic Ocean 1884 Event John Joseph Montgomery makes 1st glider flight, Otay, California 1852 Event Henri Giffard, a French engineer, makes 1st dirigible flight 1844 Birthday Nicolai Rimski-Korsakov, composer, Flight of the Bumble Bee, NS 3/18 1793 Event 1st hot-air balloon flight in the U.S. lifts off in Philadelphia 1793 Event Jean Pierre Blanchard makes 1st balloon flight in North America 1785 Event 1st manned flight by gas balloon in Netherlands 1785 Event 1st balloon flight across English Channel (Blanchard and Jeffries) 1784 Event 1st U.S. balloon flight, 13 year old Edward Warren 1784 Event 1st balloon flight in Ireland 1783 Event Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes make 1st free balloon flight 1783 Event 1st hydrogen balloon flight (unmanned); reaches 900 m altitude 1783 Event Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier make 1st public balloon flight 1682 Event English earl of Shaftesbury flight to Amsterdam 622 Event Moslem Era begins-Mahomet begins flight from Mecca to Medina (Hejira)
