Thanks to a decreasing interest in seaplanes and flying boats, flying operations cease at the Royal Air Force′s Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE), as does the organization's connection with the RAF. The MAEE will survive until March 1956, evaluating prototype marine craft and air-sea rescue apparati and associated equipment.
Flying Tiger Line Flight 841 – a Douglas C-54B-10-DO Skymaster (registration N86574) on a ferry flight from San Francisco, California, to pick up military personnel in Seattle, Washington – strikes a high tree on a mountain ridge at an altitude of 1,620 feet (490 meters) while on approach to Boeing Field in Seattle and crashes into a canyon 1,500 feet (460 meters) below, killing all seven people on board.[6]
February 9 – An Egyptian Air ForceCurtiss C-46D Commando (registration 1001) carrying 35 people crashes in the desert 64 kilometers (40 miles) east of Cairo, Egypt, killing 30 of the people on board and injuring three of the five survivors.[14]
February 14 – National Airlines Flight 470, a Douglas DC-6 (registration N90893), crashes in the Gulf of Mexico 20 miles (32 kilometers) off Mobile Point, Alabama, after flying into a strong storm, killing all 46 people on board. Some wreckage and bodies are found the following day, but most of the wreckage will not be found until May 20.[16]
March 3 – The first fatal crash involving a passenger jetliner takes place when the pilot of the Canadian Pacific Air LinesDe Havilland DH.106 Comet 1AEmpress of Hawaii (registration CF-CUN) lifts its nose too high during its takeoff run at Karachi Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, for a ferry/positioning flight. The aircraft fails to become airborne and crashes into a dry riverbed, killing all 11 people on board.[17]
A United States Air ForceConvair RB-36H Peacemaker on a 25-hour training mission strikes an 896-foot (273-meter) hill at an altitude of 800 feet (240 meters) near Burgoyne's Cove, inland from Nut Cove, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, while flying in sleet, fog,[21] freezing drizzle, and poor visibility at a ground speed of 202 knots (374 km/h; 232 mph). The B-36 crashes and bursts into flames, killing its entire crew of 23.[22][23]Brigadier GeneralRichard E. Ellsworth, the plane's copilot, is among the dead. A U.S. Air Force Boeing SB-29 Superfortresssearch and rescue plane sent out to assist in search efforts disappears and is presumed to have crashed as well.
April 14 – While on approach to Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, a Miami AirlinesDouglas DC-3C (registration N65743) strikes 150-to-200-foot- (46-to-61-meter-) tall trees at the 3,500-foot (1,100-meter) level of Cedar Mountain and crashes east of Selleck, Washington, killing seven of the 25 people on board.[28]
April 24 - Tragedy strikes the United States Air Force's Project Tip Tow – which tests the feasibility of strategic bombers carrying fighter aircraft attached to their wingtips to defend them against enemy interceptors – when an EF-84D Thunderjet flips over onto the wing of an ETB-29A Superfortress after attaching to its wingtip, causing the EF-84D, the ETB-29A, and another EF-84D attached to the ETB-29A's other wingtip to crash, killing everyone aboard all three aircraft.
May
May 2 – While climbing to its cruising altitude shortly after takeoff from Dum Dum Airport in Calcutta, India, for a flight to Safdarjung Airport in New Delhi, India, BOAC Flight 783 – a de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 (registration G-ALYV) – suffers a severe structural failure and in-flight fire after entering a thunderstorm and crashes 32 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of Dum Dum Airport, killing all 43 people on board.[31]
May 9 – An Air IndiaDouglas C-47A-25-DK Skytrain (registration VT-AUD) overbanks during a steep right turn five minutes after takeoff from Palam Airport in New Delhi, India, and crashes, killing all 18 people on board.[33]
On his last day of combat, U.S. Air Force CaptainJoseph C. McConnell shoots down three MiG-15s (NATO reporting name "Fagot") during two sorties over Korea in the F-86F-1 SabreBeauteous Butch II. He has shot down 16 aircraft, all MiG-15s, in his four months of combat,[37] making him the top-scoring American fighter pilot of the Korean War and the first American triple jet ace. He remains the top-scoring American jet ace in history.
American Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier, reaching over 760 mph (1,220 km/h) in a series of steep dives in an F-86 Sabre over Edwards Air Force Base, California. She also sets a new women's international speed-over-distance record over a 100 km (62 mi) closed course, averaging 652 mph (1,049 km/h).[38]
June 7 – Descending from 41,000 feet (12,000 m) over the Yalu River to attack what he thinks is a flight of four MiG-15s (NATO reporting name "Fagot"), U.S. Air Force pilot Ralph S. Parr, flying an F-86 Sabre, pursues them to 300 feet (91 m), then climbs to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) before realizing he is actually engaged with 16 MiG-15s. In the ensuing dogfight, he shoots down two and damages a third before withdrawing safely.[45]
June 14 – Lightning strikes Aeroflot Flight 229 – an Ilyushin Il-12 (registration CCCP-L1375) on a domestic flight in the Soviet Union – after it enters a sudden and severe thunderstorm. The aircraft enters an uncontrolled dive and loses its outer wing panels when the crew attempts to recover at an altitude of 300 meters (980 feet). The aircraft crashes nose first into a wooded hillside northeast of Zugdidi in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic and catches fire, killing all 18 people on board. The Georgian film actress Nato Vachnadze is among the dead.[46]
Attacked by ten MiGs, U.S. Air Force pilot Ralph S. Parr, flying an F-86 Sabre, shoots down two of them and drives the rest off despite being low on fuel, escorting the badly damaged F-86 of his wing commander to a safe landing at an air base near Seoul. He will receive the Distinguished Service Cross for the mission.[45]
A SNCASO S.O. 4000 (prototype of the Sud Vautour fighter-bomber) becomes the first European aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in a shallow dive.
Mid-July – At the request of Rear AdmiralJoseph J. "Jocko" Clark, the commander of the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier task force, Task Force 77, off Korea, atomic bombs are placed aboard Task Force 77 carriers as a "precautionary measure," in case they are needed if the Korean War expands into Manchuria.[39]
July 17
Lieutenant Guy P. Bordelon scores his fifth aerial victory, becoming the United States Navy's only ace of the Korean War. He had scored all five victories since June 29, using an F4U-5N Corsair night fighter to shoot down North Korean Polikarpov Po-2 (NATO reporting name "Mule") biplanes making night harassment raids.[57]
July 23 – A U.S. Navy fleet-record 61,000th landing takes place aboard the aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CVA-21) off Korea.[59]
July 24–26 – Operating off the east coast of Korea, the U.S. Navy attack aircraft carriers USS Boxer, USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39), USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47), and USS Princeton (CVA-37), supporting United Nations ground forces, break records for the number of sorties flown with the highest sortie rates of the Korean War. They average 170 sorties per day, and Princeton aircraft fly 184 sorties on one day.[60][61]
July 27
Aircraft from the aircraft carriers of U.S. Navy Task Force 77 attack airfields in North Korea. Since July 1, U.S. Navy carrier aircraft have flown 6,423 sorties over Korea, and aircraft ordnance tonnage has doubled since May 1.[59]
Hours before the armistice that ends the Korean War, U.S. Air Force pilot Ralph S. Parr, flying an F-86F Sabre, scores the final aerial victory of the war, shooting down in flames a Soviet Ilyushin Il-12 (NATO reporting name "Coach") cargo aircraft in restricted airspace over North Korea with one long burst of gunfire, killing all 21 people aboard the Il-12. It is his 10th victory, all of them scored during 30 missions flown in the last seven weeks of the war, tying him with five other pilots for total kills during the conflict. The Soviet Union claims the Il-12, which crashes 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from Mao-erh-shan in the People's Republic of China, was a civilian aircraft carrying VIPs, but Parr claims it was marked with a military red star.[45][62]
The Korean War ends. During the war, the United States has dropped 635,000 short tons (576.062 metric tons) of bombs – compared with 503,000 short tons (456,314 metric tons) throughout the entire Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II – as well as 32,557 short tons (29,535 metric tons) of napalm.[63] The U.S. Navy has flown 276,000 combat sorties – only 7,000 fewer than it had in all of World War II – and dropped 177,000 short tons (160,573 metric tons) of bombs – 77,000 short tons (67,132 metric tons) more than it did during all of World War II. It has lost 1,248 aircraft, 564 of them (including 302 F4U Corsairs and 124 AD Skyraiders) to enemy action. Since mid-1951, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps combined have lost 384 tactical aircraft to enemy ground fire, including 193 Corsairs and 102 Skyraiders. A typical U.S. Navy carrier air wing has lost 10 percent of its aircrew during its deployment to Korea.[64] Aircraft of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm have flown over 20,000 carrier sorties during the war.[65]
September 15 – West Germany establishes its Vorläufige Bundesstelle für Luftfahrtgerät und Flugunfalluntersuchung (Provisional Federal Office for Avionic Devices and Investigation of Aviation Accidents).
October 3 – Flying a Douglas XF4D-1, U.S. Navy Lieutenant CommanderJames F. Verdin sets a world airspeed record over a 3 km (1.9 mi) course of 752.944 mph (1,211.746 km/h). It is the first time that a carrier-capable combat aircraft in its normal configuration sets a world speed record.[74][75]
October 16 – Flying a Douglas XF4D-1, Robert Rahm sets a world air speed over distance record over a 100 km (62 mi) closed-circuit course of 728.11 mph (1,171.78 km/h) at Muroc Dry Lake, California.[75]
October 30 – The United States National Security Council document NSC 162/2 is adopted. It states that the United States military posture must remain strong, "with emphasis on the capability of inflicting massive retaliatory damage by offensive striking power," and that "the United States will consider nuclear weapons to be as available for use as other munitions." The document brings the term "massive retaliation" into general use and inaugurates the "New Look" defense policy of PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower, which reduces American military spending and force levels and places a great reliance on strategic power, particularly on long-range nuclear bombers, to defend the United States and to deter foreign militaries from aggressive activities abroad.[81]
November 12 – The LADEJunkers Ju 52/3msaiRio Negro (registration T-159) collides in mid-air with an Argentine Air Forcede Havilland DH.104 Dove near Villa Mugueta, Argentina. The Dove crashes, killing all seven people on board. The Ju 52 pilot attempts an emergency landing but loses control just before touchdown and the Ju 52 also crashes, killing all 13 people on board.[83]
November 15 - The first Airmail service begins into Death Valley National Monument, landing at Furnace Creek Airport (L06). This was part of airmail route AM-105.
November 17 – Two United States Air ForceKaiser-Frazer C-119F Flying Boxcars collide in mid-air due to an engine failure while flying as part of a 12-plane formation dropping paratroopers over the Holland Drop Zone at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. One C-119F makes a successful emergency landing, but the other descends over the drop zone, striking a number of paratroopers and killing 10 of them before crashing, killing all five people aboard the plane.[84]
November 20 – Scott Crossfield flies the Douglas Skyrocket to Mach 2.005 at an altitude of 62,000 feet (19,000 meters) in a dive over Antelope Valley in California. It is the first manned flight to exceed Mach 2, and it sets a new world airspeed record of 1,291 mph (2,078 km/h) for manned flight.[85]
An Indian AirlinesDouglas C-47A-DK Skytrain experiences engine trouble just after takeoff from Sonegaon Airport in Nagpur, India. When the pilot attempts to return to the airport, he banks too steeply, and the aircraft loses height rapidly, crashes in a field, and burns, killing 13 of the 14 people on board.[88]
Flying the Bell X-1A, Chuck Yeager reaches an altitude of 22,280 meters (73,100 feet), where he sets a new world speed record of Mach 2.44, equal to 2,608 km/h (1,621 mph) at that altitude, in level flight.
December 19 –A SabenaConvair CV-240 (registration OO-AWO) strikes the ground 2.5 km (1.6 mi) short of the runway while on final approach to Kloten Airport in low visibility conditions. One passenger is killed, but the other 39 passengers and all three crew members survive.[89]
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