2019 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, with the deaths of all 157 people on board.
2010 – A United States Marine Corps McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18D Hornet, BuNo 164694, 'WK-01', from VMFA(AW)-224 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, app. 35 miles (56 km) east of St. Helena Sound, South Carolina, after a double engine failure and a fire. Both pilots ejected and were floating in an inflatable life raft for about one hour before they were rescued by a USCG helicopter.
2010 – A Brazilian Army Eurocopter Fennec helicopter crashed During a night training flight during Operation Caburé. All four crew members died.
1989 – Air Ontario Flight 1363, a Fokker F28, crashes immediately after takeoff from Dryden, Ontario, Canada because of ice on the wings, killing 24 of 69 people on board.
1987 – Pan Am Flight 125, a Boeing 747, loses cabin pressure after leaving London Heathrow Airport; the aircraft returns safely to London; failure of the forward cargo door locks is blamed.
1986 – The U. S. Navy selects the F/A-18 Hornet as the official airplane of the Blue Angels.
1982 – 101 a Chilean Air Force T-35 was written off, pilot killed.
1967 – West Coast Airlines Flight 720, a Fokker F27 Friendship, crashes on Stukel Mountain just after takeoff in a mix of snow and rain from Klamath Falls Airport in Klamath Falls, Oregon, due to icing of its wings and control surfaces, killing all four people on board.
1967 – American aircraft attack the steel and iron works at Thái Nguyên, North Vietnam, for the first time.
1967 – Capt. Mac C. Brestel, an F-105 pilot with the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Takhli Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, became the first U. S. Air Force pilot to down two MiGs in one mission in the Vietnam War.
1966 – Maj. Bernard Fisher from the first Commando Squadron landed an A-1E on A Shau runway, Vietnam, under fire from North Vietnamese troops to rescue a downed pilot, Maj. Dafford W. Myers from the 602nd Fighter Squadron. President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Major Fisher the Medal of Honor for heroism on Jan. 19, 1967 and he became the first Air Force man to be so honored for action in the Southeast Asian conflict.
1961 – Douglas RB-66C Destroyer, 54-0471, of the 9th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, suffers explosion in starboard engine on climb-out from Shaw AFB, South Carolina, attempts emergency landing in zero-zero visibility weather at Donaldson AFB at Greenville, South Carolina. On second attempt, aircraft strikes embankment to right of runway threshold, slides onto airfield, burns. Crew escapes with only minor injuries.
1960 – The last flight by a United States Air Force-operated North American B-25 Mitchell takes place, when TB-25 J-25-NC, 44-30854, the last Mitchell in the U. S. Air Force inventory, lands at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for preservation.
1956 – Lt Cdr Peter Twiss sets a new airspeed record in the Fairey Delta FD.2, also becoming the first person to exceed 1,000 mph. His top speed is 1,132 mph (1,821 km/h).
1956 – One of four United States Air Force Boeing B-47E Stratojet bombers of the 369th Bomb Squadron, 306th Bomb Wing (M), out of MacDill AFB, Florida, en route non-stop to Ben Guerir AFB, B-47E-95-BW, 52-534, Inkspot 59, misses tanker meet over the Mediterranean. Extensive search never turns up plane, crew, or two 210DE nuclear capsules.
1948 – NACA test pilot Herbert Henry Hoover becomes the first civilian to exceed the speed of sound when he flies the No. 2 Bell XS-1 to a speed of 703 mph (Mach 1.065).
1948 – Entered Service: North American FJ-1 Fury – The United States Navy’s first operational jet aircraft – with Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) aboard USS Boxer (CV-21)
1948 – VF-5 becomes the first US Navy carrier squadron to be equipped with jets.
1945 – A total of 279 US Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress bombers drop 1,700 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo, killing over 100,000 people and leaving over 1 million homeless.
1944 – Sunderland aircraft of 442 Squadron attacked U-boat 625 forcing crew to abandon ship.
1943 – The U. S. Army Air Forces activate the Fourteenth Air Force in China.
1943 – The first combat mission of the U. S. Army Air Forces Republic P-47 Thunderbolt takes place, a fighter sweep by England-based 4th Fighter Group P-47 s over France. They encounter no enemy aircraft.
1942 – The U. S. Navy aircraft carriers USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Yorktown (CV-5) launch a 104-aircraft raid from south of New Guinea and over the Owen Stanley Mountains via a 7,500-foot (2,286-meter) pass to strike Japanese shipping off Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea.
1941 – (Overnight) – The Handley Page Halifax becomes the second British four-engined bomber to enter combat, as six Halifaxes of No. 35 Squadron join eight Bristol Blenheims in attacking Le Havre, France.
1931 – Lockheed Y1C-17, 31-408, Vega Model DL1B Special, c/n 159, assigned at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., cracks up during forced landing at Tolu, Kentucky during attempted transcontinental record flight by Capt. Ira C. Eaker, pilot unhurt. Specially rigged gas lines had leaked air which shut off fuel flow to engine. Wreckage taken to Wright Field, Ohio, scrapped 22 April 1931. Was the fastest USAAC aircraft of its time at 221 mph. Total airframe flight time 33 hours.
1925 – One of the most outstanding flying boats of its day and a stunning demonstration of the skills of aircraft designer R. J. Michell, the Supermarine Southampton, makes its first flight with Henri Biard at the controls. It remains in service for 12 years, longer than any other flying boat before Sunderland.
1919 – Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes announces a £10,000 reward to the first aviator who will fly from the United Kingdom to Australia in less than 30 days.
1918 – Sole prototype Nieuport B.N.1, C3484, operating out of Sutton's Farm, a home aerodrome, Great Britain, catches fire in the air and is destroyed. No further development undertaken.
1918 – Günther Rall, German ace fighter pilot, was born. Rall is the third most successful fighter ace in history, and the most successful ace still living. He achieved a total of 275 victories: 272 on the Eastern Front, of which 241 were against Soviet fighters. He flew a total of 621 combat missions, was shot down 8 times and was wounded 3 times. He scored his victories in the Messerschmitt Bf 109 ‘Black 13′.
1910 – Emil Aubrun makes the first night flights, in a Blériot Type IX at Villalugano, Argentina.
1905 – The French lawyer and aspiring aeronaut Ernest Archdeacon sends a letter to the Wright brothers in Dayton, Ohio challenging them to prove the validity of their claims. This marks the beginning of a bitter contest between the Wrights and European aeronauts.
