Portal:Aviation/Historical anniversaries/April in aviation/April 12
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- 1989 - a British Airways Concorde loses a large piece of its rudder on a flight between Christchurch and Sydney
- 1996 - Seven year old pilot Jessica Dubroff dies during attempt to set record as the youngest person to fly across the United States.
- 1981 - the Space shuttle Columbia takes off. It marks the first time an American Space Shuttle flies operationally. It lands two days later.
- 1961 - Yuri Gagarin makes the first human spaceflight in Vostok 1, orbiting the Earth once, in 108 minutes.
- 1951 - 48 USAF B-29 Superfortresses attack the Sinuiju Railway Bridge on the Yalu River.
- 1945 - USS Mannert L. Abele is sunk by an Ohka
- 1937 - Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at the British Thomson-Houston factory in Rugby, England.
- 1918 - the final Zeppelin raid on England is carried out.
- 1918 - Captain H.W. Woollett of No. 43 Squadron RAF scores six victories in two sorties, including five Albatros D.Vs.