1974 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1974:

Events

• Spring 1974 – Under an international agreement to clear the Suez Canal of naval mines in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, United States Navy RH-53D Sea Stallion minesweeping helicopters of Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 12 (HM-12) operating from the amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) and USS Inchon (LPH-12) use Mark 105 hydrofoil minesweeping sleds to sweep 120 square miles of water between Port Said and Suez, Egypt, in Operation Nimbus Star.^[1]

January

• January 24 – A Togolese Air Force Douglas C-47 Skytrain carrying several notable political figures including President of Togo Gnassingbé Eyadéma crashes at an isolated location near the village of Sarakawa in northern Togo. Eyadéma survives, but the French pilot and three passengers die.
• January 26 – The Turkish Airlines Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship Van stalls shortly after takeoff from Izmir Cumaovası Airport in Izmir, Turkey, crashes, and catches fire, killing 66 of the 73 people on board.
• January 30 – The Pan American World Airways Boeing 707-321B Clipper Radiant, operating as Flight 806, crashes during a heavy rainstorm on approach to Pago Pago International Airport in Pago Pago, American Samoa, killing 97 of the 101 people on board and injuring all four survivors.

February

• February 17 – Upset at failing in helicopter training and wanting to show his piloting skills, United States Army Private First Class Robert K. Preston steals a U.S. Army UH-1 Iroquois helicopter at Fort Meade, Maryland, and hovers it over the White House in Washington, D.C. before landing on the White House's South Lawn. He later takes off, is pursued by two Maryland State Police helicopters, uses maneuvering to force one of them down, then returns to the White House, where police gunfire induces him to land and surrender.
• February 22
  • Samuel Byck attempts to hijack Delta Airlines Flight 523, a Douglas DC-9, before it leaves the gate at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, with a goal of crashing it into the White House in Washington, D.C. to assassinate U.S. President Richard Nixon. He kills two people and wounds a third before himself being killed, all without the plane ever leaving the gate.
  • U.S. Navy Lieutenant, junior grade, Barbara Ann Allen is designated a naval aviator, becoming the first female aviator in the United States Armed Forces.^[2]

March

• March 3 – The Turkish Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 Ankara, operating as Flight 981, crashes into the Ermenonville Forest forest and the commune of Fontaine-Chaalis, France, after a cargo door blows off, causing damage which cuts control cables. All 346 people on board die. At the time, it is the worst aviation disaster in history, and it remains the deadliest aviation accident in France, the deadliest DC-10 accident, and the deadliest single-plane crash with no survivors.
• March 31 – British Airways commences operations after BOAC and BEA merge to create the new airline.

April

• April 2 – The U.S. Navy retires its last C-54 Skymaster. Entering service on March 24, 1945, the C-54Q, Bureau number 56501, had flown 2,500,000 nautical miles (4,629,630 km) in almost 15,000 hours of flight time.^[3]
• April 18 – During its takeoff roll at London Luton Airport in London, England, Court Line Flight 95, a BAC One-Eleven 518 carrying 91 people, collides with a McAlpine Aviation Piper PA-23 Aztec which has entered the runway without permission. The collision destroys the Aztec, kills its pilot, and injures his passenger, but the One-Eleven's flight crew manages to abort their takeoff successfully and all aboard the airliner evacuate without injury via evacuation slides.
• April 22 – The Pan American World Airways Boeing 707-321B Clipper Climax, operating as Flight 812, crashes in mountainous terrain on approach to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, 42.5 nautical miles (78.7 km) north-west of the airport. All 107 people on board die.

June

• June 4 – Construction of OV-101, the first Space Shuttle, begins. It later will be named Enterprise.
• June 11 – Northrop YF-17A 72-01569 becomes the first American fighter to break the sound barrier in level flight when not in afterburner.^[4]

July

• Cuts in American military aid to South Vietnam force austerity measures there, including the storage of 200 South Vietnamese Air Force aircraft and the reduction of helicopter lift capacity by 70 percent; shortages, of fuel, ammunition, and spare parts also begin to plague South Vietnamese aviation of all types.^[5]
• July 20 – The Turkish Air Force supports Operation Atilla, a Turkish invasion of Cyprus, as a war over the island between Turkey and Greece and the Greek Cypriots breaks out. Turkish aircraft join with Turkish Navy in sinking a Greek Cypriot torpedo boat which attempts to attack the approaching Turkish naval flotilla, and Turkish aircraft support the amphibious landing.
• July 21
  • 28 Turkish Air Force strike aircraft mistakenly attack the Turkish Navy destroyers Kocatepe, Adatepe, and Mareşal Fevzi Çakmak off Paphos, Cyprus, with 750-lb (340-kg) bombs, sinking Kocatepe with the loss of 54 lives and damaging the other two ships.
  • 12 Turkish paratroopers parachute into Cyprus to ambush a convoy carrying the Greek Cypriot commander of the Cypriot Navy, Commander Papayiannis. They wound him in an ambush, but are wiped out by his security detail.
  • In Operation Niki, Greece's Hellenic Air Force attempts a covert airlift of a battalion of Greek commandos from Souda, Crete, to Cyprus using 15 Noratlas aircraft. Greek Cypriot antiaircraft artillery mistakenly fires on the planes at Nicosia International Airport, shooting down one with the loss of four crew members and 29 commandos, and damages two others, but some of the commandos arrive successfully to defend the airport.
• July 22 – The United States Navy and Marine Corps evacuate 500 people from Cyprus.
• July 28 – A U.S. Air Force SR-71 Blackbird sets two records for non-rocket-powered aircraft, an absolute altitude record of 85,069 feet (25,929 m) and an absolute speed record of 2,193.2 mph (3,531.7 km/hr).^[6]

August

• August 6 – Turkish Air Force aircraft support a Turkish offensive at Karavas, Cyprus.
• August 9
  • Three Syrian surface-to-air missiles strike Buffalo 461, a Canadian Armed Forces De Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo assigned to the United Nations Emergency Force in support of peacekeeping operations in Syria. The plane crashes near Ad Dimas, Syria, killing all nine people on board.
  • A Royal Air Force No. 41 Squadron McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR42 and a Piper Pawnee cropduster aircraft collide over Fordham Fen, Norfolk, England, killing both crew members of the Phantom and the pilot of the Pawnee. It is the first collision between a civil and a military aircraft in the United Kingdom low-flying military training system.
• August 14–16 – Turkish Air Force aircraft support the final major Turkish offensive on Cyprus.

September

• September 1 – The U.S. Air Force SR-71 Blackbird 61-17972, flown by Major James Sullivan (pilot) and Major Noel F, Widdifield (reconnaissance systems officer), crosses the Atlantic Ocean from New York City to London in a world record 1 hour 54 minutes 56 seconds at an average speed of 1,806.96 mph (2,909.76 km/h).^[7]
• September 8 – A terrorist bomb detonates in the cargo hold of Trans World Airlines Flight 841, a Boeing 707-331B on a flight from Athens, Greece, to Rome, Italy. The plane crashes into the Ionian Sea, killing all 88 people on board.
• September 11 – In dense fog, Eastern Air Lines Flight 212, a Douglas DC-9-31, crashes while on an instrument approach to Douglas Municipal Airport (now Charlotte/Douglas International Airport) in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing 72 of the 82 people on board. Among the dead are the father and two older brothers of American comedian Stephen Colbert; United States Navy Rear Admiral Charles W. Cummings, acting commandant of the 6th Naval District; three executives of Charleston's The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston, South Carolina; Wayne Seal, an anchorman at the Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, television station WCIV; and John Merriman, news editor for the CBS Evening News.
• September 13 – The U.S. Air Force SR-71 Blackbird 61-17972, flown by Captain Harold B. "Buck" Adams (pilot) and Major William C. Machorek (reconnaissance systems officer), flies 5,447 miles (8,771 km) from London to Los Angeles in a world record 3 hours 47 minutes 39 seconds at an average speed of 1,435.59 mph (2,311.74 km/h).^[8]
• September 15 – A man holding two hand grenades hijacks Air Vietnam Flight 706, a Boeing 727-121C on a flight from Da Nang, South Vietnam, to Saigon, South Vietnam, shortly after takeoff from Da Nang and demands to be flown to Hanoi, North Vietnam. The plane approaches Phan Rang Air Base at Phan Rang, South Vietnam, as if to land, overshoots the base leg, begins a left turn, and crashes, killing all 75 people on board.

November

• November 20 – Lufthansa Flight 540, a Boeing 747–130, stalls and crashes just after takeoff from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 59 of the 157 people on board. It is the first crash of a Boeing 747.

December

• December 1
  • While on approach to Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, Trans World Airways Flight 514, a Boeing 727–231, crashes into Mount Weather in Clarke County, Virginia, killing all 92 people on board and severing the underground main telephone line of the United States Government's Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, to which the crash brings undesired attention. As a result of the accident, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will mandate that a ground proximity warning system be installed on every turbine- and turbojet-engined airplane operated in the United States.
  • Northwest Airlines Flight 6231, a Boeing 727–251 chartered to fly to Buffalo, New York, to pick up the Baltimore Colts National Football League team, stalls and crashes near Haverstraw, New York, after icing disables its pitot tube, causing its flight crew to receive incorrect airspeed readings. There are no passengers aboard, but all three crew members die.
• December 4 – Martinair Flight 138, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, crashes into a mountain near Maskeliya, Sri Lanka, killing all 191 people on board. All of the airliner's 182 passengers are Indonesian hajj pilgrims on their way to Mecca.
• December 22 – Both engines of Avensa Flight 358, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14, shut down five minutes after takeoff from Maturín Airport at Maturín, Venezuela. The flight crew loses control of the airliner, which crashes near Maturín. killing all 77 people on board.

First flights

• Antonov An-30 ("Clank")^[9]

January

• January 9 – WSK-Mielec M-15 SP-1974
• January 20 – General Dynamics YF-16 72-01567, prototype of the F-16 Fighting Falcon ("inadvertent" flight to avoid damage during faulty taxiing run)^[10]

February

• February 2 – General Dynamics YF-16 72-01567, prototype of the F-16 Fighting Falcon (official first flight)^[11]
• February 16 – Atlas C4M Kudu (civil prototype)^[12]
• February 21 – HTM Skyrider D-HHTF

June

• June 9 – Northrop YF-17 72-01569
• June 24 – Aerospatiale AS 350 Ecureuil F-WVKH

August

• August 14 – Panavia MRCA (later Tornado) D-9591
• August 21 – Hawker-Siddeley Hawk XX154
• August 22 – Shorts 360 G-BSBH

September

• September 11 – Bell 206L LongRanger N206L
• September 25 – Northrop F-5F Tiger II 73-0889

October

• October 17 – Sikorsky YUH-60 73-21650
• October 28 – Dassault Super Étendard
• October 31 – IAR-93 RO-001 / J-22 Orao 25001

November

• November 8 – IA 58 Pucará
• November 29 – Boeing Vertol YUH-61 73-21656

December

• December 23 – Rockwell B-1 Lancer 74-0158

Entered service

• Vulcan SR.Mk 2, strategic reconnaissance version of the Avro Vulcan, with No. 27 Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Royal Air Force^[13]
• Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name "Fencer") with Soviet Air Force
• Early 1974 – Beechcraft Super King Air Model 200^[14]

February

• February 20 – S-3 Viking with Antisubmarine Squadron 41 (VS-41) AT Naval Air Station North Island, California

May

• May 23^[15] or 30^[16] – Airbus A300 with Air France ^[17]

September

• September 17 – F-14 Tomcat with Fighter Squadrons 1 (VF-1) and 2 (VF-2) aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

November

• November 14 – F-15 Eagle with the United States Air Force 555th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron at Luke Air Force Base^[18]

References

1. ↑ Melia, Tamara, Moser, "Damn the Torpedoes": A Short History of U.S. Naval Mine Countermeasures, 1777–1991, Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1991, ISBN 0-945-274-07-6, p. 111.
2. ↑ Wooldridge, E.T., Captain (ret.), USN, "Snapshots From the First Century of Naval Aviation," Proceedings, September 2011, p. 56.
3. ↑ Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941 – 1999
4. ↑ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 0-517-56588-9, p. 376.
5. ↑ Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-875-5, p. 170.
6. ↑ Dorr, Robert F., Review: SR-71: The Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird, the World's Highest, Fastest Plane, Aviation History, January 2014, p. 60.
7. ↑ "Faster Than a Speeding Bullet," Aviation History, September 2010, p. 32.
8. ↑ "Faster Than a Speeding Bullet," Aviation History, September 2010, pp. 32–33.
9. ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 56.
10. ↑ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 209.
11. ↑ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 209.
12. ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 68.
13. ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 87.
14. ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 104.
15. ↑ Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, ISBN 0-89009-771-2, p. 27.
16. ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 34.
17. ↑ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 34.
18. ↑ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 318.