Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/December 27

December 27

• 2012 – Syrian rebel forces claim to have shot down a Syrian Air Force in western Syria near Morek with antiaircraft artillery fire.

• 2006 – 2006 Morecambe Bay Helicopter Crash was a fatal air incident that occurred at approximately 18:40 GMT, whilst replacement crew were being transported between the Millom and Morecambe gas platforms situated approximately 24 miles (39 km) from the shoreline of Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, England.

• 1992 – USAF F-16 Fighting Falcons shoot down an Iraqi Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 in Southern Iraq's "no fly zone"

• 1991 – Both engines of Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-81, fail shortly after takeoff from Stockholm, Sweden. The pilots successfully make an emergency landing in a nearby field, injuring 25 passengers but incurring not a single fatality.

• 1985 – Members of the Abu Nidal Organization launch coordinated attacks at airports in Italy and Austria. Four gunmen open fire at the El Al and TWA counter at Leonardo Da Vinco-Flumicino Airport in Rome, killing 16 and injured nearly 100 others. At the same time, 3 men do the same at Vienna International Airport while people were getting ready to board a flight to Israel, killing 3 and injuring 40. Of the 7 shooters, 4 were killed and the others arrested.

• 1982 – John Leonard ‘Jack’ Swigert, Jr., American astronaut, dies (b. 1931). Swigert was one of three astronauts aboard the ill-fated Apollo 13 moon mission, which was launched on April 11, 1970. Originally part of the backup crew for the mission, he was assigned to the mission just days before launch, replacing astronaut Ken Mattingly.

• 1972 – The U. S. Marine Corps loses a fixed-wing aircraft over Vietnam for the last time.

• 1968 – Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending humanity’s first manned mission to the Moon.

• 1968 – North Central Airlines Flight 458, a Convair CV-580, crashes into a hangar at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, killing 27 of the 45 people on board and one person on the ground.

• 1951 – First flight of the North American FJ-2/-3 Fury

• 1949 – US carriers American Airlines and TWA begin coast-to coast coach-class flights with 60-passenger DC-4 s, charging US $110 one-way.

• 1947 – In the 1947 Korangi Creek crash, an Air India Douglas DC-3 crashes shortly after takeoff, killing all 23 on board.

• 1942 – First flight of the Kawanishi N1K (N1 K1-J)

• 1942 – First flight of the Mitsubishi Ki-67

• 1941 – No. 404 (Coastal Fighter) Squadron provided air support for a Commando raid on Vaagso, Norway.

• 1941 – (27-28) 132 British bombers attack Düsseldorf, Germany.

• 1936 – United Airlines Trip 34, a Boeing 247, crashes at Rice Canyon due to pilot error, killing all 12 on board.

• 1935 – The USAAC uses aerial bombardment to divert a flow of lava from Mauna Loa, Hawaii that is threatening Hilo's waterworks.

• 1922 – The Hosho, Japan's first aircraft carrier is commissioned.

• 1919 – First flight of the Boeing Model 6

• 1773 – George Cayley was born. As a Pioneer of early aviation regarded by many as the father of flight. His glider had taken his coachman on the first manned flight in 1853.