1960 in aviation
Years in aviation :
|
1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 |
| Centuries: | 19th century · 20th century · 21st century |
| Decades: | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s |
| Years: | 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 |
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1960.
Events
- Evergreen Helicopters is founded. It later will become Evergreen International Aviation.
- Switzerland′s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau begins operations.
- Summer – The Congo (Kinshasa).[1]
January
- January 1
- BOAC, Qantas, and Tasman Empire Airways.
- Aerlínte Éireann, a branch of Aer Lingus operating transatlantic flights, is incorporated into Aer Lingus and takes the name Aer Lingus – Irish International Airlines.
- January 6 – A vice admiral and Medal of Honor recipient Edward Orrick McDonnell. Julian Frank is suspected of being the suicide bomber.
- January 18 – Capital Airlines Flight 20, a Vickers 745D Viscount, suffers the loss of all four engines due to icing and crashes into a farm near Holdcroft, Virginia, killing all 50 people on board.
- January 19 – The , killing all 42 people on board. It is the first fatal crash of a Caravelle.
- January 21 – United States Senator Homer E. Capehart. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Jamaican history.
February
- February 9 – The United States Air Force opens its National Space Surveillance Control Center at Bedford, Massachusetts.
- February 13 – France detonates its first nuclear weapon.
- February 25 – A Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The accidentkills 35 of the 38 people aboard the R6D and all 26 people on board the DC-3.
- February 26 – Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
March
- Frankfurt-am-Main and New York City, using Boeing 707s.
- ) to incorporate jet aircraft into its fleet.
- The Boeing Vertol.[2]
- March 10 – The last flight by a B-25 Mitchell takes place, when TB-25J-25-NC, 44-30854, the last Mitchell in the U.S. Air Force inventory, lands at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for preservation.[3]
- March 15 – The world's first supersonic bomber, the
- March 17 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, disintegrates in mid-air near Cannelton, Indiana, killing all 63 people on board, after metal fatigue causes its right wing to separate at an altitude of 18,000 feet (5,486 m) . Among the dead is Central Intelligence Agency training commander Chiyoki Ikeda.
- March 18 – A Boeing 377 Stratocruiser makes a 300-foot (91-meter) emergency dive to avoid colliding with two Air National Guard jets over Lansing, Michigan. Among the passengers is Morris Chalfen, producer of the Holiday on Iceskating shows, whose wife and three children had died the previous day on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710.
- March 24 – Flying at the Soviet Union′s Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Moscow, a Tupolev Tu-114 (NATO reporting name "Cleat") airliner piloted by Captain B. Timochuk sets a world speed record for a turboprop landplane over a 1,000-km (621-mile) closed circuit carrying a payload of 25,000 kg (55,116 pounds) or less, averaging 871.38 km/h (541.45 mph).
April
- Royal Air Maroc takes delivery of its first jet aircraft, a Sud Aviation Caravelle.
- April 1
- Flying at the Soviet Union′s Sternberg Point Observatory, the Tupolev Tu-114 (NATO reporting name "Cleat") airliner 76459 piloted by Ivan Sukhomlin and copiloted by N. Kharitonov sets a world speed record for a turboprop landplane over a 2,000-km (1,242-mile) closed circuit carrying a payload of 25,000 kg (55,115 pounds) or less, averaging 857.277 km/h (532.687 mph).
- Iraqi State Railways, becomes fully independent of the railroad company.
- The New York State Commission Against Discrimination faults Patricia Banks, despite her meeting all job requirements. Because of the ruling, she becomes one of only two African American flight attendants in the United States.
- April 6 – The British Short SC.1 VTOL research aircraft makes its first transition from vertical to horizontal flight and back, flying from Belfast Harbour Airport.[5]
- April 9 – Flying at the Soviet Union's Sternberg Point Observatory, the Tupolev Tu-114 (NATO reporting name "Cleat") airliner 76459 piloted by Ivan Sukhomlin and copiloted by Konstantin Sapelkin sets a world speed record for a turboprop landplane over a 5,000-km (3,105-mile) closed circuit carrying a payload of 25,000 kg (55,115 pounds) or less, averaging 857.212 km/h (532.647 mph).
- April 10 – BOAC resumes scheduled air service from London to Cairo (Egypt), suspended in October 1956 at the time of the Suez Crisis.
- April 12 – After a political asylum in the United States.[6]
- April 13 – The United Kingdom terminates ballistic missile research, preferring to simply purchase the U.S.-developed GAM-87 Skybolt missile.
- April 14 – A Air Marshal Chalermkiat Watanangura, and his wife.[7]
May
- May 1 – The Gary Powers.
- May 12 – A U.S. Air Force C-130 Herculesdrops a record 35,000 lb (15,876 kg) by parachute.
June
- A Sud-Aviation Alouette III helicopter carrying seven people makes take-offs and landings on Mont Blanc in the French Alps at an altitude of 4,810 meters (15,780 feet), an unprecedented altitude for such activities by a helicopter.[8]
- The first Israel Aircraft Industries.[9]
- June 1 – Trans-Canada Air Lines begins transatlantic jet airliner service, operating Douglas DC-8 aircraft between Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and London, England.
- June 7 – A BOMARC-A nuclear surface-to-air missile at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, igniting a fire that destroys the missile and contaminates the area directly below and adjacent to it with radioactive material.[10][11]
- June 9 – United Arab Airlines, the future EgyptAir, takes delivery of its first jet aircraft, a de Havilland Comet 4C.
- June 10 – final approach at night in fog to Mackay, Queensland, Australia, killing all 29 people on board. It remains tied with the 1950 Australian National Airways Douglas DC-4 crashas the deadliest civil aviation accident and second-deadliest aviation accident in Australian history.
- June 18 – The Government of Colombia establishes the Department of Civil Aeronautics. It is assigned specific technical and administrative duties to define aeronautic policy in Colombia.
July
- Fidel Castro dissolves Cuba's naval air arm.[12]
- July 1
- British United Airways is formed.
- A RB-47H Stratojet(s/n 53-4281) reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace with four of the crew killed and two captured by the Soviets.
- The U.S. Navy commissions Fleet Tactical Support Squadron 40 (VRC-40) as its first carrier onboard delivery squadron.[13]
- July 2 –
- July 5
- Bell Aerosystems becomes Bell Aerospace Corporation.[15]
- Two copilots aboard a
- Bell Aerosystems becomes
- July 9 – Sabena begins airlifting Belgian nationals out of Congo. Over the next three weeks, 25,711 will fly home.
- July 15 – Ethiopian Air Lines Flight 372, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, crashes into a mountainside near Jimma, Ethiopia, killing one pilot and injuring the other 10 people on board. The aircraft is destroyed.
- July 17 – During a flight from Havana, Cuba, to Miami, Florida, with 56 people on board, the political asylum.[17]
- July 19 – Aboard a Trans Australia Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra flying from Sydney to Brisbane, Australia, with 43 passengers on board, a man pulls out a sawed-off rifle and demands to be flown to Singapore. The first officer smashes the man across the wrist with a fire hatchet; the rifle fires once through the airliner's ceiling, and the hijacker is overpowered. Two sticks of dynamite are found under his seat.[18]
- July 28
- On approach to Camagüey, Cuba, during a flight with 14 people on board scheduled to terminate in Havana, captain of a Cubana de Aviación Douglas DC-3 draws a pistol and holds a security man and two other crew members at gunpoint. Two passengers then order the copilot out of the cockpit, and the captain flies the airliner to Miami, Florida, where he requests political asylum.[19]
- Capital Airlines and United Airlines announce that Capital will merge into United in the largest airline merger in history at the time. They will complete the merger in June 1961.
August
- August 16 – United States Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger sets a world record for the highest parachute jump (102,200 ft or 31,150m) and longest parachute freefall (84,700 ft or 25,815 m) while testing high-altitude parachute escape systems in Project Excelsior. The record will stand until October 14, 2012.
- August 18 – A C-119 Flying Boxcar recovers a data capsule from the Discoverer 14satellite in mid-air.
- August 21 – Two hijackers commandeer an Aeroflot airliner in the Soviet Union and demand to be flown out of the country. Security forces overpower them. One crew member is killed in the incident.[20]
- August 29 – Making a second attempt to land at Dakar Yoff International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, in bad weather, Air France Flight 343, a Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation (registration F-BHBC), crashes into the Atlantic Ocean in a rain squall 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) from the airport, killing all 63 people on board.[21] French West African poet David Diop is among the dead.[22]
September
- September 5 – A United States Navy McDonnell F4H-1 Phantom II sets a world speed record over a 500-km (310.5-mi) closed-circuit course, averaging 1,216.78 mph (1,958.16 km/h).
- September 10 – Operation Skyshield, testing American and Canadian radar systems.
- September 15 – Tasman Empire Airways retires its last flying boat from service.
- September 17 – East African Airways commences jet service with the DeHavilland Comet 4 between London, England, and Nairobi, Kenya.
- September 25 – A U.S. Navy F4H-1 Phantom II sets a world speed record over a 100-km (62.1-mi) closed-circuit course, averaging 1,390.21 mph (2,237.26 km/h).
October
- October 4 – Boston, Massachusetts, loses power in three engines, and crashes into Boston Harbor, killing 62 of the 72 people on board and seriously injuring nine of the 10 survivors. It is the deadliest bird strike in history.[23]
- October 29
- Ten minutes after political asylum.[6]
- A crashes on takeoff from Toledo Express Airport in Toledo, Ohio, killing 22 people, including 16 players, the team's student manager, and a team booster. Quarterback and future college head football coach Ted Tollneris among the survivors.
- Ten minutes after
- October 31 – London-Heathrow, from scheduled passenger service.
November
- The same payload of 250 kg (551 lbs).[8]
- On November 7 – a Fairchild F-27A turboprop passenger plane, operated by the now-defunct national airline AREA Ecuador, struck the dormant Atacazo volcano in bad weather during its approach to Mariscal Sucre International Airport, in Quito, Ecuador after a domestic flight from Simón Bolívar International Airport, in Guayaquil.[24][25] The crash, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of Quito and 150 meters to the summit of the Atacazo, killed all the 37 occupants of the plane.[26] This particular aircraft (msn. 1, reg. HC-ADV) was the first prototype of the Fairchild F-27, which had been sold to AREA Ecuador in 1959.[27][25] At the time, it was the worst aerial crash in the history of Ecuador, the first and worst fatal loss of an F-27, and the first accident involving the then-recently-opened Quito airport.[24][26]
- November 15 –
December
- The fixed-wing aircraft, the Douglas Skyraider, from front-line service.[29]
- December 6 – Brazil commissions its first aircraft carrier, Minas Gerais. She is the second Latin American aircraft carrier to enter service.
- December 8 – After five Cubans wishing to fly to the United States attempt to hijack a Cubana de Aviación airliner with 17 people on board during a domestic flight in Cuba from Cienfuegos to Havana, a gun battle breaks out in which one person is mortally wounded. The airliner crash-lands near Cienfuegos.[6]
- December 14 – Aer Lingus takes delivery of three Boeing 720s, its first jet aircraft. They are also the first three jet airliners to be registered in the Republic of Ireland.
- December 15 – Middle East Airlines takes delivery of its first jet aircraft, a de Havilland Comet 4C. It later will acquire three more de Havilland Comet 4Cs.
- December 16 – The Brooklyn, killing all 84 people on board, and the Constellation on Staten Island, killing all 44 people on board; six people on the ground also die.
- December 17
- A U.S. Air Force Munich streetcar. All 20 people on the plane and 32 people on the ground die.
- The visitor's center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, is dedicated on the 57th anniversary of the Wright Flyer′s first flight in 1903.
- A U.S. Air Force
- December 20 – After delivering the last P5M-2 Marlin flying boat to the U.S. Navy, the Glenn L. Martin Company ceases the production of manned aircraft.[30]
- December 24 – The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD, later renamed the St. Hubert, Quebec, Canada, provides regular updates of a sleigh operated by "S. Claus” which is “undoubtedly friendly." During the evening, NORAD reports that the sleigh has made an emergency landing on the ice of Hudson Bay, where Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) interceptors discover Santa Claus bandaging his reindeer Dancer's front foot, after which the RCAF planes escort him when he resumes his journey.[31]
- December 26 – Italian-born American airplane designer and manufacturer
First flights
January
- January 10 – Auster D.5
- January 13 – Canadair CL-41[33]
- January 14 – Piper Cherokee[34]
- January 19 – Convair CV-580 Super Convair[35]
February
- February 5 – PZL TS-11 Iskra
- February 12 – Auster D.4 G-25-8
- February 29 – Beechcraft Baron Model 56[36]
March
- March 29 – Tupolev Tu-124 (NATO reporting name "Cookpot")
April
- Antonov An-24 (NATO reporting name "Coke")[37]
- April 19 – Grumman A2F-1, A-6 Intruder prototype[38]
May
- May 9 – Auster D.6 G-25-10
- May 31 – Aeritalia G91T[39]
June
- June 24 – Avro 748[40]
July
August
- August 29 – Westland Scout
October
- Dassault Mirage IIIC (production model)
- October 18 – Beriev Be-12 Tchaika (NATO reporting name "Mail")
- October 21
- Hawker P.1127(tethered flight; first untethered flight November 19)
- Grumman W2F-1 Hawkeye[42]
- October 25 – Boeing Vertol Model 107, predecessor to the CH-46 Sea Knight.
November
- Beechcraft Baron Model 56[36]
- November 16 – Canadair CL-44
- November 16 – Procaer Cobra[42]
December
- Agusta A.104 I-AGUM
- December 4 – Enstrom F-28[42]
- December 6 – Sikorsky S-61L[42]
- December 9 – DINFIA IA 38[42]
Entered service
March
- March 15 – 43d Bombardment Wing
May
- May 15 – Convair 880 with Delta Air Lines[43]
June
- June 29 – English Electric Lightning with the Royal Air Force's No. 74 Squadron at RAF Coltishall
Retirements
July
September
Deadliest crash
The deadliest crash of this year was the
McDonnell Douglas DC-8 collided with a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation over New York City on 16 December, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft, as well as six on the ground. At the time, it became the deadliest aviation disaster of all time. The deadliest single-aircraft crash was World Airways Flight 830, a chartered Douglas DC-6 carrying American overseas servicemen in Guam
on 19 September, killing 80 of the 94 people on board.
References
- ISBN 0-312-09911-8, p. 737.
- ^ Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Flying Banana," Naval History, August 2010, p. 17.
- ^ Special, "B-25 Makes Last Flight During Ceremony at Eglin", Playground News, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Thursday 26 May 1960, Volume 15, Number "17" (actually No. 18), page 2.
- ^ "The B-58′s Record Flights". Archived from the original on 2015-01-02. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^ "Airport History". George Best Belfast City Airport. Archived from the original on 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
- ^ a b c "ASN Aircraft accident Vickers Viscount registration unknown Miami International Airport, FL (MIA)". aviation-safety.net.
- The News and Courier. 15 April 1960. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 22.
- ISBN 0-684-19390-6, p. 128.
- ^ "Broken Arrows". United Kingdom Nuclear Forces. 2005-04-28. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
- ^ Gambardello, Joseph A. (1 June 2000). "Plutonium Spill Neither Gone Nor Forgotten, 40 Years Later". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. p. A01.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-295-6, p. 207.
- ^ "Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941 -- 1999". Archived from the original on 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 37.
- ^ ISBN 0-89009-771-2, p. 95.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Bristol 175 Britannia 318 registration unknown Miami International Airport, FL (MIA)". aviation-safety.net.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Vickers Viscount CU-T623? Kingston-Palisadoes International Airport (KIN)". aviation-safety.net.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-188 Electra registration unknown Brisbane-Eagle Farm Airport, QLD (BNE)". aviation-safety.net.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-3 registration unknown Miami, FL (MIA)". aviation-safety.net.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident unknown registration unknown". aviation-safety.net.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation F-BHBC Dakar-Yoff Airport (DKR)". aviation-safety.net.
- ^ "Famous people who died in aviation accidents". planecrashinfo.com.
- ^ Brotak, Ed, "When Birds Strike," Aviation History, May 2016, pp. 46-47.
- ^ a b "Los momentos tristes del aeropuerto Mariscal Sucre - El Comercio". Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ a b Lost schemes 294 area airlinercafe.com
- ^ a b "ASN Aircraft accident Fairchild F-27A HC-ADV Quito".
- ^ "Fokkerairliners + Douglas C-47/DC-3. ~ MSN:1 Fairchild F-27".
- ^ Hallion, Richard P., "Across the Hypersonic Divide," Aviation History, July 2012, p. 41.
- ISBN 1-55750-076-2, p. 116.
- ISBN 0-89009-771-2, p. 222.
- ^ Appelbaum, Yoni (December 24, 2015). "Where Does NORAD's Santa Tracker Really Come From?". The Atlantic.
- ^ O'Connor, Derek, "An Outstanding American Citizen," Aviation History, March 2017, pp. 52, 57.
- ^ "World Air News: First Flights". Air Pictorial February 1960, p. 39.
- ^ Taylor 1961, p. 203.
- ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 273.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 100.
- ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 56.
- ^ Taylor 1961, p. 255.
- ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 9.
- ^ Taylor 1961, p. 140.
- ^ "World Air News: First Flights". Air Pictorial October 1960, p. 338.
- ^ a b c d e Taylor 1961, p. 2.
- ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 274.
- ^ Dorr, Robert F., "Cold Warrior," Aviation History, January 2015, p. 49.
- Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd., 1961.