1993 in aviation
Encyclopedia
This is a list of aviation
-related events from 1993:
April
July
December
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
-related events from 1993:
Events
- The 1,000th Boeing 747Boeing 747The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
comes off the production line 26 years after the first 747 was built.
February
- The Bolivian Air ForceBolivian Air ForceThe Bolivian Air Force is part of the Military of Bolivia.-History:By 1938 the Bolivian air force consisted of about 60 aircraft , and about 300 staff; the officers were...
retires the last F-86 SabreF-86 SabreThe North American F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America's first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War...
in service amongst the worlds air forces. - February 10 – McDonnell DouglasMcDonnell DouglasMcDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...
produces its 10,000th aircraft - February 11 – An EthiopianEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
man, Nebiu Demeke, hijacksAircraft hijackingAircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
Lufthansa Flight 592Lufthansa Flight 592Lufthansa Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that was hijacked on February 11, 1993. The Lufthansa-operated Airbus A310-300 was hijacked by Nebiu Demeke, an Ethopian man who forced the pilot to fly to New York City's John F....
, an Airbus A310-300Airbus A310The Airbus A310 is a medium- to long-range twin-engine widebody jet airliner. Launched in July 1978, it was the second aircraft created by Airbus Industrie,a consortium of European aerospace companies, Airbus is now fully owned by EADS and since 2001 has been known as Airbus SAS. the consortium of...
with 103 other people on board, during a flight from Frankfurt-am-Main, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, to Addis AbabaAddis AbabaAddis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, Ethiopia. He forces the aircraft to fly to John F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he surrenders to authorities without further incident. It is the first transatlanticTransatlanticTransatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe. Prior to the 19th century, transatlantic crossings were undertaken in sailing ships, which was a time consuming and often perilous journey. Transatlantic crossings became faster,...
hijacking since 1976. - February 27 – The United States Air ForceUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
begins supply drops into Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
.
March
- General DynamicsGeneral DynamicsGeneral Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
sells the rights to the F-16 Fighting FalconF-16 Fighting FalconThe General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force . Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,400 aircraft have been built since...
to LockheedLockheed CorporationThe Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:... - March 15 – Islamic Republic of Iran Air ForceIslamic Republic of Iran Air ForceThe Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force ' is the aviation branch of the Iranian armed forces. The present Air Force came into being in the early 1980s when the former Imperial Iranian Air Force was renamed....
bombers attack a hospital in Raniya, IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. - March 24 – South Africa abandons its nuclear weapons programme. President de Klerk announces that the country's six warheads had already been dismantled in 19901990 in aviationThis is a list of aviation-related events from 1990:- Events :*Pan American World Airways and Trans World Airlines, both in financial difficulty, transfer their coveted landing rights at London Heathrow Airport to American Airlines and United Airlines.-January:...
.
April
- April 1 – Elizabeth II reviews 70 Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
aircraft on the ground in celebration of the air forces 75th anniversary. A mass flypastFlypastFlypast is a term used in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and other countries to denote ceremonial or honorific flights by groups of aircraft and, rarely, by a single aircraft...
is cancelled due to poor weather. - April 9 – United States Air ForceUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
aircraft attack and destroy an Iraqi anti-aircraft battery. - April 18 – Japan Air System Flight 451Japan Air System Flight 451Japan Air System Flight 451 was a Japan Air System flight from Nagoya Airport in the Nagoya area in Aichi Prefecture, Japan to Hanamaki Airport in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture. On April 18, 1993, the Douglas DC-9-41 on the route crashed while landing at Hanamaki Airport. The aircraft, caught by...
, a Douglas DC-9-41, crashes while landing at Hanamaki AirportHanamaki Airportor Iwate-Hanamaki Airport is an airport located north northeast of Hanamaki, a city in the Iwate Prefecture of Japan. On 4th April, 2009, a new terminal building was opened on the opposite side of the runway, replacing the now-defunct old terminal building that is situated next to Route 4...
in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, injuring 19 of the 77 people on board. There are no fatalities. - April 18 – United States Air ForceUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
aircraft attack and destroy an Iraqi radar station. - April 24-25 – In Operation AshwamedhOperation AshwamedhOperation Ashwamedh was an operation conducted between April 24 and April 25, 1993 when NSG Commandos stormed a hijacked Indian Airlines Boeing 737 with 141 passengers on board at Amritsar airport. The hijacker, Mohammed Yousuf Shah, was killed before he could react and harm any of the...
, Indian ArmyIndian ArmyThe Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
commandos storm a hijackedAircraft hijackingAircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
Indian Airlines Boeing 737Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
with 141 people on board at AmritsarAmritsarAmritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. They kill the lone hijacker and free everyone else on board unharmed. - April 26 – Indian Airlines Flight 491Indian Airlines Flight 491Indian Airlines Flight 491 was the on its connecting route from Delhi to Bombay with en route stops at Jaipur, Udaipur and Aurangabad. The heavily laden aircraft started its takeoff from Aurangabad's runway 09 in hot and humid temperatures....
, a Boeing 737-2A8Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
, strikes a truck and electric wires and crashes just after takeoff from Aurangabad, MaharashtraMaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, killing 55 of the 118 people on board and injuring all 63 survivors.
August
- Chicago Express Airlines begins operations.
- August 11–14 – Two U.S. Air Force B-1 LancerB-1 LancerThe Rockwell B-1 LancerThe name "Lancer" is only applied to the B-1B version, after the program was revived. is a four-engine variable-sweep wing strategic bomber used by the United States Air Force...
s complete a round-the-world trip in 47 hours. - August 19 – U.S. Air Force aircraft are attacked by surface-to-air missileSurface-to-air missileA surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
s over northern Iraq. The launch site is destroyed in retaliation. - August 23 – The Russian Federation Air Force flies "open skiesOpen skiesOpen skies is an international policy concept which calls for the liberalization of rules and regulations on international aviation industry most specially commercial aviation - opening a free market for the airline industry...
" missions over GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
LuftwaffeLuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
bases
September
- September 14 – Lufthansa Flight 2904Lufthansa Flight 2904Lufthansa Flight 2904 was an Airbus A320-200 which overran the runway, in Okęcie International Airport on 14 September 1993. It was a flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Warsaw, Poland.-Description of the incident:...
, an Airbus A320-211Airbus A320The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
, overruns the runway on landing at Okęcie International Airport, at WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, killing two passengers and injuring all of the other 68 people on board. Among the survivors are the GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
ambassador to Poland, Dr. Franz Bertele, and the Polish opera singer Marcin Bronikowski. - September 17 – The F/A-18 HornetF/A-18 HornetThe McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to dogfight and attack ground targets . Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and...
logs its two-millionth flying hour – achieved in only ten years of operations.
October
- October 26 – ValuJet AirlinesValuJet AirlinesValuJet Airlines was an American low-cost carrier, headquartered in unincorporated Clayton County, Georgia, that operated regularly scheduled domestic and international flights in the Eastern United States and Canada during the 1990s...
begins operations. - October 27 – On approach to Namsos AirportNamsos Airport, HøknesøraNamsos Airport, Høknesøra is a regional airport located along the Namsen river, just outside of the town of Namsos in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is served with Dash 8 aircraft from Widerøe on public service obligation contracts with the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and...
outside NamsosNamsosis a town and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Other villages in the municipality include Bangsund, Klinga, Ramsvika, Skomsvoll, and Spillum....
, NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, in clouds, heavy rain, and turbulence, Widerøe Flight 744Widerøe Flight 744Widerøe Flight 744, also known as the Namsos Accident , was a controlled flight into terrain of a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter during approach to Namsos Airport, Høknesøra in Norway. The incident occurred on 27 October 1993 at 19:16:48 and killed six of the nineteen people on board,...
, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, crashes into a hill at OverhallaOverhallaOverhalla is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ranemsletta . Other villages include Melen, Skage, Skogmo, Svalia, and Øysletta.The population is concentrated in the relatively broad...
, killing six of the 19 people on board.
November
- November 4 – China Airlines Flight 605China Airlines Flight 605China Airlines Flight 605 was a daily non-stop flight departing from Taipei at 6:30 a.m. and arriving at Kai Tak Airport at 7:00 a.m. local time. The accident occurred on November 4, 1993...
, a Boeing 747-409Boeing 747-400The Boeing 747-400 is a major development and the best-selling model of the Boeing 747 family of jet airliners. While retaining the four-engine wide-body layout of its predecessors, the 747-400 embodies numerous technological and structural changes to produce a more efficient airframe...
with 396 people on board, ground loopsGround loop (aviation)In aviation, a ground loop is a rapid rotation of a fixed-wing aircraft in the horizontal plane while on the ground. Aerodynamic forces may cause the advancing wing to rise, which may then cause the other wingtip to touch the ground...
on landing at Chiang Kai-shek International AirportChiang Kai-shek International AirportTaiwan Taoyuan International Airport , the largest airport in Taiwan, is an international airport located in Dayuan Township, Taoyuan County, Taiwan. It is one of four Taiwanese airports with regular international flights, and is by far the busiest international air entry point amongst them...
in TaipeiTaipeiTaipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
, TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, sliding off the runway and into Victoria HarbourVictoria HarbourVictoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea were instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as a British colony and its subsequent...
. There are no fatalities, but 22 people suffer minor injuries. The aircraft becomes the first Boeing 747-400Boeing 747-400The Boeing 747-400 is a major development and the best-selling model of the Boeing 747 family of jet airliners. While retaining the four-engine wide-body layout of its predecessors, the 747-400 embodies numerous technological and structural changes to produce a more efficient airframe...
to be written offWrite-offThe term write-off describes a reduction in recognized value. In accounting terminology, it refers to recognition of the reduced or zero value of an asset. In income tax statements, it refers to a reduction of taxable income as recognition of certain expenses required to produce the income...
.
First flights
March- March 11 - Airbus A321
April
- April 2 - Fokker F70
July
- July 10 - Bell Eagle EyeBell Eagle Eye-References:* This article contains material that originally came from the web article by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain.-External links:** * ....
December
- December 18 - Sukhoi Su-34Sukhoi Su-34The Sukhoi Su-34 is a Russian twin-seat fighter-bomber. It is intended to replace the Sukhoi Su-24.- Beginnings and testing :The Su-34 had a somewhat muddied and protracted beginning...
- December 21 - Cessna Citation XCessna Citation XThe Cessna Citation X is a long-range medium business jet aircraft. The Citation X is powered by two Rolls-Royce turbofan engines and is built by the Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas. It is the fastest production civilian jet in the world. The Citation brand of business jets encompasses...