1994 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1994:
Events
March
April
- April 4 – KLM Cityhopper Flight 433, a Saab 340, crashes on landing at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, killing 3 of the 21 people on board and seriously injuring nine of the 18 survivors.
- April 6 – A surface-to-air missile shoots down the presidential jet of Rwanda, a Dassault Falcon 50, as it prepares to land at Kigali International Airport at Kigali, Rwanda, killing all 12 aboard, including President of Rwanda Juvénal Habyarimana and President of Burundi Cyprien Ntaryamira. Their assassination will spark the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
- April 14 – United States Air Force F-15 Eagles shoot down two United States Army UH-60 Blackhawks over Iraq, mis-identifying them as Iraqi Mil Mi-25s.
- April 16 – An SA-7 Grail surface-to-air missile shoots down a Royal Navy Sea Harrier over Serbia. The pilot later is rescued.
- April 26 – An Airbus A300 operating as China Airlines Flight 140 crashes just before landing at Nagoya International Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
June
July
August
September
- September 8 – USAir Flight 427, a Boeing 737-300, crashes into a hillside near Aliquippa in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, while on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killing all 132 people aboard; among the dead is noted neuroethologist Walter Heiligenberg. The ensuring accident investigation lasts 4½ years – still the longest in aviation history.
- September 12 - Distraught over breaking up with his third wife, wanting to gain notoriety, and under the influence of alcohol and cocaine, Frank Corder steals a Cessna 150 from Aldino Airport near Baltimore, Maryland, and crashes it onto the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., killing himself. The plane is undetected until seen over the White House lawn, prompting a change in security procedures at the White House.[1]
- September 22 – Two Royal Air Force SEPECAT Jaguars and a U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II attack and destroy a Serbian T-55 tank.
October
November
- November 3 – Haris Keč, a Bosnian, hijacks a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating as Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 347 en route from Bardufoss Airport to Bodø Airport in Norway with 128 people on board, and makes demands that the Norwegian government take action to stop huminatrian suffering in Bosnia-Herzegovina. No one is injured in the incident.[2]
- November 22 – During its takeoff roll at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in Bridgeton, Missouri, Transworld Airlines Flight 427, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 with 140 people on board, strikes a Cessna 441. There are no injuries aboard the MD-82, but both people on the Cessna die.
- November 28 – KLM Flight 1673, a Boeing 737-406 with 146 people on board, suffers a landing gear failure during its takeoff roll at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, veers off the runway, and crashes. All on board survive, but the aircraft is written off.
December
- December 11 – A bomb planted by terrorist Ramzi Yousef explodes aboard Philippine Airlines Flight 434, a Boeing 747-200 with 293 people on board, over Minami Daito Island, killing one passenger and injuring 10 other people. The aircraft lands at Okinawa without further incident.
- December 24–26 – The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) hijacks Air France Flight 8969 at Algiers, Algeria, killing three passengers. Intending to crash the plane into the Eiffel Tower, the hijackers allow it to fly to Marseille, France, where the French Gendarmerie's GIGN unit storms it and kills all four hijackers.
- December 29 – The Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-4Y0 Mersin, operating as Flight 278, crashes in driving snow while on approach to Van Ferit Melen Airport in Van, Turkey, killing 57 of the 76 people on board.
First flights
February
March
June
September
October
December
Entered service
Retirements
References
- ^ "Today in History," Washington Examiner, September 12, 2011, p. 10.
- ^ "Lykkelig slutt på kaprerdramaet" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 3 November 1994.
- ^ Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The God of the Sea's Namesake", Naval History, October 2011, p. 16.