Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/October 28

October 28

• 2012 – Syrian Air Force aircraft strike rebel-held areas in the eastern Damascus suburbs of Arbeen, Harasta, and Zamalka.

• 2010 – A Eurocopter AS350 helicopter crashed in Antarctica, killing four people.

• 2006 – Continental Airlines Flight 1883, a Boeing 757-224 with 154 people on board, mistakenly lands on a taxiway instead of a runway at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. It rolls to a stop without incident.

• 1998 – An Air China (Mainland China) jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan.

• 1990 – When the Iraqi tanker Amuriyah refuses to stop for inspection by Coalition warships enforcing an embargo against Iraq, the pursuit of her by Coalition forces includes low-level flyovers by U. S. Navy aircraft carrier-based F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets.

• 1983 – Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1, XV742, one of four Harriers displayed at the 1968 SBAC show at Farnborough, then loaned to the U.S. Marine Corps for trials in 1971, returned to the RAF and converted to GR.3 standard in 1982, crashes this date on Holbeach range, UK, while serving with No. 233 OCU.

• 1982 – The last Air France Boeing 707 service, from Tunis to Paris.

• 1977 – 28-30 – A Pan Am Boeing 747SP circumnavigates the world over the two poles

• 1974 – First flight of the Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard

• 1972 – First flight of the Airbus A300

• 1962 – First flight of the Westland Wasp

• 1960 – RCAF 435 Squadron accepted its first CC-130 B Hercules transport aircraft at Uplands.

• 1958 – Canadair C-5 of the RCAF, piloted by W/C WK Carr and crew, flew Prime Minister Diefenbaker on a round-the-world tour.

• 1958 – The first Sabre fives are handed over to RCAF Auxiliary squadrons, with 401 the first unit to convert.

• 1957 – The first production Boeing Model 707-120 jet rolls out.

• 1954 – First flight of the North American FJ-4 Fury

• 1952 – The Douglas XA3D-1 (A-3) Skywarrior makes its first flight.

• 1949 – An Air France Lockheed Constellation crashes into a mountain on São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal, killing all 48 people on board, including boxer Marcel Cerdan and violinist Ginette Neveu

• 1945 – First flight of the LWD Szpak

• 1944 – The United States Army Air Forces’ Twentieth Air Force carries out its first strike from its new bases in the Mariana Islands, a raid by 14 Saipan-based B-29 Superfortresses against Truk Atoll. It is the first B-29 combat mission from the Marianas.

• 1938 – Lieutenant Colonel Ramón Franco, commander of Spanish Nationalist air forces in the Balearic Islands, dies when his seaplane crashes off Pollença, Majorca, during an attempt to bomb Republican-held Valencia.

• 1936 – First flight of the Dornier Do 19

• 1936 – Tupolev TB-3-4AM-34FRN with A. B. Yumashev of the Soviet Union at the controls sets a payload-to-altitude record of 5,000 kg (11,023 lb) to 8,980 m (29,462 feet).

• 1927 – The Meacham Field in Key West, Florida was the location of the first air passenger international arrivals building.

• 1916 – Undercarriage of German fighter pilot Erwin Böhme, diving on a British fighter, strikes upper wing of ace Oswald Boelcke's Albatros D.II, also pursuing the same target. Fabric peels loose, aircraft disappears into cloud - when it emerges, the top wing is gone. Boelcke makes relatively "soft" landing, but as he habitually flew without a helmet, and in haste to take off had not properly secured his seatbelt, he was killed on impact. He was 25, and was credited with 40 victories. Jasta 2 is officially named "Jasta Boelcke" on 17 December 1916 in honour of its former commander.

• 1914 – Aviators in Melbourne form an Australian Aero Club.

• 1891 – Ormer Locklear, American movie stunt pilot is born (d. 1920).