On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1897 – Birth of Thomas Vicars “Sticky” Hunter, British World War I flying ace.

1937 – Swedish airplane manufacturer Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB) is established in Trollhättan, Sweden.

1947 – First flight of the Convair XB-46 (shown), an American experimental medium jet bomber; only one was built before the program was cancelled.

1954 – Death of Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, American pilot, a U.S. Air Force general, its second chief of staff and the second director of central intelligence.

1986 – A bomb planted by a Palestinian Resistants group explodes aboard Trans World Airlines Flight 840, a Boeing 727, on a flight between Rome and Athens. Four passengers are killed and nine more injured, but the aircraft lands safely.

2012 – American Helen Collins, 80, successfully lands a twin-engine Cessna 414 low on fuel after her husband passes out at the controls.

Updated: April 2, 2014 — 12:43 PM
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