1963 in aviation

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|cp=19th Century

|c=20th century

|cf=21st century

|yp1=1960

|yp2=1961

|yp3=1962

|year=1963

|ya1=1964

|ya2=1965

|ya3=1966

|dp3=1930s

|dp2=1940s

|dp1=1950s

|d=1960s

|dn1=1970s

|dn2=1980s

|dn3=1990s

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{{Portal|Aviation}}

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1963.

Events

  • Violating a 1959 requirement that all aircraft operating from the aircraft carrier Minas Gerais - which never has operated aircraft - belong to the Brazilian Air Force, the Brazilian Navy establishes an air group of its own for the carrier and smuggles aircraft purchased abroad into the country for the air group. Air force reconnaissance aircraft discover the naval carrier aircraft, causing tension between the two services.Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, {{ISBN|978-0-87021-295-6}}, p. 197.
  • The North Vietnamese Air Force and Air Defense Force merge to form a unified Air and Air Defense Force.

=January=

=February=

  • The rules of engagement for American armed helicopter crews in South Vietnam are relaxed to allow them to fire at clearly identified Viet Cong forces who are threatening American helicopters without waiting for the Viet Cong to fire first. Previously, they had been permitted to open fire on Viet Cong forces only if the Viet Cong fired first.Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55750-875-1}}, p. 13.
  • Commercial airline flights between the United States and Cuba are "temporarily" suspended.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nwahistory.org/assets/13_fall_newsletter_a.pdf |title=Dubert, Robert, "Go to Cuba! GO TO HAVANA!," Reflections, Fall 2013, p. 1. |access-date=2017-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623225040/http://www.nwahistory.org/assets/13_fall_newsletter_a.pdf |archive-date=2016-06-23 |url-status=dead }} They will not resume until August 2016.
  • February 1
  • Descending to land at Esenboğa International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Middle East Airlines Flight 265 – a Vickers 754D Viscount (registration OD-ADE) flying to Ankara from Nicosia, Cyprus – collides with a Turkish Air Force Douglas C-47 Skytrain, slicing off the C-47's left horizontal stabilizer with its No. 3 propeller. The collision tears the Viscount's right side open, and some passengers aboard the Viscount are sucked out of the aircraft. Both planes crash in a residential area of Ankara, killing all 14 people on the Viscount, all three people aboard the C-47, and 87 people on the ground.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19630201-0 Aviation Safety Network Accident Description][https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19630201-1 Safety Network Accident Description]
  • The United States Army activates the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) to test the concept of helicopter assault by ground forces.
  • February 3 – Slick Airways Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation N9740Z on a ferry flight with a limited complement of avionics due to maintenance issues, hits runway approach lights at San Francisco during and instrument approach and subsequently crashes, causing the deaths of two (out of three) flight crew and two (out of five) non-revenue passengers. The crew continued an instrument approach "after adequate visual reference was lost below authorized minimums." Inadequate safety briefings likely contributed in injuries/deaths.{{cite report | url = https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/33688 | title = Aircraft Accident Report: Slick Airways, Inc., Lockheed Constellation L-1049H, N 9740Z, San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, February 3, 1963 | date = 11 October 1963 | doi =10.21949/1500813 | publisher = Civil Aeronautics Board | author1 = Civil Aeronautics Board }}
  • February 8 – The Royal Navy conducts the world{{'}}s first experimental trials of a vertical take-off and landing fixed-wing aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier, testing the Hawker Siddeley P.1127 prototype aboard HMS Ark Royal.Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-87021-026-2}}, p. 216.
  • February 12 – Northwest Airlines Flight 705, a Boeing 720-051B, breaks up in mid-air during a severe thunderstorm and crashes into the Florida Everglades west of Miami, Florida, shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport, killing all 43 people on board.
  • February 14 – The Indian Air Force receives its first batch of Soviet fighters, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s (NATO reporting name "Fishbed").

=March=

  • The U.S. Army completes a six-month test of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter (the "Huey") in an armed escort role, evaluating the operations of the Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company{{'}}s operations escorting CH-21C Shawnee transport helicopters in South Vietnam, concluding that the value of attack helicopters in suppressing enemy fire during the landing phase of a helicopter operation justified the fielding of attack helicopter units.Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55750-875-1}}, p. 14.
  • March 5 - Country music performers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins are among four people killed in the crash of a Piper PA-24 Comanche near Camden, Tennessee."Today in History," The Washington Post Express, March 5, 2014, p. 22.
  • March 18 - The Dassault Balzac makes its first transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and back
  • March 29 – Alisarda is founded. It operates initially as an air taxi and general charter airline.

=April=

  • Air Djibouti is founded. It will begin flight operations in April 1964.
  • April 13
  • United States Marine Corps UH-34 Seahorse transport helicopters based at Da Nang, South Vietnam, airlift 435 South Vietnamese troops to attack a suspected Viet Cong stronghold in mountains along the Thu Bồn River. For the first time, Marine Corps helicopters receive attack helicopter escort in the form of United States Army UH-1B gunships.Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55750-875-1}}, p. 19.
  • Americans Don Piccard and Ed Yost become the first people to cross the English Channel in a hot-air balloon. The 3¾-hour flight from Rye, England, to Gravelines, France, reaches an altitude of {{convert|13,000|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}.Associated Press. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19630414&id=sw4qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fdUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1521,1135973 "Record Balloon Flight Made By Americans"]. Gadsden Times, April 14, 1963, p. 1. Retrieved on May 29, 2013.
  • April 22 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Colorado Anti-Discrimination Commission v. Continental Airlines that Continental Airlines unlawfully discriminated against African-American pilot Marlon Green when it rejected him for employment in 1957 and hired five less-qualified white applicants. The ruling paves the way for the hiring of ethnic minority members as commercial airline pilots in the United States. Continental eventually hires Green in 1965.
  • April 27-May 20 - U.S. Marine Corps transport helicopters are heavily involved in airlifting South Vietnamese troops during Operation Bach Phuong XI, a South Vietnamese offensive against Viet Cong forces near Do Xa, South Vietnam.Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, {{ISBN|978-1-55750-875-1}}, p. 20.
  • April 27 - The U.S. Marine Corps loses its first aircraft to enemy action in Vietnam, a UH-34D transport helicopter shot down by Viet Cong ground fire near Do Xa, South Vietnam.

=May=

  • The Israeli Air Force acquires its first 25 Dassault Mirage IIICJ fighters.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. 129.
  • May 28 – Standard Airways Flight 388C, Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation registration N189S on a military charter flight, impacted the ground short of the runway at Manhattan Municipal Airport in Manhattan, Kansas, United States when, just before landing, reverse pitch engaged on the number three engine, dipping the right wing which made contact with the ground. The aircraft was destroyed by fire but only after the six crew and 64 passengers safely evacuated. No crew and only one passenger were seriously injured. The cause was traced to "improper maintenance practices and inspection procedures."{{cite report|title=Aircraft Accident Report: Standard Airways, Inc., Lockheed Constellation, L-1049G, N 189S, Manhattan Municipal Airport, Manhattan, Kansas, May 28, 1963|publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board|date=28 April 1964 |url=https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/33691|access-date=16 September 2024}}

=June=

=July=

=August=

=September=

  • September 1 – Sued over its name for trademark violation by the West German airline Lufthansa – which had purchased the rights to the name of the defunct pre-1945 airline Deutsche Luft Hansa in August 1954 – and as a result unable to join the International Air Transport Association, the East German national airline Deutsche Lufthansa (DLH) is liquidated. Its staff, fleet, and route network are transferred to Interflug, which takes over as East Germany's national airline.
  • September 4 – Shortly after takeoff from Zurich-Kloten Airport in Kloten near Zürich, Switzerland, Swissair Flight 306, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III, catches fire, leading to hydraulic failure and a loss of control. The plane crashes near Dürrenäsch, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board. Among the dead are 43 people – one-fifth of the population – of the village of Humlikon, Switzerland, traveling together to visit a farm test site at Geneva.
  • September 14 – The Tokyo Convention – officially the "Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft" – is concluded in Tokyo, Japan. It establishes that at least one state, specifically the one in which the aircraft is registered, will take jurisdiction over the suspect in the event of an in-flight criminal offense that jeopardizes the safety of an aircraft or people on an aircraft during international air navigation or an intention to commit such an offense, and it provides for situations in which other states may also have jurisdiction. It also recognizes certain powers and immunities of the pilot in command, who on international flights may restrain any person or persons he or she has reasonable cause to believe is committing or is about to commit an offense liable to interfere with the safety of persons or property on board the aircraft or who is jeopardizing good order and discipline aboard the aircraft, the first time this has been recognized in international aviation law. The convention will go into force on December 4, 1969.

=October=

  • In an exercise named [https://www.army.mil/article/28749/Operation_BIG_LIFT Operation Big Lift], the United States Air Force airlifts an entire armored division of 15,000 troops to Europe within five days.
  • October 1 – The French airlines Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI) and Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT) merge to form the new airline Union de Transports Aériens (UTA).
  • October 2 – Second British Short SC.1 VTOL research aircraft, XG905, flying from Belfast Harbour Airport, crashes due to a control malfunction, killing the test pilot, J. R. Green.{{cite web|url=http://www.testflyingmemorial.com/1946-70.htm |title=Test Flying Memorial site of British test pilots and engineers who died while test-flying (1946-1970 page) |publisher=Testflyingmemorial.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618144718/http://www.testflyingmemorial.com/1946-70.htm |archive-date=2009-06-18 }}
  • October 16 – In Operation Greased Lightning, an unmodified B-58 Hustler bomber of the U.S. Air Force's 305th Bombardment Wing named Greased Lightning sets a new speed record by flying nonstop from Tokyo to London nonstop, passing over via Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and covering the {{convert|14,850|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}}; 8,028-nautical mile) distance in 8 hours, 35 minutes, 20.4 seconds, at an average speed of {{convert|938|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, despite having to slow five times for aerial refueling. The B-58 flies at Mach 2 for most of the flight – maintaining an average cruise speed over a five-hour period of {{convert|2,276|km/h|mph knot|abbr=on}} at an altitude of {{convert|16,160|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} – throttling back to subsonic speeds only for the last hour after losing an afterburner; the reduction in speed in the flight's late stages results in an average speed for the entire trip of about Mach 1.5. In addition to the Tokyo-London speed record, the flight also sets speed records for the leg from Tokyo to Anchorage, Alaska, which the B-58 covers in 3 hours, 9 minutes, 42 seconds at an average speed of {{convert|1,093.4|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, and for the leg from Anchorage to London, which it covers in 5 hours, 24 minutes, 54 seconds at an average speed of {{convert|826.9|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. {{as of|2017}}, the Tokyo-Anchorage leg of the flight remains the longest supersonic flight in history.{{Cite web|url=http://www.456fis.org/B-58_RECORDS.htm |title=The B-58′s Record Flights |access-date=2017-04-04 |archive-date=2015-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102153742/http://www.456fis.org/B-58_RECORDS.htm |url-status=usurped}}QUALA MATOCHA. "[http://www.leader-news.com/lifestyle/article_2b0b6a66-3b56-11e3-865a-001a4bcf887a.html Former Hillje man holds longest supersonic flight record after 50 years]" El Campo Leader News, October 23, 2013. Accessed: December 15, 2013.Wayne Thomis, Aviation editor, Chicago Tribune. November 24, 1963.Haynes, Leland R. [http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/b58.htm "B-58 Hustler records & 15,000 miles non-stop in the SR-71."] wvi.com (SR-71 Blackbirds), 1996. Retrieved: 12 December 2014.[https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/b-58a-20-cf/ This Day in Aviation: 16 October 1963] The flight is the last record-setting attempt by a B-58, which has set 19 recognized speed and altitude world records, the most in history by any combat aircraft.
  • October 22 – During its flight development program, the BAC One-Eleven airliner prototype, G-ASHG, crashes, killing the entire crew of seven, including test pilot M. J. Lithgow. The investigation of the accident reveals that it resulted from a deep stall caused by the aircraft assuming an unexpected and dangerously high angle of attack, and remedial measures will be of great use worldwide in designing aircraft that have a T-tail and rear-mounted engine configuration.Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-7607-0592-6}}, p. 91.
  • October 28 – Belfast Aldergrove opens as the principal airport for Northern Ireland, civilian facilities transferring from Nutts Corner.

=November=

=December=

First flights

=January=

=February=

=March=

=April=

=May=

=June=

=July=

=August=

  • August 1 – PZL-104 Wilga (Wilga 2 prototype)
  • August 7 – Lockheed YF-12Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 289.
  • August 20 – BAC One-Eleven prototype G-ASHG

=September=

=October=

=December=

Entered service

=February=

=August=

=September=

  • Antonov An-24 ("Coke") with Aeroflot (passenger service)Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-7607-0592-6}}, p. 56.

=November=

Retirements

  • SUMPAC (Southampton University Man-Powered Aircraft)

Deadliest crash

The deadliest crash of this year was Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 831, a Douglas DC-8 which crashed shortly after taking off from Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 29 November, killing all 118 people on board.

References

{{Reflist}}

  • {{cite book |last=Gordon |first=Yefim |title=Yakovlev Yak-36, Yak-38 & Yak-41: The Soviet 'Jump Jets' |series=Red Star |volume=36 |year=2008 |location=Hinkley, UK |publisher=Midland Publishing |isbn=978-1-85780-287-0}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Yefim |last2=Komissarov |first2=Dmitry |last3=Komissarov |first3=Sergey |title=OKB Ilyushin: A history of the design bureau and its aircraft |year=2004 |location=Hinkley, UK |publisher=Midland Publishing |isbn=1-85780-187-3}}
  • {{cite book|editor-last=Taylor|editor-first=John W. R. |editor-link=John W. R. Taylor |title=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1963–64 |year=1963 |publisher=The McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc. |location=New York}}
  • {{cite book|editor-last=Taylor|editor-first=John W. R.|title=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1964–65 |year=1964 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd. |location=London }}

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