June 12009

Air France 447

Accident17 years ago

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17historical events

60occurrences in earlier years

1912–2025years covered

Fact of the day

The A330 falls into the Atlantic on the Rio–Paris route after its pitot tubes ice over and it stalls at high altitude: 228 lives lost. It changed high-altitude stall training worldwide.

Browse the Airbus A330 in the encyclopedia

Also on this day · 16

1912Milestone The first flight in Norway

Naval lieutenant Hans Fleischer Dons crosses the Oslo fjord in the monoplane Start, bought by subscription among navy officers, and makes the first flight by a Norwegian in Norway.

1937Milestone Sleeper berths on the airliner

Transcontinental & Western Air introduces sleeper berths for passengers in the United States: sleeping while flying.

1939Milestone Fornebu, Oslo’s airport, opens

Oslo opens Fornebu Airport on the shore of the fjord; it served the Norwegian capital until Gardermoen took over in 1998.

1943Accident BOAC Flight 777 shot down with Leslie Howard aboard

A BOAC DC-3 flying Lisbon–Bristol is shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German fighters; actor Leslie Howard is among the 17 killed.

1947Milestone The Ilyushin Il-12 enters service with Aeroflot

Aeroflot puts the Il-12 into service, the twin that replaced the Li-2 on Soviet domestic routes.

1947Milestone Tocumen Airport opens in Panama

Panama inaugurates Tocumen Airport, today the great hub of the Americas.

1948Milestone The Convair 240 enters service with American Airlines

American Airlines introduces the Convair 240, the pressurized twin that replaced the DC-3 on short routes.

1956Airline Colonial Airlines merges into Eastern

Eastern Air Lines absorbs Colonial Airlines and its routes linking New York, Canada and Bermuda.

1961Airline United absorbs Capital

United Air Lines completes its takeover of Capital Airlines, the largest airline merger until then: with 267 aircraft, United becomes the largest airline in the Western world.

1961Airline SFO Helicopter Airlines takes off

San Francisco and Oakland Helicopter Airlines begins scheduled helicopter flights around San Francisco Bay.

1972Milestone Continental puts the DC-10 into service

Continental Airlines brings the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 into scheduled service.

1976Accident Aeroflot Flight 418 crashes into the sea off Malabo

An Aeroflot Tu-154 plunges into the Atlantic on approach to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; all 46 aboard are killed.

1978Milestone The Tu-144’s last passenger flight

The Soviet supersonic makes its 55th and final passenger flight, between Moscow and Alma-Ata: in seven months it had carried 3,194 people.

1981First flight The Shorts 360 flies

The Shorts 360, a British regional airliner, makes its first flight.

1998Airline MetroJet, US Airways’ low-cost unit, is born

US Airways launches MetroJet, its low-cost brand flying 737-200s, to take on Southwest along the East Coast.

1999Accident American 1420 overruns the runway at Little Rock

An American Airlines MD-82 lands in a thunderstorm at Little Rock and runs off the runway; 11 of the 145 aboard die, including the captain.

This day in earlier years · 60

Occurrences recorded on June 1 in earlier years across the fleet we document; this year’s are in News. Each one opens the record of the aircraft involved.