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On This Day: March 3

Aviation events for March 3

1911: With Capt. Benjamin D. Foulois navigating a course and Phillip Parmelee at the controls, the Wright Type B on loan from Robert F. Collier sets an official U.S. cross-country record from Laredo to Eagle Pass, Texas. It flies the 106 miles in 2 hours 10 minutes.
 
1915: Natl Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NASA forerunner) created.
 
1919: Airplane builder William E. Boeing and Eddie Hubbard of Hubbard Air Service make the first international airmail flight from Seattle, Washington to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
 
1950: Australian Qantas inaugurates a passenger service from Sydney to Tokyo.
 
1953: A Canadian Pacific Airlines de Havilland Comet crashes on takeoff from Karachi, Pakistan, killing all 11 aboard. Excessive nose-pitch causes it to stall, resulting in first fatal jetliner crash in history.
 
1959: US Probe, Pioneer 4 made a Distant Lunar Flyby. It is now in a solar orbit.
 
1960: The longest nonstop flight ever made by a Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft is completed when a Vickers Valiant B.Mk.1 (serial no.XD858) piloted by Sqdn. Ldr. J. H. Garstin flies around the British Isles for a total distance of 8,500 miles aided by two inflight refuelings.
 
1969: Apollo 9, the second manned launch of a Saturn V rocket, launches to spend 10 days in lower Earth orbit to test the lunar module’s behavior in space.
 
1973: Ryan International Airlines commences flight operations.
 
1974: In the world’s worst air disaster, a DC-10-10 of Turkish Airlines loses an aft cargo door after taking off from Paris en route to London, resulting in a complete loss of control. The aircraft crashes, killing 346 passengers and crew. This is the second time a cargo bay door has been lost from aircraft of this type. As a result, a latch modification becomes mandatory.
 
1987: Pioneer 9, USA Solar Probe (November 8, 1968 - March 3, 1987) died. Still in solar orbit.
 
1999: United Airlines Flight 585 crashes 4-miles short while on approach to Denver’s runway 35, killing all 25 aboard. The Boeing 737-200 (N999UA) experiences a sudden dive, and the initial investigation comes up with nothing. It is later speculated that a rudder power control unit is at fault.
 
2005: The late Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane around the world solo nonstop without refueling, flying 25,000 miles in 67 hours and 2 minutes.
 
 
 

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