You are at netAirspace : On This Day : 1971

<
>
On This Day: 1971

Aviation events for 1971

January 6: The first AV-8A Harrier is delivered to the US Marine Corps at MCAS Cherry Point.
 
January 20: First flight of the Grumman E-2C Hawkeye.
 
January 20: The McDonnell Douglas RF-4E Phantom II enters operational service with the Luftwaffe.
 
January 22: A US Navy P-3C Orion lands in Patuxent River, Maryland, after a flight of 15 hours 21 minutes from Atsugi, Japan, setting a nonstop distance record for a turboprop-powered aircraft of 7,010 miles.
 
January 31: Apollo 14 - USA Lunar Manned Lander (January 31 to February 8, 1971) launched. Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell, Stuart A. Roosa. Shepard and Mitchell landed on the moon on February 5, 1971, in the Fra Mauro highlands, located at 3°40' S and longitude 17°28' E. They collected 42.9 kilograms of lunar samples and used a hand-held cart to transport rocks and equipment.
 
February 1: Apollo 14 - USA Lunar Manned Lander (January 31 to February 8, 1971) Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell, Stuart A. Roosa. Shepard and Mitchell landed on the moon on February 5, 1971, in the Fra Mauro highlands, located at 3°40' S and longitude 17°28' E. They collected 42.9 kilograms of lunar samples and used a hand-held cart to transport rocks and equipment.
 
February 2: Apollo 14 - USA Lunar Manned Lander (January 31 to February 8, 1971) Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell, Stuart A. Roosa. Shepard and Mitchell landed on the moon on February 5, 1971, in the Fra Mauro highlands, located at 3°40' S and longitude 17°28' E. They collected 42.9 kilograms of lunar samples and used a hand-held cart to transport rocks and equipment.
 
February 4: Apollo 14 - USA Lunar Manned Lander (January 31 to February 8, 1971) Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell, Stuart A. Roosa. Shepard and Mitchell landed on the moon on February 5, 1971, in the Fra Mauro highlands, located at 3°40' S and longitude 17°28' E. They collected 42.9 kilograms of lunar samples and used a hand-held cart to transport rocks and equipment.
 
February 9: Apollo 14 returns to earth following the third manned Moon mission.
 
February 21: All Nippon Airways operates their first international flight, a 727 charter from Tokyo to Hong Kong.
 
March 21: First flight of the Westland Lynx XW835.
 
March 24: As a result of votes in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, Boeing cancels its supersonic transport. The elaborate, full-size mock-up is eventually sold to a promotion specialist who puts it in a Florida amusement park.
 
March 25: First flight of the Ilyushin Il-76 SSSR-86712.
 
March 26: A JamAir Douglas DC-3 (VT-ATT) collides with terrain after failing to follow the prescribed flight plan, killing all 15 occupants. The crash site is located after 6 days.
 
March 26: First flight of the CASA C.212 Aviocar.
 
March 31: First flight of the Kaman SH-2D Sea Sprite.
 
April 1: Hawker Siddeley Trident 3B enters service with British European Airways.
 
April 1: U.S. and Canada ISIS 2 launched to study ionosphere.
 
April 12: The US Air Force’s 31st Aerospace Rescue Squadron evacuate Charles Lindbergh and a group of scientists from Mindanao Island, Philippines, after their helicopter had crashed.
 
April 15: First flight of the Boeing 737-200ADV. Read more...
 
April 22: Britain and France give the go-ahead for four more Concordes, bringing the total to ten.
 
April 24: Soyuz 10 spacecraft docks with the world’s first space station, Salyut 1. The cosmonauts on board are forced to return to earth without entering the station, however, due to a faulty hatch.
 
May 8: Mariner 8, USA Mars Flyby, launched. Failed to reach Earth orbit.
 
May 10: Kosmos 419, USSR Mars Probe, launched. Failed to leave Earth orbit.
 
May 20: Boeing announces that it haa canceled its Supersonic Transport (SST) project.
 
May 28: First flight of the Dassault Mercure F-WTCC.
 
May 28: Mars 3, USSR Mars Orbiter/Soft Lander, launched. Mars 3 arrived at Mars on December 2, 1971. The lander was released and became the first successful landing on Mars. It failed after relaying 20 seconds of video data to the orbiter. The Mars 3 orbiter returned data until August, 1972. It made measurements of surface temperature and atmospheric composition.
 
May 30: Mariner 9, USA Mars Orbiter, launched. Mariner 9 arrived at Mars on November 3, 1971 and was placed into orbit on November 24. This was the first US spacecraft to enter an orbit around a planet other than the Moon. At the time of its arrival a huge dust storm was in progress on the planet. Many of the scientific experiments were delayed until the storm had subsided. The first hi-resolution images of the moons Phobos and Deimos were taken. River and channel like features were discovered. Mariner 9 is still in Martian orbit.
 
June 6: Soyuz 11 takes 3 cosmonauts to Salyut 1 space station.
 
June 11: British pilot Shelia Scott makes the first flight by a light plane from equator to equator via the North Pole. Flying in a Piper Aztec D, she covers 34,000 miles (54,718 km).
 
June 18: Southwest Airlines commences operations.
 
June 19: Southwest Airlines commences operations.
 
June 24: YF-12 (936) was lost at Edwards AFB due to a major in-flight fire in the right engine. PilotRonald (Jack) Layton and Billy Curtis ejected safely.
 
July 14: First flight of the VFW-614 D-BABA.
 
July 18: Southwest Airlines (WN) commences flight operations.
 
July 20: First flight of the Mitsubishi T-2.
 
July 29: The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 receives FAA Certification.
 
July 30: All Nippon Airways Flight 58, a 727-200 (JA8329) collides with a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-86F fighter jet (92-7932) 26,000 feet above Shizukuishi, Japan, killing all 162 on board the airliner. The fighter pilot ejected and survived. At the time it was the deadliest air disaster in history.
 
(Private) AgustaWestland AW109E Power (A6-FLS) at  Dubai - International, United Arab Emirates
August 4: First flight of the Agusta A109. Read more...
 
August 5: McDonnell Douglas DC-10 enters service with American Airlines.
 
August 7: The Apollo 15 spacecraft splashes down in the Pacific, 330 miles north of Hawaii, having been the fourth manned moon mission.
 
August 30: ACES (Colombia) is formed.
 
September 3: The Concorde makes its first transatlantic crossing.
 
Vision Air Haiti Britten-Norman BN-2A Mk.III Trislander (HH-RPL) at  Miami - Opa Locka, United States
September 11: First flight of the Britten-Norman Trislander.
 
September 30: First flight of the Avro Shackleton AEW2 WL745.
 
Aurigny Air Services Britten-Norman BN-2A Mk.III Trislander (G-BCNO) at  International Airspace, (International Airspace)
October 1: Aurigny Air Services commences operations with Britten-Norman Trislander.
 
December 3: Start of the Indo-Pakistan War. The Indian Air Force loses 72 aircraft and the Pakistan Air Force 94 aircraft Ends 17 DEC 71.
 
December 24: LANSA Flight 508 is struck by lightning while flying over Peru, igniting the fuel tank and leading to structural failure. The Lockheed L-188A Electra (registered OB-R-941) disintegrated, and 91 of the 92 people on-board perished. A 17-year-old girl survived the 2-mile fall with only a gash in her leg and a broken collar bone. Yet she was able to walk through the Amazon for 10 days until being rescued by lumberjacks.
 
 
 

Explore by day

Jump to
 
 

Explore by year

Jump to year
 
 

LEFT

RIGHT
CONTENT