Wikipedia:
1979 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1979:
Events
January
- January 12 - Pilatus Aircraft acquires Britten-Norman
February
- February 26 - Production of the A-4 Skyhawk ends after 26 years, with the delivery of the 2,690th and final aircraft to the United States Marine Corps.
March
- March 10 - The US Air Force sends E-3 Sentry aircraft to monitor the civil war in Yemen
- March 25 - Qantas retires its last Boeing 707 and becomes the world's first airline with a fleet of exclusively Boeing 747s
May
- May 16 - a New York Airways Sikorsky S-61 tips over while taking on passengers at the Pan Am Building in New York City, killing four. The heliport is permanently closed afterward.
- May 25 - an American Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago during take-off, killing all 269. DC-10s are grounded across the US.
June
- June 12 - Bryan Allen flies the Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel using pedal power.
- June 27 - Israeli Air Force F-15 Eagles shoot down four Syrian Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s
July
- July 23 - the British government announces plans to privatise British Airways and publicly sell British Aerospace shares.
August
- August 14 - Steve Hinton sets a new piston-engined airspeed record in a specially-modified P-51 Mustang named the Red Baron. He reaches 499 mph (803 km/h) over Nevada.
- August 17 - Two Soviet Aeroflot jetliners collide in mid-air over Ukraine, killing 156
October
- October 30 - Sir Barnes Wallis dies, aged 82.
November
- November 29 - an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes on the Mt Erebus volcano, killing all aboard.
December
- December 25 - Antonov An-12s and An-22s airlift the first Soviet troops into Afghanistan. 5,000 arrive in the first 24 hours.
First flights
February
March
April
- April 10 - Westland WG.30 G-BGHF
- April 19 - Learjet 55
May
June
- June 12 - Rutan Long-EZ prototype, N79RA
July
November
December
- December 12 - SH-60 Seahawk 161169
- December 14 - Edgley Optica G-BGMW
- December 21 - NASA AD-1
- December 22 - Aérospatiale Epsilon
Entered service
January
- January 6 - F-16 Fighting Falcon with the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing USAF.
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| Notable incidents & accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
| Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
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