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1952 in aviation

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|cp=19th Century

|c=20th century

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|yp1=1949

|yp2=1950

|yp3=1951

|year=1952

|ya1=1953

|ya2=1954

|ya3=1955

|dp3=1920s

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|d=1950s

|dn1=1960s

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{{Portal|Aviation}}

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1952:

Events

= January =

  • United Nations forces in Korea begin Operation Moonlight Sonata, which uses the illumination effect of the moon on snow to allow night-flying aircraft to find enemy trains operating at night and isolate them by bombing the tracks in front of and behind them, with carrier-based naval aircraft destroying the isolated trains the following morning. Several trains are destroyed in this way by the spring of 1952.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, pp. 52–54.
  • The Royal Navy{{'}}s Fleet Air Arm makes use of a helicopter in a major rescue effort for the first time when a Westland Dragonfly attempts to rescue two men from the sinking cargo ship SS Flying Enterprise. Although the attempt is unsuccessful, the Dragonfly proves capable of flying in conditions previously thought to preclude helicopter operations.Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 184.
  • The United States Navy begins Operation Package, an effort to use carrier air power to interdict enemy road and rail traffic in northeastern Korea, in conjunction with Operation Derail, a shore bombardment campaign against coastal roads and railroads by surface warships. The two operations will end in February and be only partially successful.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, p. 52.
  • The Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR) has 200 atomic bombs allocated for his use in the defense of Europe in the event of a Soviet offensive against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).Ross, Steven T., American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union, Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, {{ISBN|0-7146-4192-8}}, p. 147.
  • January 1 – Mail subsidies to National Airlines end, and the United States Post Office Department places the airline on a mail service rate that makes it self-sustaining throughout its system.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nationalsundowners.com/about/history.php |title=National Sundowners: Fight of Memories 1937-1980: NAL History |access-date=2015-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022045204/http://www.nationalsundowners.com/about/history.php |archive-date=2018-10-22 |url-status=dead }}
  • January 5 – Pan American World Airways commences transatlantic freight services.
  • January 10 – An Aer Lingus Douglas Dakota 3 (registration EI-AFL) on a Northolt Aerodrome–Dublin flight crashes in Wales due to vertical draft in the mountains of Snowdonia, killing all 23 people on board. It is the airline's first fatal crash in its fifteen-year history.{{cite journal|first=A. H.|last=Yates|title=Airflow over Mountains|journal=Flight|date=1953-01-02|volume=63|issue=2293|pages=2–3|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200002.html|access-date=2012-04-23}}{{cite news|first=Kevin|last=White|title=60th anniversary of Aer Lingus disaster|url=http://www.caernarfonherald.co.uk/caernarfon-county-news/local-caernarfon-news/2012/01/26/60th-anniversary-of-aer-lingus-disaster-88817-30197737/|newspaper=Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald|date=2012-01-26|access-date=2012-04-23}}[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520110-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • January 19 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 324 – a Douglas C-54E Skymaster on a charter flight from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Territory of Alaska, to McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington – diverts to Sandspit Airport in Sandspit, British Columbia, after feathering its No. 1 propeller due to a broken oil cooler. The C-54 touches down at Sandspit but then attempts a go-around. It stalls during the attempted climb-out and ditches in water beyond the end of the runway. All or nearly all of the 43 people aboard the plane evacuate without serious injury, but 36 of them die of drowning or exposure in the near-freezing air and water temperatures they encounter outside the plane.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520119-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • January 22
  • The de Havilland Comet 1 becomes the first turbojet-powered civil airliner to be awarded a certificate of airworthiness.{{cite magazine|magazine=Flight|date=25 January 1952|page=89|title=Full C. of A. for Comet}}
  • American Airlines Flight 6780, a Convair CV-240, crashes into a house in Elizabeth, New Jersey, while on final approach to Newark Airport, killing all 23 people on the plane and seven people on the ground. It is the first fatal accident involving a Convair CV-240. Among the dead are Robert P. Patterson, a jurist and former Undersecretary of War under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and former Secretary of War under President Harry S Truman; former war correspondent John F. Chester; and U.S. Civil Aeronautics Administration officials George T. Williams and John D. Rice, both engaged in the development of airport radar systems and navigational aids at the time.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520122-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]

= February =

  • Operation Strangle, a day-and-night air interdiction campaign against enemy roads, bridges, and tunnels across the width of the Korean Peninsula between 38 degrees 15 minutes North and 39 degrees 15 minutes North, by the United States Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps which had begun in June 1951, ends without success. The similar Operation Saturate begins, but also ultimately will be unsuccessful.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, p. 44.
  • February 1 – The first civilian passenger terminal opens at Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Previously, civilian passengers had used the Brazilian Air Force facilities at adjoining Galeão Air Force Base.
  • February 4 – A Sabena Douglas C-47A Skytrain suffers a propeller failure in flight over the Belgian Congo. Debris from the propeller failure cuts some of the aircraft's control cables, causing the crew to lose control. The plane crashes near Kikwit, killing all 16 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520204-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • February 10 – Major George A. Davis Jr. is awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, after attacking a group of 12 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s that were about to bounce other U.S. aircraft. He shot down two before being shot down himself. He had been a World War II flying ace and was Korean War ace of aces.
  • February 11 – Just after National Airlines Flight 101, a Douglas DC-6 (registration N90891), takes off from Newark International Airport in New Jersey, its No. 3 propeller reverses. Misunderstanding the problem, the crew feathers the No. 4 propeller and attempts to return to the airport, but the aircraft crashes in Elizabeth, New Jersey, narrowly missing an orphanage and killing 29 of the 63 people on board and four people on the ground.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520211-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]Jean-Rae Turner, Richard T. Koles [https://books.google.com/books?id=1F6iYssnaVkC&pg=PA128 "Elizabeth: First Capital of New Jersey"] pp. 128-129 Arcadia Publishing (2003) {{ISBN|978-0-7385-2393-4}} It is the third in a string of airliner accidents at Newark International since December 1951 and prompts the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to close the airport until November 15.
  • February 17 – Flying over Sicily, a Hunting Air Transport Vickers Model 614 Viking 1 (registration G-AHPI) strays off course and crashes into Monte la Cinta, killing all 31 people on board. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident in Italy's history at the time.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520217-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • February 18 – The Brazilian airline Paraense Transportes Aéreos is founded. It will begin flight operations in March.
  • February 19 – During a night insertion mission over South Korea, a North Korean double agent detonates a grenade aboard a U.S. Air Force Curtiss C-46D Commando (registration 44–78038). The C-46D crashes, killing all 10 people on board.
  • February 26 – Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that the United Kingdom has developed its own atomic bomb."Today in History," The Washington Post Express, February 26, 2014, Page 27.

= March =

  • March 3 – An Air France SNCASE SE.161/P7 Languedoc (registration F-BCUM) turns onto its back and crashes during its initial climbout from Nice-le Var Airport in Nice, France, killing all 38 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520303-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • March 22
  • Temporarily blinded when enemy antiaircraft fire hits his {{USS|Valley Forge|CV-45}}-based AD Skyraider during a bombing raid against rail and truck lines in North Korea, U.S. Navy Ensign Kenneth Schechter rejects the suggestion of fellow Valley Forge Skyraider pilot and best friend Lieutenant, junior grade, Howard Thayer that he bail out over the ocean, where Navy forces can rescue him from the water. Instead, Thayer, flying only feet away from Schechter{{'}}s aircraft, coaches Schechter to a safe, blind landing at a United States Army dirt airstrip in Korea. Schechter loses his right eye but recovers the sight in his left eye; he receives the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1995 for his 1952 flight. Thayer dies in a crash in 1961, but receives a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross in 2009 for assisting Schechter.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/kenneth-schechter-navy-pilot-who-made-blind-landing-during-korean-war-dies-at-83/2013/12/25/e736a64a-6cdb-11e3-a523-fe73f0ff6b8d_story.html Chawkins, Steve, "Kenneth Schechter, Navy pilot who made blind landing during Korean War, dies at 83," The Los Angeles Times via The Washington Post, December 25, 2013.][http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=4bd3ae51-dc73-4cfa-8f30-9863746eedab "Gone West: Korean War-Era Pilot Kenneth Schechter," aero-news.net, December 25, 2013.]{{Cite web |url=http://articles.lacanadaonline.com/2013-12-23/news/tsn-vsl-kenneth-schechter-dies-at-83-navy-pilot-performed-heroic-blind-landing-20131223_1_navy-pilot-landing-korean-war |title="Kenneth Schechter dies at 83; Navy pilot performed heroic blind landing," La Cañada Valley Sun, December 23, 2013. |access-date=2013-12-27 |archive-date=2013-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228022223/http://articles.lacanadaonline.com/2013-12-23/news/tsn-vsl-kenneth-schechter-dies-at-83-navy-pilot-performed-heroic-blind-landing-20131223_1_navy-pilot-landing-korean-war |url-status=dead }}
  • The KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Douglas DC-6 Koningin Juliana (registration PH-TPJ) crashes into a forest on approach to Frankfurt International Airport in Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany, killing 45 of the 47 people on board. At the time, it is the deadliest aviation accident in the history of Germany.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520322-1 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • March 23 – Four hijackers commandeer a CSA Czech Airlines Douglas C-47 Skytrain making a domestic flight in Czechoslovakia from Prague to Brno and force it to land at Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany.[https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520323-1 Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description]
  • March 24 – A Société Africaine des Transports Tropicaux (SATT) Lockheed 18-07-01 Lodestar crashes just after takeoff from Gao Airport in Gao, Mali, killing 17 of the 21 people on board. It is the deadliest aviation accident in the history of Mali at the time.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520324-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • March 26 – An Aeroflot airliner landing at Tula Airport in Tula in the Soviet Union slides off the runway and collides with a Soviet Air Force transport aircraft carrying 34 military academy students that is preparing for takeoff, killing a total of 70 people. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident in the history of the Soviet Union or Russia at the time.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520326-2 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description][http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520326-3 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • March 29 – A TACA de Venezuela Douglas DC-3 (registration YV-C-AZU) crashes into Cerro Grande, a mountain east of San Felipe, Venezuela, killing all 12 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520329-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • March 30
  • A Philippine Air Lines Douglas C-47A Skytrain (registration PI-C270) crashes on takeoff from Loakan Airport in Baguio in the Philippines, killing 10 of the 29 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520330-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • The Brazilian airline Paraense Transportes Aéreos makes its first flight, using a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina.

= April =

= May =

= June =

  • The Israeli Air Force places its first order for jet aircraft, Dassault Ouragans. The first 25 will not be delivered until October 1954.Hammel, Eric, Six Days in June: How Israel Won the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992, {{ISBN|0-684-19390-6}}, p. 71.
  • June 13 – Soviet Air Force MiG-15 (NATO reporting name "Fagot") fighters shoot down a Swedish Air Force Douglas Tp-79 – the Swedish designation for the Douglas C-47 Skytrain – on an electronic intelligence-gathering mission over the Baltic Sea surveying Soviet military facilities in the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republics. The TP-79 crashes into the sea east of Gotska Sandön, killing all eight members of its crew. The Soviet Union will deny shooting it down until 1991.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520613-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • June 16 – Over the Baltic Sea west of Hiiumaa, two Soviet Air Force MiG-15s attack two Swedish Air Force Tp-47 – the Swedish designation for the Canso A, which in turn was the Canadian version of the Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina – amphibious flying boats searching for survivors of the Douglas Tp-79 shot down on June 13, pursuing them and firing at them as they flee westward. One Tp-47 escapes, but the other makes an emergency landing on the sea near the West German cargo ship Münsterland with only one engine working. Münsterland rescues all five members of its crew, two of whom are injured, but the TP-47 sinks.
  • June 23–27 – United Nations aircraft conduct concentrated attacks on 13 North Korean electric power generation facilities which previously had been off-limits to air attack in the most intense use of airpower of the Korean War. Aircraft of the United States Air Force, United States Navy, Marine Corps, and South African Air Force all participate as do all four aircraft carriers – {{USS|Boxer|CV-21}}, {{USS|Princeton|CV-37}}, {{USS|Bon Homme Richard|CV-31}}, and {{USS|Philippine Sea|CV-47}} – of Task Force 77, the first time since World War II that four Essex-class aircraft carriers have operated together, with U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft flying 1,200 sorties on June 23–24. In one strike on the Sui-ho Dam, U.S. Navy AD Skyraiders drop 85 short tons (77 metric tons) of bombs in two minutes. The attacks result in extensive and sustained blackouts in North Korea, which is powerless for two weeks, and in bordering areas in Manchuria in the People's Republic of China, some of which last for months.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, p. 54.Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945–1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, {{ISBN|0-312-09911-8}}, p. 274.
  • June 25 – A Royal Air Force Avro Shackleton MR.1 carrying out dummy attacks against the Royal Navy submarine {{HMS|Sirdar|P226}} during exercises in the North Sea crashes during a turn, killing 11 of the 13 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520625-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • June 26 – Three Yugoslavs armed with revolvers hijack a JAT Douglas C-47 Skytrain making a domestic flight in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from Zagreb to Pula with 27 people on board and force it to land at Foligno Airport in Foligno, Italy.[https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520626-0 Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description]
  • June 28 – American Airlines Flight 910, a Douglas DC-6, collides with a privately owned Temco Swift while on final approach to Love Field in Dallas, Texas. The DC-6 lands with no injuries to any of the 60 people on board, but the Swift crashes, killing both occupants.

= July =

= August =

  • A massive strike by United Nations aircraft against industrial targets in and around Pyongyang, Korea, completes the destruction begun by the similar strike on July 11, 1952.
  • August 4 – Off Korea, the explosion of an aircraft fuel tank causes a fire on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier {{USS|Boxer|CV-21}} which kills nine and injures 30 men and destroys or damages 18 aircraft.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, pp. 54–55.
  • August 9 – Four Royal Navy piston-engined Hawker Sea Furies encounter eight MiG-15s near Pyongyang, Korea, and Lieutenant Peter Carmichael of No. 802 Squadron FAA aboard HMS Ocean shoots one down. It is the Fleet Air Arm's first kill of the Korean War and first MiG-15 kill.Crosby, Francis, The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World{{'}}s Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day, London: Hermes House, 2006, {{ISBN|9781846810008}}, p. 37.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, p. 56.
  • August 12 – A fire breaks out aboard a Transportes Aéreos Nacional Douglas C-47A while it is in flight near Palmeira de Goiás, Brazil. The airliner crashes, killing all 24 people on board.
  • August 16 – Braniff Airways acquires Mid-Continent Airlines.{{cite journal|last=Cearley Jr.|first=George W.|title=The Building of a Major International Airline|journal=Braniff International Airways 1928-1965|year=1986|pages=56–67}}
  • August 26 – A Royal Pakistan Air Force Bristol 170 Wayfarer 21P (registration G783) crashes shortly after takeoff from Khewra, Pakistan, killing all 18 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520826-1 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • August 28 – The first launch in combat of a guided missile by an aircraft carrier occurs when Guided Missile Unit 90 on board the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier {{USS|Boxer|CV-21}} launches a pilotless F6F-5K Hellcat loaded with explosives as a remote-controlled drone against a railway bridge at Hungnam, Korea. The unit fires five more Hellcat drones at the bridge between August 28 and September 2, scoring two hits and one near-miss.
  • August 30 – At the International Aviation Exposition in Detroit, Michigan, one of a pair of Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighters flying together disintegrates in flight, killing its pilot and one spectator.Aeroplane Monthly magazine – May 1975 "Fighters of the Fifties – Northrop Scorpion"

= September =

  • Several MiG-15s approach to within {{convert|7|nmi|km|abbr=off}} of the U.S. Navy destroyer {{USS|Bradford|DD-545}} before she drives them off with gunfire.Muir, Malcolm, Jr., Sea Power on Call: Fleet Operations June 1951 – July 1953, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2005, {{ISBN|0-945274-53-X}}, p. 24.
  • September 1 – In the largest carrier air strike of the Korean War, 144 U.S. Navy aircraft from the aircraft carriers {{USS| Essex|CV-9}}, {{USS|Princeton|CV-37}}, and {{USS|Boxer|CV-21}} attack the oil refinery at Aoji, Korea. Attacks on industrial targets at Munsan and electrical plants at Chongjin are also conducted. All U.S. aircraft return safely.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, p. 57.
  • September 6 – The de Havilland DH.110 prototype WG236 disintegrates at the Farnborough Airshow in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, and crashes, killing 29 spectators and both men aboard the plane. About another 60 spectators are injured. The accident is [https://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-farnborough-tragedy captured on film].
  • September 10 – During a dogfight between two piston-engined United States Marine Corps F4U Corsair fighter-bombers from the escort aircraft carrier {{USS|Sicily|CVE-118}} and several MiG-15 jet fighters, Corsair pilot Captain Jesse G. Folmar shoots down a MiG-15 before being shot down himself; he survives and is rescued. It is the only Corsair victory over a MiG-15 during the Korean War.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, pp. 60, 62.
  • September 15 – Noticing that the damaged F-86 Sabre fighter of his wingman, U.S. Air Force First Lieutenant Joseph Logan, was rapidly leaking fuel over enemy-held territory, Captain James R. Risner instructs Logan to shut down his engine. Amid heavy enemy antiaircraft fire, Risner in an unprecedented maneuver twice places the nose of his own F-86 into the tailpipe of Logan{{'}}s at {{convert|200|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} to push Logan{{'}}s powerless plane out of enemy territory. He succeeds, although Logan lands in the ocean after parachuting from the plane and drowns. Risner receives the Silver Star for his effort to save Logan.[https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/3441 Military Times Hall of Valor: James Robinson Risner][https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/robinson-risner-air-force-ace-and-pow-dies-at-88/2013/10/29/ec759f3e-40ae-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html Schudel, Matt, "Robinson Risner, Air Force ace and POW, dies at 88," Washington Post, October 29, 2013.]Wilkinson, Stephan, "Amazing But True Stories," Aviation History, May 2014, pp. 33-34.
  • September 17 – Flying a Bell 47, Bell Aircraft pilot Elton J. Smith flies nonstop from Hurst, Texas, to Buffalo, New York, setting a nonstop distance record for helicopters of {{convert|1,217|mi|km}}.McGowen, Stanley S. Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Weapons and warfare series. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2005. {{ISBN|1-85109-468-7}}, p. 56.

= October =

  • In an attempt to rescue a downed aviator, a U.S. Navy helicopter from the heavy cruiser {{USS|Helena|CA-75}} makes a 105-mile (169-km) flight, often under heavy enemy antiaircraft fire, during which the enemy attempts to jam its communications with Helena and builds fires to lure it closer to antiaircraft guns. The rescue attempt, extremely lengthy for its time, is unsuccessful.Muir, Malcolm, Jr., Sea Power on Call: Fleet Operations June 1951 – July 1953, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2005, {{ISBN|0-945274-53-X}}, p. 35.
  • The U.S. Navy{{'}}s Task Force 77 begins "Cherokee Strikes," in which aircraft from the task force{{'}}s aircraft carriers attack enemy supply, artillery, and troop concentrations in Korea. Through January 1953, Cherokee Strikes will constitute a third of the United States Seventh Fleet{{'}}s air effort in the Korean War.
  • October 1 – The United States Navy reclassifies all of its "aircraft carriers" (CV) and "large aircraft carriers" (CVB) as "attack aircraft carriers" (CVA).
  • October 5 – In the Soviet Union, an Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-12 (registration CCCP-L1328) on approach to Leningrad-Shosseynaya Airport in Leningrad collides in mid-air with an Aeroflot Douglas TS-62 (registration CCCP-L1055) climbing out from the airport in the opposite direction in the same air corridor. Both aircraft crash near Skvoritsky, killing all 24 people aboard the Il-12 and all seven aboard the TS-62.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521005-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description][http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521005-1 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • October 8
  • Twelve F2H Banshee fighters of U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 11 (VF-11) embarked aboard the aircraft carrier {{USS|Kearsarge|CVA-33}} escort U.S. Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers in a raid on the rail and supply center at Kowon, Korea. Minutes later, 89 aircraft from {{USS|Essex|CVA-9}}, {{USS|Princeton|CVA-37}}, and Kearsarge follow up with a bomb and rocket attack on Kowon.
  • A Royal Air Force Avro Shackleton MR.1 crashes into the sea off Tarbat Ness, Scotland, during a gunnery exercise, killing all 14 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521008-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • October 14 – During a flight in Brazil from São Paulo–Congonhas Airport in São Paulo to Salgado Filho Airport in Porto Alegre, an Aerovias Brasil Douglas C-47 Skytrain strays off course in poor weather and crashes near San Francisco de Paula, killing 14 of the 18 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521014-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • Mid-October – Task Force 77 carrier aircraft attack a 25-mile-long stretch of shoreline along the east coast of North Korea around the town of Kojo, on one day flying 667 sorties and losing five planes, as preparation for an amphibious landing. The carrier commanders later are infuriated to discover that no landing was planned, the attack being merely a feint to put pressure on North Korean negotiators to make peace.Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945–1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, {{ISBN|0-312-09911-8}}, p. 275.
  • October 16 – A United States Air Force Curtis C-46D Commando crashes into the Sea of Japan just after takeoff from Kangnung Airbase in Kangnung, South Korea, killing all 25 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521016-1 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • October 26 – A BOAC de Havilland Comet airliner is badly damaged in an accident during take-off from Rome-Ciampino airport in Italy.

= November =

  • In the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City, Florida, Piasecki HRP-1 Rescuer helicopters of U.S. Navy Experimental Squadron 3 (VX-3) begin tests which demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of using helicopters in aerial minesweeping.Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Flying Banana," Naval History, August 2010, p. 16.
  • November 2Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 187. or 3Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, p. 63. – The first combat between jets at night occurs, when a United States Marine Corps F3D Skyknight night fighter piloted by Major William T. Stratton and crewed by radar operator Master Sergeant Hans C. Hoglind shoots down an enemy jet aircraft over Korea they identify as a Yak-15.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, p. 187.
  • November 7 – A United States Air Force Fairchild C-119C-22-FA Flying Boxcar (registration 51–2560) crashes into Denali in the Territory of Alaska, killing all 19 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521107-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • November 14 – A U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-119C Flying Boxcar (serial number 51-2551) carrying American military personnel back to South Korea after leave in Japan crashes into a {{convert|2,000|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} hill near Cho-ok, South Korea, killing all 44 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521114-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • November 15
  • A U.S. Air Force Curtiss C-46D Commando (serial number 44-78144) crashes into the Sea of Japan after takeoff from Kangnung Airbase in Kangnung, South Korea, killing 11 of the 18 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521115-1 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • Newark International Airport reopens. It had been closed since the crash of National Airlines Flight 101 there on February 11.
  • A U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-119C Flying Boxcar (serial number 51-2570) disappears in the Territory of Alaska during a flight from Naval Air Station Kodiak in Kodiak to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, with the loss of all 20 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521115-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • November 18 – Off northeastern Korea, three U.S. Navy Grumman F9F-5 Panther fighters from Fighter Squadron 781 (VF-781) aboard the aircraft carrier {{USS|Oriskany|CVA-34}} engage seven MiG-15s almost certainly flown by Soviet pilots, shooting down two MiG-15s without loss to themselves.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, {{ISBN|0-945274-52-1}}, p. 60. It is the last time that aircraft of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) country shoot down Soviet or Russian aircraft until November 2015.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/11/24/the-last-time-a-russian-jet-was-shot-down-by-a-nato-jet-was-in-1952/ Gibbons-Neff, Thomas, "The last time a Russian jet was shot down by a NATO jet was in 1952," washingtonpost.com, November 24, 2015, 12:13 p.m. EST.]
  • November 22
  • Flying in snow and poor visibility on a domestic flight in Bulgaria from Sofia-Vrazhdebna Airport in Sofia to Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport in Gorna Oryahovitsa, a TABSO Lisunov Li-2P fails to climb high enough to clear the Balkan Mountains and crashes into {{convert|2,198|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} Mount Vezhen {{convert|20|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} below its summit, killing all 30 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521122-1 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]
  • During a flight from McChord Air Force Base, Washington, to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-124A Globemaster II crashes into Alaska's Mount Gannett, killing all 52 people on board. The wreckage is identified on November 28, but then is buried in ice and snow and is not rediscovered until June 2012.[http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-knik-glacier-wreckage-is-from-military-crash-that-killed-52-20120628,0,801863.special ktuu.com "Knik Glacier Wreckage Is From Military Crash That Killed 52"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624160850/http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-knik-glacier-wreckage-is-from-military-crash-that-killed-52-20120628%2C0%2C801863.special |date=June 24, 2013 }}[http://www.adn.com/2012/07/12/2540301/60-year-old-military-plane-crash.html adn.com "60-year-old military plane crash debris recovered from Colony Glacier", Anchorage Daily News, July 12, 2012.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123014030/http://www.adn.com/2012/07/12/2540301/60-year-old-military-plane-crash.html |date=November 23, 2012 }}
  • November 28 – After the crew of a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-54G Skymaster decides to abort their approach to McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma. Washington, in dense fog and darkness and divert to Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, the aircraft strikes trees and crashes just north of McChord, catching fire and killing 37 of the 39 people on board.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521128-0 Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description]

= December =

First flights

= January =

= February =

  • Republic RF-84F ThunderflashAngelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|0-517-56588-9}}, p. 402.

= March =

= April =

= May =

  • May 19 – Grumman XF10F JaguarAngelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, {{ISBN|0-517-56588-9}}, p. 249, says that the first flight took place on "April 19 or May 19, 1952", but also places the date on May 19, 1952, in an accompanying table.
  • May 20 – Caproni Trento F-5
  • May 26
  • Cessna 180 N41697
  • Stits SA-2A Sky Baby
  • May 30 – Beriev R-1

= June =

= July =

  • July 3 – Yak-24 twin engine tandem helicopter
  • July 11 – Farman F.500 Monitor I
  • July 12 – Beecraft Honey BeeMondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World{{'}}s Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, {{ISBN|0-89009-771-2}}, p. 94.
  • July 23 – Fouga Magister
  • July 31 – SNCASE SE.3120 AlouetteDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, {{ISBN|0-7607-0592-5}}, p. 21.

= August =

= September =

= October =

= November =

= December =

Entered service

= January =

= March =

=June=

=August=

= November =

Retirements

=October=

References

{{Reflist}}

  • Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1952–53. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd, 1952.
  • Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54. London: Jane's All The World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd., 1953.

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