Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/March 13

March 13

• 2012 – A Turkish Air Force Northrop NF-5A-2000 crashed on take off from Konya Air Base, Turkey, killing the pilot. The Turkish Stars aircraft was on a training flight.

• 2009 – Mexican airline MexicanaLink commences operations.

• 2006 – Television personality Peter Tomarken and his second wife Kathleen are killed when Tomarken's Beechcraft Bonanza A36, N16JR, crashes a few hundred feet off shore in Santa Monica Bay after attempting climb-out from the Santa Monica Airport in California.

• 1997 – An Iranian Air Force Lockheed C-130 crashes in Mashhad, Iran after reporting an engine failure.

• 1992 – Two B-52 bombers fly to Ryanzan Air Base near Moscow in exchange for a visit to the United States by three TU-95 Bear bombers and a TU Blackjack bomber from the Commonwealth of Independent States.

• 1989 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-29 at 14:57:00 UTC. Mission highlights: ISS supply, crew rotation.

• 1987 – Japanese Air Self Defense Force Mitsubishi F-15J, 42-8840, of the 204 Hiko-tai, crashes into the sea 100 miles E of Hyakuri Air Base, Japan, following suspected spatial disorientation. Pilot KWF.

• 1982 – Boeing Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker, 57-1489, assigned to the 197th Air Refueling Squadron, 161st Air Refueling Group, Arizona Air National Guard, crashed south of Luke AFB, Arizona. The KC-135 was on an instrument approach to Luke when a Grumman AA-1 Yankee, N6160L, collided with it aft of the wings, causing the tail section to separate from the rest of the aircraft, leading to loss of control and crash. All four crew members in the KC-135 and the two civilians in the Yankee were killed.

• 1977 – First flight of the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter.

• 1974 – Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 806 strays off course and collides with terrain in Bishop, California. All 36 aboard perish on the Convair CV-440 (N4819 C).

• 1969 – Apollo 9 ends after a 10-day test of the Lunar Module in Earth’s lower orbit.

• 1967 – South African Airways Flight 406, a Vickers Viscount 818, crashes into the sea while on approach to East London, South Africa, killing all 25 passengers and crew on board. The pilot of the plane suffered a fatal heart attack while on approach and the co-pilot was unable to regain control of the aircraft.

• 1964 – Beginning of RCAF support of UN Peacekeeping operations on Cyprus.

• 1961 – McDonnell delivers the last of 807 F-101 Voodoos to the Air Force.

• 1958 – A Boeing B-47B-30-BW Stratojet, 51-2104, of the 379th Bombardment Wing, from Homestead AFB, Florida, crashes shortly after take-off, breaking into four parts while making a shallow turn at 1,500 feet (460 m), coming down 10 nm SW of Homestead. Four crew killed: Maj. Leon F. Hatcher Jr., aircraft commander; Maj. Frank H. Whyte Jr., instructor pilot; 1st Lt. Paul J. Pennington, Co-Pilot; Capt. George Reid, Navigator. On the same date, a TB-47B-10-BW Stratojet, 50‑0013, c/n 450028, of the 3520th Combat Crew Training Wing, out of McConnell AFB breaks up in flight over Tulsa, Oklahoma. Student pilot, instructor eject, parachute to safety, but crewman occupying the navigator's position does not eject and is killed. Both accidents are due to unexpected fatigue issues in the B-47 fleet.

• 1954 – A BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) Lockheed L-749 A (G-ALAM) crashes in Kallang Singapore, killing 33 of the 40 on board. Pilot fatigue is blamed for the aircraft falling short of the runway and striking a concrete wall.

• 1952 – Entered Service: Airspeed Ambassador with British European Airways

• 1951 – The Australian airline Qantas begins a survey flight from Rose Bay, Sydney to Valparaiso, Chile with a Catalina (VH – ASA).

• 1951 – 1st Lt. Henry A. Crescibene suffers forced landing due to mechanical failure 3 miles W of Aldenhoven, Germany, in Republic F-84E-15-RE Thunderjet, 49-2379, of the 307th Fighter-Escort Squadron, 31st Fighter-Escort Group, based at RAF Manston. Aircraft damaged, pilot survives.

• 1945 – U. S. interest in flight is so popular that courses in aviation are being taught at this point in 14,000 of America’s 25,686 high schools.

• 1945 – 13-14 – An Avro Lancaster of No. 617 Squadron RAF drops the first 22,000 lb (9,980 kg) Grand Slam bomb

• 1940 – The Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland ends in the defeat of Finland. During the 3½-month war, the Finnish Air Force has grown from 96 to 287 aircraft, and has lost 62 aircraft in air-to-air combat and 59 more damaged beyond repair, while the Soviet Union has lost between 700 and 900 – 725 confirmed destroyed and about 200 unconfirmed – of the 2,500 to 3,000 aircraft it has committed to the campaign, and another 300 damaged. The Soviet Air Force has dropped 150,000 bombs – About 7,500 tons (6,803,955 kg) of bombs – on Finnish territory, but has performed poorly; its operations in early December 1939 had failed to disrupt Finnish mobilization and, despite unusually clear weather in January and February, it failed to disrupt the lone railroad connecting Finland with the outside world for more than a few hours at a time or to disrupt Finnish merchant shipping, despite 60 air raids on Finnish ports.

• 1928 – The first Canadian woman to become a licensed pilot was Eileen Volick, passing her private pilot’s License (Certificate No. 77) in Hamilton, Ontario. Other Canadian women soon followed, obtaining private, commercial, multi-engine, instrument, and instructor ratings before the Second World War.

• 1927 – First of two Naval Aircraft Factory PN-8 flying boats, BuNo A-6799, delivered 8 May 1925, intended for a flight by the Navy from San Francisco to Hawaii, is wrecked while being transported fully assembled on the deck of the USS West Virginia. Hit by heavy seas, the plane is lifted against its tie-down cables, which cut through the hull, airframe written off with 32:48 flying hours.

• 1922 – Portuguese pilots Cpt Gago Coutinho and Cpt Sacadura Cabral leave Lisbon to attempt the first crossing of the South Atlantic by air. They arrive in Brazil on June 16, in the third Fairey III they use for the trip.

• 1917 – The United States Army’s 6th Aero Squadron is organized in the Territory of Hawaii, operating three N-9 seaplanes.

• 1914 – Edward O’Hare, American pilot, is born (d. 1943). O’Hare was a naval aviator of the United States Navy who on 20 February 1942 became the U. S. Navy’s first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. On 19 September 1949, the Chicago, Illinois airport was renamed O’Hare International Airport in honor of Edward O’Hare.

• 1910 – Paul Engelhard makes the first flight in Switzerland, flying a Wright biplane from a frozen lake at St Moritz.