Aviation History

On this day in 1783, the Montgolfier brothers launched their balloon Aérostat Réveillon, carrying the firs ...

In 1976, a British Airways Hawker Trident collided with an Inex-Adria Douglas DC-9. At the time, it was the world’ ...

British Airtours Flight 28M caught fire before take-off, resulting in the loss of 55 lives. The accident was a catalyst ...

On this day in 1989, a Qantas 747 Jumbo jet flew non-stop between London and Australia for the first time. ...

37 years ago, JAL Flight 123, a Boeing 747 carrying 520 passengers, crashed into a mountain near Tokyo, the deadliest si ...

On this day in history, the first flight of the Comet, the world’s first jet airliner, took place, leadi ...

On the morning of July 25, 1909, Louis Blériot departed Calais in his XI model aircraft in an attempt to be first ...

From 21 miles to 10,000: In his latest column for AeroTime, Alec Wignall takes a look at the history of long-haul aviati ...

Did you know that Europe's – and the world’s - longest operating airline was founded in the Netherlands? ...

What started as a single aircraft operation 38 years ago has grown into a global airline, Virgin Atlantic. ...

On this day in 1987, teenager Mathias Rust, an aviator from West Germany, breached Soviet air defenses and landed a Cess ...

Charles Lindbergh landed in Paris on this day 95 years ago, having completed the first solo non-stop flight across the A ...

On this day, 25 years ago, the Star Alliance was founded. But what began as five airlines, has today grown to include 26 ...

On this day, 18 years ago, Air France and KLM merged to create one of the world’s largest airline groups. ...

Did you know there was a day dedicated to the celebration of pilots? AeroTime takes a look at the history behind April 2 ...

On this day in 1926, Charles Lindbergh departed St. Louis on the first American Airlines flight. Today, AA is the larges ...

On this day 23 years ago, FedEx employee Auburn Calloway attempted to hijack a FedEx flight using hammers and a speargun ...

On this day, 104 years ago, the Royal Air Force was founded, creating the first independent air force in the world. ...

On this day 45 years ago, two Boeing 747 jets collided on the runway in Tenerife, killing 583 people in the deadliest av ...

Now almost extinct, air mail flights had a profound influence on the shaping of aviation in the United States. ...

On this day in 2008, Ann Baumgartner, World War II pilot and aviator, died. ...

Did you know that the low-cost carrier business model first emerged in North America? We take a look at the history of t ...

What’s the history behind the date of March 8 and why is it so important for women in aviation? ...

On March 8, 2014, the world learned of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Eight years on, the aircraft&r ...

Delta Air Lines was founded as Huff Daland Dusters with a small fleet of crop dusters. Now, 97 years later, the airline ...

United Airlines Flight 811 suffered an explosive decompression, claiming the lives of nine passengers. But what led to t ...

Today in history, China Airlines Flight 006 dived 30,000 feet following engine trouble. But what led to the accident? An ...

Gail Halvorsen, the “candy bomber” who dropped sweets to children during the Berlin Airlift, has died at the ...

In 1969, the Boeing 747 took to the skies for a test flight. Marveling spectators and journalists, it became one of the ...

The Munich Air Disaster claimed the lives of eight Manchester United footballers along with staff and journalists. But w ...

On January 15, 2009, a US Airways A320 landed on the Hudson River in New York City. 13 years later, Captain "Sully& ...

Air Florida Flight 90 crashed just 30 seconds after take-off from Washington D.C. What led to this tragic accident? And ...

On this day, British Midland Flight 92 crashed onto the M1 motorway. But why did it happen, what went wrong and what did ...

In 1982, British Airways Flight 9 flew through a cloud of volcanic ash, which caused all four engines of the Boeing 747 ...

My wife and I had returned from a trip to upstate New York and on our way home we stopped at the New England Air Museu ...

As Belarus has drawn attention to the most basic principles of international aviation law, let's take a look at some ...

Since the commencement of scheduled commercial flights in the early 1910s, flight attendants have played a significant r ...

The famous An-225 Mriya was designed to be able to launch spacecraft into orbit from its back. Meet MAKS: a space plane ...

Exactly sixty years ago, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made history by becoming the first human in space. ...

Air France operated two celebratory flights AF401 and AF229 to make a nod to a special event in France’s aviation ...

The EKIP is often attributed with incredible properties. How substantiated those claims are, and was the Russi ...

For women, the conquest of the skies was not limited only by the laws of physics, but also the laws of men. ...

A breakthrough idea, a case of suppressed technology, or just a baseless legend? This is the beginning of the story of t ...

Eleanor Wadsworth, who was one of the last women to have piloted fighters within the Royal Air Force during the Second W ...

Possibly, there is no other aircraft that has become such an icon of the aviation industry. There is good reason why the ...

Imagine the biggest passenger aircraft you can. Airbus A380, right? Now triple its size, add Aeroflot livery, and there ...

Turning fighter jets into airliners seems crazy. Yet, it was tried many times, with manufacturers striving to put passen ...

Most combat aircraft fall into one of several conventional categories: fighter, bomber, ground attack airplane. The M-25 ...

In light of airBaltic's 25th anniversary, we look back at the history of the airline, which is filled with ups and d ...

As we say farewell to one of the most iconic duos, British Airways and Boeing 747, we look back at the history of the ai ...

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A former Libyan secret service agent was indicted for participating in the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Sc ...

On September 15, 1916, the French submarine Foucault was sunk by two Austrian seaplanes, becoming the first submarine in ...

The aviation pioneer Charlie "Chuck" Yeager died at the age of 97 on December 7, 2020. Yeager made history as ...

The French oceanographic institute Ifremer discovered the wreckage of an SE.203 Aquilon fighter jet in the Mediterranean ...

The logic behind the design of larger and larger airplanes was solid. Hub-and-spoke model was proven and effective, with ...

There is a reason why wide-body airliners have an aura of prestige around them. Many of them offer comfort and luxury ri ...

On October 26, 1958, Pan Am Boeing 707 took off from Idlewild Airport (now JFK International Airport) to Paris, France. ...

The Trump Shuttle promised to introduce never-seen glitz and glamor on the Northeast corridor between New York, Boston a ...

On September 30, 1968, the doors of the Everett assembly plant opened. A tractor towed out a glistening new jetliner, an ...

Can you imagine flying around the world in less than 12 hours? The remarkable project of the Lockheed Corporation made i ...

A lot has changed in aviation throughout the 20th century, including the jobs of flight attendants. But throughout the y ...

Howard Hughes, an eccentric billionaire with love for films and aviation, left a significant mark on the United States a ...

Wingless and tailless are usually the last words, which describe an aircraft. Even though people are used to seeing and ...

On June 27, 1980, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 passenger jet routing from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, crashed into the Tyrrhe ...

Ever since the 1960s, Boeing jets were the dedicated aircraft for the United States president, carrying the Air Force On ...

On July 3, 1988, Iran Air flight 655 from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, was shot down shortly ...

The risk of dying on a plane is one in 11,000,000, when dying in a car accident are about one in 5,000.While air travel ...

The aviation industry stands out by having an enormous and fascinating history. Aviation has numerous first times beginn ...

Concorde was a world-widely recognized icon capable of crossing the Atlantic at over twice the speed of sound and reachi ...

From the Winged Totem to Stratotype font, Boeing emblem went through different stages until eventually it got its&n ...

The golden age of flying is often associated with the famous Pan Am and the Concorde aircraft flights in the 1950s and 1 ...

On this day in 1955, the French commercial aerospace industry got its start, as the Sud Aviation Caravelle took off for ...

Tu-144 was the first supersonic passenger aircraft developed by Tupolev Design Bureau in the 60s in the Soviet Union. Of ...

Today, on May 24, AeroTime Hub celebrates the genius of people who work behind the scenes of aviation.  ...

In the 1970s the race was on to build the first and the best supersonic transport (SST). Aerospatiale, Boeing and Tupole ...

The early 2000s were a very dark place for American aviation. 4 out of its largest 6 legacy carriers went bankrupt. This ...

On March 25, 1993, Barbara Hermer "established" a very unique and exclusive club: the club of female Concorde ...

Back in 2007, it seemed like the Airbus A380 was set to take over the world. With the manufacturer estimating very ambit ...

While the early-1990s oil price shock was not on the same scale as some other crises that have impacted aviation, i ...

What began as routine United Airlines flight to Colorado Springs, ended in a saga that explored the safety and the redun ...

On this exact day, 26 years ago, the first-ever commercial Airbus A330 flight departed from Paris to Marseille. We look ...

After saying Aloha for the first time in 1929, Hawaiian Airlines is proudly counting 90 years of operations as of 2019. ...

Forty years ago, Air New Zealand chartered flight 901 to Antarctica that was supposed to show its passengers the beautie ...

Since Icarus, humanity has always jaloused birds for their ability to fly. On this day, 236 years ago, a major step was ...

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was like no other aircraft at the time – built from composites, the wide-body aircraft p ...

The Boeing 717 could be dubbed as one of the most important aircraft in the history of aviation. Yet it has stayed in th ...

On August 21, 1963, the Miracle on the Neva happened - preceding the Miracle on the Hudson by 46 years, an Aeroflot Tupo ...

Airbus was competing with Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed’s TriStar only in short and mid-hauls until 1993. ...

We look back at one of the most interesting aircraft cases in aviation history, the Boeing 757. ...

Who were the first female astronomers? The first woman to teach her son to fly? What are Night Witches and why are they ...

New York Airways provided a dream service – avoiding traffic and traveling through New York much faster while ...

To mark the 75th anniversary of the D-day landings, the replica of an iconic British aircraft was put on display on May ...

The DC-10 carries one of the most interesting stories in the aviation industry. From passengers viewing the DC-10 as uns ...

A hundred and thirty years ago, on May 25, a man whose name would become one of the most recognizables in the aircraft i ...

As technology advances, so does aviation. In the past few years, aviation has made huge strides everywhere, especially a ...

Most of us are familiar with the Brothers Wright – the two men who changed the history of aviation forever and are ...

As we celebrate the birthday of one of the most widely recognized fighter pilots of all time, we look back at the life a ...

On April 27th, 2005, aviation was changed forever. The Airbus A380, which provided unprecedented passenger experience, m ...

On this day, 52 years ago, the most popular and most successful jet took to the skies for the first time. It was the Bo ...

British Airways has revealed the fourth – and the final design – in its “heritage” series. A Boe ...