On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1896 – Birth of Thomas Gantz Cassady, American World War I flying ace, World War II Office of Strategic Services intelligence officer and businessman.

1924 – The first recorded flight of a live bull takes place when champion breeder Nico V is flown from Rotterdam, Holland, to Paris, France. The bull is carried by KLM in a Fokker F.III transport aircraft.

1941 – In a span of under three hours, three Junkers Ju 88As (shown above) crash in northeast England due to a British radio countermeasure called “Meacon,” which falsifies German navigational beacon signals and apparently caused the planes to fly headlong into coastal hills. Crews of the first two planes are killed in the crashes, while the crew of the third plane is captured.

1944 – Death of Ingvar Fredrik Hakansson, a Swedish World War II pilot in the Royal Air Force; he drowns at sea near Dungeness after his Supermarine Spitfire was damaged when the V-1 flying bomb he was attacking exploded.

1982 – Pan Am Flight 759, a Boeing 727, crashes in Kenner, La., shortly after takeoff; all 145 on board and eight on the ground are killed. Wind shear was later determined to be the cause.

2010 – The Qinetiq Zephyr, a lightweight, solar-powered UAV designed for use in observation and communications relay, takes off for an endurance record. It completed the attempt on July 23, after a flight of 336 hours and 22 mins., more than doubling the previous endurance record for unmanned flight.

Updated: July 9, 2013 — 11:12 AM
Air Age Media ©
WordPress Image Lightbox Plugin