On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1893 – Birth of Camille Lagesse, a Canadian WWI fighter ace credited with 20 victories.

1912 – Lt. Commander Charles Samson flies a Short S.38 from the deck of battleship HMS Africa moored in the River Medway, England, becoming the first British naval aviator.

1945 – A U.S. Army Air Corps Northrop P-61B Black Widow, based at Hollandia, New Guinea, crashes on Mount Cyclops just a few miles from its airfield. All aboard survive with only minor injuries. The airframe, recovered in 1989 by helicopter, is undergoing restoration at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pa.

1964 – A B-52 H Stratofortress, configured as a testbed to investigate structural failures, has its vertical stabilizer sheared off in severe turbulence over Colorado. The bomber landed safely and was repaired and its flight was the subject of a popular military film, “Flight Without a Fin.”

1967 – Death of Laura Houghtaling Ingalls, American aviatrix.

1990 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, a three-engined widebody airliner based on the DC-10.

1992 – TWA files for bankruptcy.

2009 – Zambian Airways, flag carrier of Zambia, suspends operations.

Updated: January 10, 2013 — 2:28 PM
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