1961_in_aviation

1961 in aviation

1961 in aviation

List of aviation-related events in 1961


This is a list of aviation-related events from 1961.

Events

January

  • January 1
  • January 3 Aero Flight 311, a Douglas DC-3C (registration OH-LCC) of the Finnish airline Aero, crashes near Kvevlax (Koivulahti) on approach to Vaasa Airport in Finland killing all 25 people on board. An investigation determines pilot error to be the cause of crash, finding that the captain and first officer were both exhausted for lack of sleep and were intoxicated at the time of the crash. It remains the deadliest air disaster to have occurred in Finland.
  • January 12 – At the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, the crew of a United States Air Force Strategic Air Command B-58 Hustler led by Major E. J. Deutschendorf – the father of singer-songwriter John Denver – breaks six world records in a single flight, including five held by the Soviet Union. The B-58 sets a new world speed record for a flight carrying a 2,000-kilogram (4,409-pound) payload over a 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) course, achieving an average speed of 1,061.808 mph (1,708.814 km/h). The flight also breaks the world speed records for average speed over the same distance carrying a 1,000-kilogram (1,610-pound) payload and carrying no payload and smashes the previous records for the distance in all three payload categories, which had been held by Soviet Tupolev Tu-104s flying at about half the average speed the B-58 achieves. The flight also sets a new record for average speed over a 1,000-km (621 mph) course, averaging 1,200 mph (1,900 km/h).[2]
  • January 14 – At the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, a U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command B-58 Hustler sets a new world speed record for a flight carrying a 2,000-kilogram (4,409-pound) payload over a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) course, averaging 1,284.73 mph (2,067.57 km/h). The flight also breaks the world speed records for average speed over the same distance carrying a 1,000-kilogram (1,610-pound) payload and carrying no payload.[2] On February 28, the crew will receive the Thompson Trophy for the flight.[2]
  • January 24 – A United States Air Force B-52G Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 nuclear bombs breaks up in mid-air over Faro, North Carolina, and crashes, killing three of its eight-man crew. The bombs do not arm themselves and one bomb is recovered. Travelling at over 700 miles per hour (1,100 km/h), the second bomb lands in a swamp and buries itself to a depth of over 75 feet (23 meters); flooding prevents its recovery.

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

  • August 3 Armed with handguns, Leon Bearden – a convicted bank robber with many financial and psychological problems who wishes to present Cuba′s leader Fidel Castro with a Boeing 707 and make a fresh start in Cuba – and his 16-year-old son Cody hijack Continental Airlines Flight 54, a Boeing 707-124 (registration N70775) with 73 people on board while it is flying from Phoenix, Arizona, to El Paso, Texas, where the Beardens release all the passengers except for four who volunteer to remain aboard as hostages. Under orders from President John F. Kennedy to prevent the airliner from leaving Texas, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Continental Airlines make sure that refueling the plane faces endless delays, until Leon Bearden fires a shot and orders the flight crew to take off. Federal agents spray the plane with machine gun as it begins to roll, shredding its tires and disabling one of its engines. An FBI negotiator then boards the plane and subdues the Beardens.[23][24]
  • August 4 The United States Senate holds an emergency hearing on the recent outbreak of aircraft hijackings in the United States. Asked whether the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had considered searching all airline passengers before boarding, FAA head Najeeb Halaby rejects the idea as impractical, saying "Can you imagine the line that would form from the ticket counter in Miami if everyone had to submit to police inspections?"[23]
  • August 9
  • August 10 The United States Senate votes 92–0 in favor of a bill making airplane hijacking a crime punishable by death.[28]
  • August 13 A Curtiss C-46F transport plane operated by the CIA's Air America airline suffers a mechanical problem and crashes near Pha Khao in Laos, killing all 5 crew members on board while they were on a mission to drop supplies for General Vang Pao's Hmong army.[29]
  • August 15 Beagle Aircraft's first completely original design the B.206X, an early prototype of the Beagle Basset flies for the first time.[30]
  • August 16 The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) sells its ownership stake in Middle East Airlines.
  • August 21 A Canadian Pacific Air Lines Douglas DC-8 sets two world records during a single test flight. First, it reaches 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) at a weight of 107,600 pounds (48,800 kg), a new altitude record for a loaded transport jet. Then, in a dive from that altitude, it reaches Mach 1.012 with a true air speed of 662.5 mph (1,066.2 km/h) at an altitude of 39,614 feet (12,074 meters), becoming the first airliner to break the sound barrier.[31]
  • August 28 In Operation Sageburner, a United States Navy McDonnell F4H-1F Phantom II fighter (BuNo. 145307) sets a low-altitude speed record, averaging 902.769 mph (1,452.866 km/h) over a 3-mile (4.82-km) course flying below 125 feet (38 meters) at all times.
  • August 29 A French military aircraft clips a cable of the aerial tramway connecting Pointe Helbronner and the Aiguille du Midi in the French Alps. Three cars of the tramway fall, killing five people. The pilot lands his plane safely.[32]
  • August 31

September

October

November

December

First flights

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

Entered service

April

June

September

  • Sikorsky HSS-2 Sea King (redesignated SH-3 Sea King in 1962) with United States Navy Antisubmarine Helicopter Squadrons 3 (HS-3) and 10 (HS-10)[58]

October

Retirements

Deadliest crash

Two crashes claim the joint title of 1961's deadliest plane crash. The first took place on 10 May, when Air France Flight 406, a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner was destroyed by a terrorist bomb over the Sahara desert in Algeria, killing all 78 people on board. The second, an accident, took place on 1 September when TWA Flight 529, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation, crashed shortly after taking off from Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., also killing all 78 people on board.


References

  1. "The B-58′s Record Flights". Archived from the original on 2015-01-02. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  2. Hallion, Richard P., "Across the Hypersonic Divide," Aviation History, July 2012, p. 41.
  3. Hollway, Don, "'One of My Missiles is Loose!'", Aviation History, March 2013, p. 60.
  4. Mets, David R., Land-Based Air Power in Third World Crises, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, July 1986, no ISBN, p. 72.
  5. Mets, David R., Land-Based Air Power in Third World Crises, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, July 1986, no ISBN, pp. 72-76, 79-80.
  6. Mets, David R., Land-Based Air Power in Third World Crises, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, July 1986, no ISBN, pp. 81-83.
  7. "Today in History," The Washington Post Express, May 1, 2012, Page 34.
  8. McCabe, Scott, "Crime History," The Washington Examiner, May 1, 2013, Page 8.
  9. Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 66.
  10. Ross, Malcolm; Edwards, Walter (November 1961). "Balloon Ride to the Edge of Space". National Geographic Magazine. 120 (5). Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society: 671–685.
  11. Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 311.
  12. Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 311, claims the radar inytercept officer's name was B. R. Young.
  13. "History of El Al". El Al. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  14. Today in History, The Washington Post Express, July 19, 2011, Page 37.
  15. "Central Intelligence Agency discloses deaths of 5 officers". BNO News. May 24, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-06-02. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  16. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 94.
  17. Wilkinson, Stephan, "The First Airliner to Go Supersonic," Aviation History, September 2011, p. 13.
  18. Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 978-0-517-56588-9, pp. 429-430.
  19. "Today in History," The Washington Post Express, September 5, 2012, p. 28.
  20. "3 Killed as Plane Crashes in Air Show". The New York Times. September 25, 1961. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  21. "100,000 See 3 Die in Crash at Air Show". The Los Angeles Times. September 25, 1961. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  22. "30 October 1961 - The Tsar Bomba". CTBTO Preparatory Commission. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  23. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 6.
  24. Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, ISBN 0-89009-771-2, p. 74.
  25. Hallion, Richard P., "Across the Hypersonic Divide," Aviation History, July 2012, pp. 36-37.
  26. Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1982, Part One: The Western Powers, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, ISBN 0-87021-918-9, p. 28.
  27. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 7.
  28. Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 8.
  29. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 274.
  30. Taylor 1961, p. 2.
  31. Duffy and Kandalov 1996, p. 138.
  32. Taylor 1961, p. 158.
  33. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 74.
  34. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 101.
  35. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 90.
  36. David, Donald, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Nobles Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 110.
  37. Taylor 1962, p. 2.
  38. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 97.
  39. Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The King of the Sea", Naval History, February 2012, p. 12.
  • Duffy, Paul and Andrei Kandalov. Tupolev The Man and His Aircraft. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife, 1996. ISBN 1-85310-728-X.
  • Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd., 1961.
  • Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1962–63. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd., 1962.

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