2013 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events in 2013.

Events

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January

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4 January
16 January
17 January
28 January
29 January
31 January

February

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1 February
2 February
13 February
14 February
  • American Airlines and US Airways announce an $11,000,000,000 deal to merge, creating the world's largest airline, with 900 planes, 3,200 daily flights, and 95,000 employees. Under the deal, former US Airways management will dominate the merged airline, but the "US Airways" brand will disappear.[10]
16 February
18 February
  • After cutting a hole in a perimeter fence at Brussels Airport outside Brussels, Belgium, eight armed and masked men dressed as police officers drive in two vehicles displaying flashing blue lights onto the tarmac and confront guards loading a cargo of diamonds onto Helvetic Airways Flight LX789, a Fokker 100 passenger jet packed with passengers and preparing for departure for a flight to Zurich, Switzerland. They steal 120 small packages containing a combined $50,000,000 (£32,000,000) worth of diamonds in a three-minute robbery and escape via the same hole in the fence without firing a shot.[12]
26 February
  • A fire starts aboard the Ultramagic N-425 hot-air balloon SU-283 while it is attempting to land near Luxor, Egypt, carrying 19 tourists, a tour guide, and its pilot. The pilot and one tourist leap from the balloon and suffer serious injuries before the balloon, with the other 19 people still aboard, rises rapidly to an altitude of about 300 metres (980 feet), experiences an explosion heard several kilometers away, collapses, crashes to the ground, and suffers another explosion. The 19 people still aboard, seven of whom jump to their deaths to escape the fire, are killed.[13] It is the deadliest hot-air balloon accident in history, exceeding the death toll in a 1989 accident in Australia.

March

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4 March
9 March
22 March
25 March
  • Boeing makes the first of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner test flights to show that modifications to the 787's lithium-ion battery system have solved the problem of battery overheating experienced by Dreamliners earlier in the year. The aircraft, bearing the livery of LOT Polish Airlines, departs from Paine Field in Everett, Washington, flies south down the coast of Washington and halfway down the coast of Oregon, and makes a low-altitude, low-speed circle over the Strait of Juan de Fuca before returning without incident.[21]
28 March
  • Two United States Air Force B-2 Spirit bombers make the first nonstop B-2 flight to and from the Korean Peninsula, departing Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, bombing a target range on a South Korean island, and returning in a 3712-hour flight. The flight, part of the annual Foal Eagle field training exercise, is intended to signal American support to South Korea in the face of belligerent North Korean rhetoric.[22]
  • The low-cost Indian-Malaysian airline AirAsia India is founded. It will begin flight operations in June 2014.
31 March

April

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5 April
  • Boeing makes the second of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner test flights to show that modifications to the 787's lithium-ion battery system have solved the problem of battery overheating experienced by Dreamliners earlier in the year. The aircraft, bearing the livery of LOT Polish Airlines, makes a 755-mile (1,216-kilometer) flight along the West Coast of the United States in just under two hours without incident. The completion of two successful test flights is a major step toward ending the worldwide grounding of 787s.[24]
7 April
13 April
27 April
  • The Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes its first passenger-carrying flight since the worldwide grounding of Dreamliners in January 2013, when a packed Ethiopian Airlines 787 flies from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya. Boeing vice president Randy Tinseth is among the passengers.[27]
29 April

May

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1 May
  • A Boeing X-51A WaveRider unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft detaches from a Boeing B-52H Stratofortress and reaches Mach 4.8 (3,200 mph or 5,100 km/h) powered by a booster rocket. It then separates cleanly from the booster, ignites its own engine, accelerates to Mach 5.1 (3,400 mph or 5,500 km/h), and flies for 240 seconds – setting the record for the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight in history – before running out of fuel and plunging into the Pacific Ocean off Point Mugu, California, after transmitting 370 seconds of telemetry. The flight – the fourth and last planned X-51A test flight and the first successful one – completes the X-51 program.[29][30][31]
3 May
4 May
16 May
20 May
27 May

June

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11 June
  • Air traffic controllers in France begin a strike to protest European Union plans to reorganize and privatize air traffic control over Europe.[35]
12 June
  • In response to a call for industrial action by the European Transport Workers' Federation, air traffic controllers in 11 other countries engage in lower-key industrial actions in sympathy with the French strike, although flights are not disrupted in other countries.[36]
13 June
15 June
18 June
30 June

July

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2 July
6 July
7 July

August

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1 August
  • The Government of Serbia and Etihad Airways formalize an agreement under which Jat Airways will be reorganized and rebranded as Air Serbia, with Serbia owning 51% of the airline and Etihad owning 49%. Etihad Airways is granted management rights over Air Serbia for an initial five-year period. The name change to Air Serbia will take place in October.
13 August
14 August

September

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12 September
18 September
22 September

October

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1 October
3 October
7 October
  • Japan Airlines announces that it will purchase 31 A350 airliners from Airbus for $9,500,000,000 to replace its fleet of Boeing 777s. The announcement ends Boeing's decades-long dominance of the Japanese market; before the Japan Airlines deal with Airbus, Boeing and Airbus had competed head-to-head in almost every market worldwide except for Japan.[51]
16 October
26 October
30 October

November

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1 November
2 November
12 November
17 November
29 November
30 November

December

[edit]
2 December
11 December
  • NAM Air, regional airline subsidiary of Sriwijaya Air in Indonesia takes its first flight from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang.
20 December
26 December
30 December
  • For the first time in more than 50 years, a commercial flight takes place between Key West, Florida, and Cuba, when a Cessna 441 Conquest II with nine paying passengers aboard flies from Key West International Airport to Havana. Key West had received approval to conduct flights to and from Cuba in October 2011, but it had taken over two years for charter airline operators to receive all the necessary permissions to make the first flight. Key West International Airport director Peter Horton describes the flight as "test run", and regular Key West-Cuba commercial air service remains a distant prospect.[59]
31 December

First flights

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June

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September

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October

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November

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December

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Entered service

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Retirements

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September

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Deadliest crash

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The deadliest crash of this year was Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363, Boeing 737 which crashed during landing in Kazan, Russia on 17 November, killing all 50 people on board.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Wilson, Eric (5 January 2013). "Fashion Boss From Italy Lost in Flight Off Venezuela". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. ^ Kelly, Mayumi Negishi (16 January 2013). "Japanese airlines ground Dreamliners after emergency landing". Reuters.
  3. ^ Halsey, Ashley III, The Washington Post, 17 January 2013, p. A14.
  4. ^ "London helicopter crash: Two die in Vauxhall crane accident". BBC News. 16 January 2013.
  5. ^ Halsey, Ashley III, "," The Washington Post, 17 January 2013, p. A14.
  6. ^ "Topham, James, and Alwyn Scott, "Boeing Dreamliners Grounded Worldwide on Battery Checks," Reuters, 17 January 2013, 2:13 p.m." Reuters. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Missile caused 1980 plane crash: Italian court". The Christian Science Monitor. 28 January 2013.
  8. ^ "Reuters". Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  9. ^ Anonymous, "Helicopter Crash Kills Paraguayan Presidential Hopeful," The Washington Post, 4 February 2013, Page A8.
  10. ^ "American Airlines, US Airways announce $11B merger". CBS News. 14 February 2013.
  11. ^ "Iraq sets first Kuwait flights since 1990 invasion". Reuters. 12 February 2013.
  12. ^ World News (29 October 2015). "Robbers snatch $50 million of diamonds off plane in Belgium". NBC News.
  13. ^ "Balloon crashes near Luxor killing 19 tourists". BBC. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  14. ^ "Airbus-Boeing battle shifts to Indonesia". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Agence France-Presse. 24 March 2013.
  15. ^ UN News Service (12 March 2013). "Congo-Kinshasa: UN Confirms Death of Four Crew Members in Helicopter Accident in Eastern DR Congo". allAfrica. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  16. ^ "IAC to investigate Mi-8 helicopter crash in Congo". Voice of Russia. 12 March 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  17. ^ Nichols, Michelle (12 March 2013). Christopher Wilson (ed.). "Four Russians killed in U.N. helicopter crash in Congo". Reuters. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  18. ^ Marcel van Leeuwen (12 March 2013). "Four Russians killed in UN helicopter crash in Congo". aviationnews.eu. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  19. ^ "UN mission in Congo confirms death of four Russian helicopter crew". Information Telegraph Agency of Russia. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  20. ^ "UN reaches downed helicopter in DR Congo after four days". globalpost. Agence France-Presse. 12 March 2013. Archived from the original on 16 March 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  21. ^ Reuters, "Boeing Makes First of Two 787 Dreamliner Flight Checks," The Washington Post, 26 March 2013, p. A16.
  22. ^ Strobel, Warren (29 March 2013). "U.S. B-2 bombers sent to Korea on rare mission: diplomacy not destruction". Reuters.
  23. ^ Guttman, Robert, "Vertical Dreams," Aviation History, March 2016, p. 35 (photo caption).
  24. ^ Reuters, "Boeing's Dreamliner Passes Test Flight," The Washington Post, 6 April 2013, p. A8.
  25. ^ "Loreto: Helicóptero con 13 ocupantes se precipitó a tierra en Iquitos". Perú21. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  26. ^ "Brigadistas de la FAP buscan a ocupantes de helicóptero caído en Loreto". Perú21. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  27. ^ Jason Paur (29 April 2013). "Boeing 787 Dreamliner Finally Resumes Passenger Flights". WIRED.
  28. ^ Dillon, Raquel Maria, "Virgin Galactic Spaceship Makes First Powered Flight," Associated Press, 30 April 2013, 11:44 a.m. EDT.
  29. ^ Rosenberg, Zach (3 May 2013). "Hypersonic X-51 programme ends in success". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  30. ^ ""X-51A Waverider Achieves Hypersonic Goal On Final Flight," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2 May 2013". Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  31. ^ Anonymous, "WaveRider Goes Hypersonic," Aviation History, September 2013, p. 12.
  32. ^ Dailey, Haven, and Bob Seavey, "Solar Plane Lands in Ariz., 1st Leg of Major Trip," Associated Press, 3 May 2013, 9:48 p.m. EDT.
  33. ^ "SOLAR IMPULSE – Phoenix". solarimpulse.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  34. ^ Associated Press, "News Summary: United Airlines Resumes 787 Flying After 4-Month Halt," washingtonpost.com, 20 May 2013, 3:14 p.m. EDT.[dead link]
  35. ^ "Europe risks air traffic chaos over strike". Al Jazeera.
  36. ^ "ATC strike echoes throughout Europe". airportregions.org. Archived from the original on 20 July 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  37. ^ "AHS – Human Powered Helicopter". vtol.org.
  38. ^ "Strike By French Air Traffic Controllers Ends". NPR. 13 June 2013.
  39. ^ Cecilia Kang (14 June 2013). "Google to use balloons to provide Internet access to remote areas". The Washington Post.
  40. ^ "Google's 'internet balloons' offer remote areas web access". The Daily Telegraph. 15 June 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  41. ^ "Children die in air crash in Russia's Sakha Republic", News$4, 2 July 2013
  42. ^ "Russian helicopter crash kills at least 19", Reuters, 2 July 2013
  43. ^ "23 die in Yakutia helicopter crash, 5 survive", Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, 2 July 2013
  44. ^ "Helicopter Crash in Siberia Kills at Least 19 – Officials" Archived 10 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, RIA Novosti, 2 July 2013
  45. ^ a b Associated Press, "Third Person Dies From Asiana Crash," The Washington Post, 13 July 2013, p. A3.
  46. ^ Mouawad, Jad (13 August 2013). "U.S., Filing Suit, Moves to Block Airline Merger". DealBook. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  47. ^ "UPS Plane Crash: Jet Crashes on Approach To Birmingham, Ala. Airport: FAA Spokeswoman". HuffPost.
  48. ^ Weber, Christopher, "Boeing delivers last C-17 to US Air Force," Associated Press, 13 September 2015, 12:50 a.m. EDT.
  49. ^ Wilkinson, Stephan, "Morane-Saulnier Across the Med," Aviation History, January 2014, p. 9.
  50. ^ Hradecky, Simon (12 October 2013). "Crash: Associated E120 at Lagos on Oct 3rd 2013, lost height after takeoff". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  51. ^ Drew, Christopher; Pfanner, Eric (7 October 2013). "Japan Airlines Deal With Airbus Is Blow in Boeing Stronghold". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  52. ^ Hradecky, Simon. "Crash: Lao AT72 at Pakse on October 16th 2013, went into Mekong River on approach". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  53. ^ Achenbach, Joel, "Dream Chaser has rough landing in test flight, but firm hails ‘successful day’ for space plane," Washington Post, 29 October 2013.
  54. ^ a b "Tracey Curtis-Taylor: from Cape Town to Cairo in a Forties biplane". The Daily Telegraph. 11 January 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  55. ^ a b "Tracey Curtis Taylor - Aviatrix, Adventurer, Inspirational Speaker". birdinabiplane.com. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  56. ^ Halsey, Ashley, III, "Justice set to approve merger of American Airlines, US Airways," The Washington Post, 12 November 2013.
  57. ^ "I saw helicopter crash into pub". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  58. ^ Donnelly, Scott, "Beechcraft to be bought by Cessna parent company," Associated Press, 26 December 2013, 8:52 p.m. EST.
  59. ^ "Newman, Andy, and Christine Armario, "," Associated Press, 30 December 2013 3:42 PM EST". Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  60. ^ Bombardier Inc. (ed.). "Bombardier's CSeries Aircraft Completes Historic First Flight". cseries.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  61. ^ "Boeing 787-9 takes off for maiden flight". FlightGlobal.
  62. ^ "Jim Moss's Gee Bee Q.E.D. Makes Maiden Flight". Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  63. ^ Sport Aviation. June 2011. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  64. ^ "The Last Gee Bee". Sport Aviation: 53. April 2014.
  65. ^ Aviation International News (ed.). "Piaggio Aero Achieves First Flight of HammerHead Demonstrator".
  66. ^ "Legacy 450 moves in flight test". FlightGlobal. 28 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.