Connecting Skies • Bridging Continents
The group will resume Frankfurt-Nagoya service and add a daily Frankfurt-Tokyo Narita flight, cementing its position as Japan’s leading European airline group. The Lufthansa Group
The agreement expands earlier cooperation between ispace and Telespazio to explore joint lunar infrastructure and services, with the European Space Agency’s Moonlight programme identified as
Nineteen projects across the United States will test technologies from detect-and-avoid systems to counter-drone sensing, as the agency works to expand safe drone operations in
The gate-to-gate demonstrator tested automated taxiing, AI-assisted pilot support and quantum sensing navigation on an A350 test aircraft before concluding its campaign. Airbus has concluded
Addressing delegates at the association’s 56th Annual General Assembly in Mauritius, AASA chief executive Aaron Munetsi set out five measurable actions to unlock the continent’s
The by-the-seat air service returns for this year’s Las Vegas convention, with Joby Aviation on hand to outline plans for introducing electric air taxis into
As more-electric aircraft add avionics, sensors and power electronics, engineers are rethinking cooling as a design decision rather than an afterthought, Honeywell says. Every electrical system added to an aircraft increases the heat that must be managed, and Honeywell Aerospace
An Air New Zealand DHC-8 Q300 descended to 1,022 feet above ground approaching Timaru at night in June 2023 before the crew recovered and landed safely; the Transport Accident Investigation Commission’s final report also found shortcomings in the regulator’s own
Cargo and aircraft movements also reached record levels last year, but ACI’s 2026 Annual World Airport Traffic Report finds growth cooling sharply this year amid geopolitical and economic headwinds. Airports Council International (ACI) World says global airports carried a record
2012 – First flight of the Cessna Citation M2
2009 – The Centaur module of NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is purposely smashed into the surface of the Moon, creating a plume of dust which is collected by another spacecraft to test for the presence of water. Five weeks later, test results confirm the existence of water vapor on the Moon.
2006 – The A/MH-6X manned/unmanned military light-turbine helicopter makes its first flight. It combines technologies of the A/MH-6 M Mission Enhanced Little Bird with Unmanned Little Bird Demonstrator, a modified MD 530 F civil helicopter
2002 – Northwest Airlines Flight 85 suffered a rudder hardover above the Bering Sea, all 404 people survived.
1999 – Completing a career during which she set scores of speed and altitude records, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird makes its final flight.
1986 – First flight of the AgustaWestland AW101.
1969 – A USAF Boeing B-52F-70-BW Stratofortress, 57-0172, of the 329th Bomb Squadron, crashed about 1,000 feet beyond end of runway while doing touch-and-goes at Castle AFB, California. All six crew died in the 2345 hrs. accident as the Stratofortress exploded on impact.
1967 – Second (of five) Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142As, 62-5922, suffers major landing gear and fuselage damage during STOL landing at Edwards AFB, California, following a 28-minute functional check flight after incorporation of modified control system components. Crew uninjured. This was the 488th test flight of the XC-142 program, and it turns out to be the last one before the program is cancelled. Airframe not repaired.
1949 – Douglas C-47A-90-DL Skytrain, 43-16062, c/n 20528, of the 6th Rescue Squadron, Air Rescue Service, MATS, based at Goose Bay, Labrador, fails to gain sufficient airspeed on takeoff from primitive Isachsen airstrip, abandoned Isachsen weather station, Ellef Ringnes Island, Northwest Territory, Canada, at 1800 hrs.
Zulu, lifting off twice before landing gear/skis contacted rising terrain and collapsed. Cause was icing and overload conditions. Four crew and six passengers suffer only minor injuries. Airframe abandoned in place. It is still there.
1938 – Nationalist aircraft sink the Republican submarine C-6 at Barcelona, Spain.
1933 – Prototype Martin XB-10, 33-157, assigned to the 59th Service Squadron, Langley Field, Virginia, is lost when landing gear will not extend during routine flight, Lt. E.A. Hilary parachutes from bomber, which is destroyed with only 132 flight hours.
1931 – U.S. Navy Keystone PK-1 flying boat, BuNo A-8516, is forced down in heavy seas and sinks.
1930 – Erroll Boyd launches his flight across the Atlantic in the Maple Leaf. En route, he encounters rough weather; his plane suffers an electrical failure and a clogged fuel line. He becomes the first Canadian to fly the Atlantic when he lands the next day on the British island of Tresco.
1924 – In the United Kingdom, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force is established.
1919 – Continuing the cross-country contest, a DH-4B hits the side of a mountain W of Cheyenne, Wyoming, killing 1st Lt. Edwin V. Vales and badly injuring 2nd Lt. William C. Goldsborough. Lt. A. M. Roberts and his observer survive a close call when, in an effort to make up for lost time, Roberts chooses the direct route, over Lake Erie, between Buffalo and Cleveland. His engine fails, and he has to ditch in the lake. Luckily, a passing freighter sees the crash and picks up the two men.
1906 – Zeppelin LZ 3 flies for the first time.
1900 – French aeronaut Count Henri de La Vaulx sets a world record for non-stop long-distance balloon flight. He flies for over 35 hours after taking off from Paris, France.
1890 – Clement Ader flew 50 m in powered, uncontrolled flight in his aeroplane “Eole”.
