2012 in aviation

none June 2020 in aviation 20th century 21st century 22nd century 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 1980s 1990s 2000s (decade)2000s 2010–20192010s 2020s 2030s 2040s Aviation This is a list of aviation-related events in 2012. January 7 January A hot air balloon on a scenic flight disintegrates and crashes just north of Carterton, New Zealand, killing all 11 people on board. It is the second-deadliest balloon accident in history, the deadliest aviation accident in mainland New Zealand since July 1963, and the deadliest accident involving a New Zealand aircraft since November 1979. 9 January The European Union declares the financial aid Malév Hungarian Airlines receives from the Government of Hungary to be illegal. The European Commission soon orders the airline to pay back all of the subsidies it received from the Hungarian government between 2007 and 2010, a total of 38 billion forints (€130 million; $171 million), an amount equal to its entire 2010 revenue. 14 January After the completion of a seven-year restoration project, the only flyable"Chinos Connie Flies Home," Aviation History, May 2012, p. 12.March 2012 Lockheed Super Constellation at the time, a retired 57-year-old ex-United States Air Force EC-121 Warning Star airborne early warning radar surveillance aircraft, makes a 90-minute flight from Camarillo, California, to Chino, California, to go on display at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino. 20 January Cirrus Airlines ceases flight operations. 27 January Spanair ceases operations. February 3 February After creditors seize two of its airliners at foreign airports and with total debts of 60 billion forints (US$270.5 million), Malév Hungarian Airlines ceases flight operations after 66 years in business. 4 February Australian filmmaker Andrew Wight is at the controls of his private Robinson R44 helicopter with American filmmaker Mike deGruy as a passenger for a flight to scout filming locations when the helicopter crashes on takeoff and burns at Jaspers Brush near Berry in New South Wales, Australia. Both men are killed.https://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/top-filmmakers-die-in-chopper-crash/news-story/012f218004c17e333237fb22051c2006 Top filmmakers die in chopper crash 5 February 2012 news.com.au 25 April 2018 5 February MatlinPatterson, the private equity firm in control of World Airways and North American Airlines, takes its Global Aviation Holdings subsidiary carriers into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization less than four years after shuttering fellow subsidiary carriers ATA Airlines and Arrow Air. 7 February AirQuarius Aviation ceases operations. 12 February A Katanga Express Gulfstream IV crashes while landing at Kavumu Airport at Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing four of the seven people on board and two people on the ground and prompting the Congolese government to suspend Katanga Expresss license. 14 February The Metropolitan Court of Budapest in Hungary declares MALÉV Ltd., the parent company of Malév Hungarian Airlines, insolvent. The airline's assets will be liquidated. March AirAsia Philippines begins flight operations, using a fleet of two new Airbus A320-200 aircraft. All air traffic in Bucharest, Romania, except for business air traffic is transferred from Bucharest's low-cost hub, Aurel Vlaicu International Airport, to Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport. 2 March The last departure of an official Continental Airlines flight takes place at 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time as Continental Flight 1267 departs Phoenix, Arizona, bound for Cleveland, Ohio. On 3 March, Continental Airlines disappears into United Airlines, completing the two airlines 2010 merger.http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/continental_and_united_merger.html Todd, Susan Continental and United Finally Linked, Without a Hitch Nj.com 3 March 2012 The Star-Ledger 2 December 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20120305210108/http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/continental_and_united_merger.html 5 March 2012 United absorbs much of Continental this weekend https://finance.yahoo.com/news/united-absorbs-much-continental-weekend-010030829.html finance.yahoo.com 2 March 2012 3 November 2018 Continental had operated since 1934. 3 March The Continental Connection and Continental Express airline brands disappear as all Continental Connection and Continental Express operations become a part of United Express. 6 March Turkish Airlines begins twice-a-week service from Istanbul, Turkey, via Khartoum, Sudan, to Mogadishu, Somalia, becoming the first major airline from outside East Africa to offer passenger service to Mogadishu in over 20 years. Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Bekir Bozdağ is aboard the first flight.http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2012-03-07/Turkish-Airlines-launches-landmark-Mogadishu-flight/53396002/1 Guled, Abdi Turkish Airlines Launches Landmark Mogadishu Flight Associated Press Travel.usatoday.com 7 March 2012 2 December 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20120626043052/http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2012-03-07/Turkish-Airlines-launches-landmark-Mogadishu-flight/53396002/1 26 June 2012 "Somalia: Turkish Airlines Begins Flights to Mogadishu", BBC News, 6 March 2012, 6:55 a.m. EST https://web.archive.org/web/20120308021708/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17269620 8 March 2012 . 15 March A Royal Norwegian Air Force C-130J Super Hercules crashes into Mount Kebnekaise, killing all five people on board and triggering an avalanche. 21 March The Government of Ukraine establishes the National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation of Ukraine. 27 March Aboard JetBlue Airways Flight 191, an Airbus A320-200 flying from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, New York, to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, the copilot locks Captain Clayton Osbon out of the cockpit after Osbon begins acting erratically, apparently suffering from a panic attack. Staff and passengers subdue Osbon. An off-duty Jet Blue pilot helps the co pilot make a diversion to Amarillo, Texas, where Osbon is arrested. April 2 April UTair Flight 120, a twin-engine UTair Aviation ATR-72-201, crashes in western Siberia near the city of Tyumen shortly after takeoff from Roschino International Airport, killing 31 of the 43 people on board and critically injuring all 12 survivors.http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8445264/plane-crashes-in-siberia-with-43-on-board Plane crashes in Siberia with 43 on board AFP via Nine-MSN News.ninemsn.com.au 28 November 2012 2 December 2012 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120403052103/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8445264/plane-crashes-in-siberia-with-43-on-board 3 April 2012https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17580917 Russian plane crash kills 31 in Siberia BBC 2 April 2012 2 December 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20130107224010/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17580917 7 January 2013 Heritage Timothy https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-crash-idUSBRE83102N20120402?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews Russian plane crash kills 31, exposes safety record Reuters 2 April 2012 2 December 2012 17 April A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, accompanied by a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) T-38 Talon chase plane, carries the retired Space Shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, where Discovery is slated to replace the Space Shuttle Enterprise on display at the Smithsonian Institutions nearby Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a part of the National Air and Space Museum. The delivery flight includes low-level passes over the Cape Canaveral area as well as flybys at an altitude of 1500 ft m off us over Washington, D.C.-area landmarks.Vastag, Bryan (18 April 2012.) "Space Shuttle Discovery Makes Final Flight Over Washington, D.C., https://web.archive.org/web/20120419055930/http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/space-shuttle-discovery-makes-final-flight-over-washington-dc/2012/04/18/gIQAMtqcQT_story.html 19 April 2012". The Washington PostZott, Courtney (18 April 2012) "https://archive.today/20120906033441/http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2012/04/discovery-shuttle-thrills-dc-long-goodbye/498946 Discovery Shuttle Thrills D.C. With Long Goodbye. The Washington Examiner, p. 12 19 April Slovenian pilot Matevž Lenarčič returns to Slovenia, completing a 62,000-mile (99,839-km) round-the-world flight in a Pipistrel Virus SW914 ultralight aircraft, claiming to be the first person to circle the world in an ultralight without a copilot. The flight, sponsored as the "GreenLight World Flight," had begun from Slovenia on 8 January 2012 and had included passing Mount Everest at an altitude of 29344 ft m off us, some 300 ft m off us above the mountains peak.Associated Press, "Lofty Achievement," Washington Post Express, 20 April 2012, p. 8.Moore Jim Flying the Pacific on 93 gallons of fuel Pilot to circumnavigate world in Pipistrel motor glider http://www.aopa.org/flightplanning/articles/2012/120222flying-the-pacific-on-93-gallons-of-fuel.html?WT.adv=adv1 22 February 2012 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association 23 February 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20130405163847/http://www.aopa.org/flightplanning/articles/2012/120222flying-the-pacific-on-93-gallons-of-fuel.html?WT.adv=adv1 5 April 2013 http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/PipistrelLSAFliesAboveMtEverest_206438-1.html Pipistrel LSA Flies Above Mt. Everest 31 March 2012 Grady Mary 30 March 2012 AVweb live https://web.archive.org/web/20120401205006/http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/PipistrelLSAFliesAboveMtEverest_206438-1.html 1 April 2012 20 April Bhoja Air Flight 213, a Boeing 737-236, crashes in bad weather on approach to Benazir Bhutto International Airport at Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 127 people on board. Over La Guajira, Colombia, Colombian skydiver Jhonathan Florez sets four world skydiving records in single jump, setting the records for longest wingsuit flight in terms of duration at 9 minutes 6 seconds, highest-altitude wingsuit jump at 37,265 ft m off us, greatest horizontal distance flown in a wingsuit at 16.315 statute miles (26.272 km), and greatest absolute distance traveled while in freefall at 17.52 statute miles (28.21 km).http://parachutistonline.com/feature/pushing-boundaries Reina, Luis Hernán, "Pushing the Boundaries," parachutistonline.com, 9 July 2012. parachutistonline.com 25 April 2018 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160810185827/http://parachutistonline.com/feature/pushing-boundaries 10 August 2016http://www.outdoorjournal.in/news-2/base-jumping-accident-in-switzerland-claims-wingsuiter-jhonathan-florez/ Jhonathan Florez dies in a BASE-jumping accident in Switzerland Supriya Vohra 10 July 2015 outdoorjournal.in 25 April 2018 live https://web.archive.org/web/20160529034842/http://www.outdoorjournal.in/news-2/base-jumping-accident-in-switzerland-claims-wingsuiter-jhonathan-florez/ 29 May 2016 24 April The United States Air Force inactivates the Seventeenth Air Force. 27 April A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, accompanied by a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) T-38 Talon chase plane, carries the Space Shuttle Enterprise from Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, making low-level flybys of New York City-area and Long Island landmarks. Enterprise, replaced by the Space Shuttle Discovery at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, is to be placed on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.Samenow Jason NASA Enterprise cruises from Dulles Airport to New York City (PHOTOS) https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/nasa-enterprise-cruises-from-dulles-airport-to-new-york-city-photos/2012/04/27/gIQAOEXVlT_blog.html 2 December 2012 Washington Post 27 April 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20121108160707/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/nasa-enterprise-cruises-from-dulles-airport-to-new-york-city-photos/2012/04/27/gIQAOEXVlT_blog.html 8 November 2012 A team of scientists and engineers stages an experimental crash of the Boeing 727-200 XB-MNP in a desert near Mexicali, Mexico. The crash is filmed for a television documentary. It is only the second such experiment in history, the only previous one having been the 1984 Controlled Impact Demonstration. May 9 May A Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner crashes on Mount Salak on Java in Indonesia during a demonstration flight for airline representatives and journalists, killing all 45 people on board. Its wreckage is discovered on 10 May. 10 May The womens international record-holder for number of flight hours logged as a pilot in a lifetime, Evelyn Bryan Johnson, dies at the age of 102. Between her first solo flight on 8 November 1944 and her retirement from flying in the mid-1990s, she had logged 57,635 hours (about 6 1 2 years) in the air, flying about 5500000 mi km. Only one person, Ed Long (1915–1999), had logged more hours (over 65,000, or about 7 years) in the air during a lifetime.Lamger, Emily, "Obituary: Evelyn Bryan Johnson, 102; Mama Bird, a Prolific Pilot, Flew More Hours Than Any Other Woman," The Washington Post, 14 May 2012, p. B4. 14 May After aborting its landing at Jomsom Airport at Jomsom, Nepal, a Dornier 228 AG-CHT crashes when its wing strikes a hillside while attempting a go-around, killing 15 of the 21 people on board and injuring all six survivors. Indian child actress Taruni Sachdev is among the dead. 23 May Using a wingsuit in a jump over Ridge Wood, Buckinghamshire, England, British stuntman Gary Connery becomes the first person in history to jump from a great height and land safely without deploying a parachute. Jumping from an altitude of 2,400 ft m off us, he reduces his speed from 50 to 15 mph km/h by flaring his wingsuit about 200 ft m off us from his landing zone: a 350 by 45 ft m off us on crushable "runway" up to 12 ft m off us deep constructed with 18,600 cardboard boxes at Temple Island Meadows. His wingsuit begins to fly about three seconds after he begins his jump, and he travels nearly 1 mi km in and reaches a maximum speed of over 80 mph km/h during his flight.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9285258/Gary-Connery-stuntman-completes-2400ft-skydive-without-a-parachute.html Gary Connery: stuntman completes 2400ft skydive without a parachute Andrew Hough 23 May 2012 25 April 2018 The Telegraph live https://web.archive.org/web/20180422160356/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9285258/Gary-Connery-stuntman-completes-2400ft-skydive-without-a-parachute.html 22 April 2018 25 May The first Solar Impulse aircraft, HB-SIA, the first solar-powered aircraft capable of both day and night flight thanks to its batteries charged by solar power, completes the first leg of its first intercontinental flight, arriving at Madrid, Spain, after a flight from Payerne Airport outside Payerne, Switzerland. During the flight, it sets a world distance record for a solar-powered flight between pre-declared waypoints of 1099.3 km mi on and a world distance record for a solar-powered flight along a course of 1116 km mi on. The second and final leg of the flight will take HB-SIA to Rabat, Morocco, the following month.Solar Impulse: What Happened in 2012? https://web.archive.org/web/20130315003545/http://www.solarimpulse.com/en/tag/History#6645 15 March 2013Solar Impulse: Solar Impulse's HB-SIA Obtains Two New World Records https://web.archive.org/web/20130315003539/http://www.solarimpulse.com/timeline/view/6636/en 15 March 2013 26 May Japanese wingsuit pilot Shin Ito achieves two new world wingsuit flight records, greatest horizontal distance flown in a wingsuit by flying 26.9 km mi off ushttp://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/1000/greatest-distance-flown-in-a-wing-suit/ Greatest horizontal distance flown in a wing suit Guinness World Records 10 August 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20131113113824/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/1000/greatest-distance-flown-in-a-wing-suit/ 13 November 2013 and greatest absolute distance flown in a wingsuit by flying 28.707 km mi off us. Both flights take place above Yolo County, California.http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/2000/greatest-absolute-distance-flown-in-a-wingsuit/ Greatest absolute distance flown in a wing suit Guinness World Records 10 August 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20131113113938/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/2000/greatest-absolute-distance-flown-in-a-wingsuit/ 13 November 2013 June 2 June Allied Air Flight 111, a Boeing 727 cargo plane, overruns the runway on landing at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana, and strikes a crowded minibus and a bicyclist on a nearby road. All four people on the plane survive, but the bicyclist and all 11 people on the minibus die. 3 June On approach to a landing at Lagos, Nigeria, the crew of Dana Air Flight 992, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, reports engine trouble and declares an emergency. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft crashes into a furniture works and printing press building in the Iju-Ishaga neighborhood of Lagos, killing all 153 people aboard and ten people on the ground. Additional people on the ground are injured. It is the second-deadliest plane crash in Nigerian history and the deadliest ever involving an MD-83. 5 June The first Solar Impulse aircraft, HB-SIA, the first solar-powered aircraft capable of both day and night flight thanks to its batteries charged by solar power, completes its first intercontinental flight, arriving at Rabat, Morocco, after a 19-hour flight across the Strait of Gibraltar from Madrid, Spain. The flight is the second and final leg of its intercontinental trip, which had begun on 25 May with a flight from its home base at Payerne Airport outside Payerne, Switzerland, to Madrid.https://www.reuters.com/article/aviation-solar-idUSL5E8H5A4U20120605 Solar plane completes maiden intercontinental trip Zakia Abdennebi 5 June 2012 Reuters 25 April 2018 live https://web.archive.org/web/20150924164331/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/aviation-solar-idUSL5E8H5A4U20120605 24 September 2015 10 June A Kenya Police Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil crashes on a hill in the Kibiku area of the Ngong Forest just outside Nairobi, Kenya, killing all six people on board. Among the fatalities are Kenyas Minister of Interior Security and likely presidential candidate George Saitoti and Assistant Minister of Interior Security Joshua Orwa Ojode. 21 June An Indonesian Air Force Fokker 27 on a training flight crashes into a housing complex while on approach to a landing at Jakarta, Indonesia. Six of the seven people on the plane die immediately, and the seventh dies later of his injuries. On the ground, four people die and 11 are injured. 28 June The U.S. military announces that wreckage revealed by a retreating glacier in Alaska and discovered during June 2012 is that of a U.S. Air Force C-124A Globemaster II which crashed into Mount Gannett on 22 November 1952, killing all 52 people on board. Originally identified on 28 November 1952, the wreckage had become buried in ice and snow and had been lost for nearly 60 years.Nelson, Laura J., "After 60 years, Alaska glacier gives up wreckage from 1952 crash," Los Angeles Times, June 28, 2012ktuu.com "Knik Glacier Wreckage Is From Military Crash That Killed 52" 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 24 June 2013 adn.com "60-year-old military plane crash debris recovered from Colony Glacier", Anchorage Daily News, July 12, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121123014030/http://www.adn.com/2012/07/12/2540301/60-year-old-military-plane-crash.html 23 November 2012 29 June Six Uyghur men armed with aluminum crutches and explosives attempt to hijack Tianjin Airlines Flight 7554, an Embraer ERJ-190 on a flight from Hotan to Ürümqi, China, with 95 other people aboard. The crew and other passengers resist them and foil the hijacking attempt. Two hijackers are killed and 13 people (two hijackers, two security officers, two flight attendants, and seven passengers) are injured, and the plane returns safely to Hotan. July 1 July Lauda Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Austrian Airlines since December 2000, officially merges into Austrian Airlines, with all Lauda Air aircraft transferred to Austrian Airlines on the same date. However, Austrian Airlines will continue to operate some of its flights under the "Lauda Air" brand until 31 March 2013. 4 July Two Swedish advertising agency employees, Thomas Mazetti and Hannah Frey, take off from Pociūnai Airport in Lithuania, make an illegal 90-minute flight into Belarus at an altitude of 50 m ft off in a Jodel biplane, and drop 879 parachute-equipped teddy bears adorned with human rights and freedom-of-speech slogans into the southern suburbs of Minsk."Teddy bear air invasion leads to ouster of 2 top generals in authoritarian Belarus" Associated Press, 1 August 2012. 5 July Facing mounting financial difficulties and with its employees having gone on strike two days earlier, the Uruguayan airline PLUNA ceases operations. Its owner, the Government of Uruguay, announces plans to auction off PLUNA's aircraft and routes. 13 July The United States Air Force inactivates the Nineteenth Air Force. It will remain inactive until October 2014. 26 July Indonesia AirAsia announces a plan to buy out Batavia Air by 2013 in a two-stage process. The deal will be cancelled in October. August 1 August The first incarnation of AirAsia Japan, a joint venture of Malaysian airline AirAsia and Japanese airline All Nippon Airways makes its first flight, flying between Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Fukuoka. This version of AirAsia Japan will operate until October 2013. 12 August The airline Wind Jet ceases operations after Alitalias attempt to purchase it fails, leaving hundred of passengers stranded in Italy.Chaos as Italian budget airline Wind Jet halts flights BBC News 12 August 2012 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-19234661 3 November 2018 18 August Suffering engine trouble, an Aviatour Air Piper PA-34-200 Seneca I crashes in the sea off Masbate in the Philippines, killing three of the four people on board and injuring the lone survivor. Among the dead is Philippine Secretary of the Interior Jesse Robredo, whose body will be recovered from the sea on 21 August.Anonymous, "Philippine Minister's Body Found," The Washington Post, 22 August 2012, p. A8. 19 August An Alfa Airlines Antonov An-26-100 carrying a Sudanese government delegation to an Eid al-Fitr festival crashes in the mountains around Talodi in the state of South Kordofan in southern Sudan, killing all 32 people on board. Among the dead are Sudans Minister of Religious Affairs Ghazi al-Sadiq, Minister for Youth and Sports Mahjoub Abdel Raheem Toutou, and Minister for Tourism, Antiquities, and Wildlife Eissa Daifallah, several members of the Sudanese Armed Forces and state security service, and a state media television crew.Reuters, "Officials Among 32 Killed in Plane Crash," The Washington Post, 20 August 2012, p. A8. 23 August Caught in a sudden thunderstorm, a hot-air balloon carrying tourists on a sightseeing trip attempts an emergency landing in Slovenias Ljubljana Marsh, but strikes trees, crashes, and catches fire. Four of the 32 people on board are killed and the remainder are injured. 25 August Neil Armstrong – American astronaut, aerospace engineer, test pilot, and university professor, U.S. Navy pilot, and the first person to walk on the Moon – dies in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the age of 82. 26 August After a final flight from Denver, Colorado, to Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii, 83-year-old Ron Akana retires as the longest-serving flight attendant in history. His career, all with United Airlines, had spanned 63 years since he joined the airline in 1949, interrupted only by two years of military service from 1951 to 1953. He had flown about 200 million miles (322,000,000 km) and made about 10,000 trips over the Pacific Ocean.Morning Edition https://www.npr.org/2012/08/27/160098633/83-year-old-flight-attendant-retires United Flight Attendant, 83, Ends 63-Year Career Npr.org 27 August 2012 2 December 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20130201053845/http://www.npr.org/2012/08/27/160098633/83-year-old-flight-attendant-retires 1 February 2013 28 August The University of Marylands Gamera II sets a flight endurance record for a human-powered helicopter, remaining aloft for 65.1 seconds. During a flight later in the day, it sets an unofficial altitude record as well, reaching an altitude of 2.4 m ft off us.https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/air-human-powered-helicopter-212542729.html Up in the air with a human-powered helicopter yahoo.com 31 August 2012 25 April 2018 live https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200131/http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/air-human-powered-helicopter-212542729.html 3 March 2016 September 11 September The Malaysian low-cost airline Malindo Air is founded. It will begin flight operations in March 2013. 12 September Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251, an Antonov An-28, crashes while attempting to land at Palana Airport outside Palana, Russia, killing 10 of the 14 people on board and seriously injuring all four survivors. 21 September A Space Shuttle is airborne for the last time as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft completes a three-day journey to transport the retired Space Shuttle Endeavour from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Los Angeles, California. After two days of delays due to bad weather, the aircraft had departed Cape Canaveral on 19 September and made low passes over Floridas Space Coast and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) centers in Mississippi and Louisiana before spending the night at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas; proceeded on 20 September to El Paso, Texas, for a refueling stop before flying over the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico and over Tucson, Arizona, in tribute to retired Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, ending the day with an overnight stop at Edwards Air Force Base in California; and on 21 September had completed the final leg of the journey by making low-level passes over Sacramento, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles, California, before landing at Los Angeles International Airport.The Associated Press http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/spaceship-space-shuttle-endeavour-salutes-gabby-giffords-astronaut-husband-mark-kelly-arizona-fly-by-article-1.1164552?localLinksEnabled=false Anonymous, "'That's my spaceship': Space shuttle Endeavour salutes Gabby Giffords and astronaut husband Mark Kelly in Arizona fly-by Associated Press Nydailynews.com 21 September 2012 2 December 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20120924035423/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/spaceship-space-shuttle-endeavour-salutes-gabby-giffords-astronaut-husband-mark-kelly-arizona-fly-by-article-1.1164552?localLinksEnabled=false 24 September 2012 28 September Sita Air Flight 601, a Dornier 228 carrying British, Chinese, and Nepalese trekkers to the Mount Everest region, strikes a bird shortly after takeoff from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, crashes on the bank of the Manohara River at Madhyapur Thimi 500 m yd off short of the runway while attempting to return to the airport, and burns. All 19 people on board die. It is the seventh fatal air crash in Nepal since August 2010.Pradhan Prateek https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/world/asia/plane-going-to-mount-everest-region-crashes-killing-19.html?_r=0 Plane Going to Mount Everest Region Crashes, Killing 19 Kathmandu (Nepal);Mount Everest The New York Times(Nytimes.com) 28 September 2012 2 December 2012https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/everest-plane-crash_n_1922441.html Gurubacharya, Binaj Everest Plane Crash Kills 19 Trekkers (Huffington Post)Huffingtonpost.com 28 September 2012 2 December 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20121001071513/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/everest-plane-crash_n_1922441.html 1 October 2012 October 7 October FlyMontserrat Flight 107, the Britten-Norman Islander VP-NOM, crashes shortly after takeoff from V. C. Bird International Airport on Antigua, killing three of the four people on board and injuring the lone survivor. It is the deadliest air accident in the history of Antigua and Barbuda. 11 October Indonesia AirAsia announces the cancellation of its plan to buy out Batavia Air. 14 October In the Red Bull Stratos project, Austrian Felix Baumgartner balloon altitude record, ascending to 38,969 meters (127,851 feet) near Roswell, New Mexico. He then sets a new height record for a parachute jump, diving from a capsule suspended beneath the balloon at an altitude of 128,097 feet (39,044 meters; 24.26 miles; 39.04 km). The 9-minute descent includes a 4-minute-20-second free fall of 119,846 feet (36,530 meters; 22.7 miles; 36.5 km), during which he reaches Mach 1.24 (833.9 mph; 1,342.8 km/h), becoming the first person to exceed the speed of sound without travelling in a jet aircraft or spacecraft. He lands standing up. He breaks the skydiving altitude record set on 16 August 1960 by U.S. Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, who serves as Baumgartners capsule communicator during the jump.Llorca, Juan Carlos, Associated Press, "The Fall Heard 'Round the World," The Washington Post Express, 15 October 2012, p. 11.Kolawole, Emi, "A Daredevil's Fall From Space," The Washington Post, 15 October 2012, p. A3. 15 October Towed through the streets of Los Angeles, California, the retired Space Shuttle Endeavour completes a 12 mi km on journey from Los Angeles International Airport to the California Science Center for museum display. Endeavour had left the airport on 12 October, and numerous logistical problems along the route cause it to arrive at the science center 17 hours late.Space Shuttle Endeavour Arrives at Its New L.A. Museum Home https://www.space.com/18059-space-shuttle-endeavour-museum-arrival.html space.com 14 October 2012 3 November 2018 20 October India's Kingfisher Airlines suspends flight operations due to financial difficulties. November 2 November The Space Shuttle Atlantis is towed from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, to an exhibition hall at Cape Canaverals main tourist stop to be put on display. The 10-mile (16-km) journey takes 12 hours. It is the final act of the Space Shuttle Program.Space Shuttle Atlantis Move NASA 19 March 2015 https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/transition/gallery/atlantis-move-20121102-6.html NASA 3 November 2018 26 November The U.S. Navy begins testing of the Northrop Grumman X-47B unmanned combat aerial vehicle aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman CVN-75. By the time the testing period ends on 18 December, the X-47B will have made a number of successful test launches and recoveries.Anonymous, "X-47B Drone Meets the Fleet," Aviation History, March 2013, p. 10. 30 November An Aéro-Service (initially mistakenly attributed to Trans Air Congo) Ilyushin Il-76T (registration number EK-76300) on a domestic cargo flight in the Republic of the Congo from Pointe Noire to Brazzaville crashes short of Runway 5L in a residential area while attempting to land in bad weather at Maya-Maya Airport in Brazzaville.http://avherald.com/h?article=459df3ac&opt=0 Crash: Aero Services IL76 at Brazzaville on November 30th 2012, impacted buildings short of runway 2 December 2012 3 December 2012 Simon Hradecky Aviation Herald All six crew members – five of whom are from Armenia – and one police officer on board the aircraft and 26 people on the ground are killed, and 14 people on the ground are injured.Cargo plane crashes into houses in Congo-Brazzaville, killing 32 BNO News 1 December 2012 http://www.bnowire.com/?p=1031 https://archive.today/20130110190409/http://www.bnowire.com/?p=1031 dead 10 January 2013 2 December 2012 December 9 December Ten minutes after takeoff, during a domestic flight in Mexico from Monterrey to Toluca, Learjet 25 N345MC, carrying Mexican-American singer and reality television star Jenni Rivera and six other people, loses contact with air traffic controllers, enters a rapid descent from 35000 to 9000 ft m, and crashes in a remote, mountainous area in Nuevo León near Iturbide, killing everyone on board.http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/12/10/jenni-rivera-plane-or-pilot-to-blame-for-crash/ Jenni Rivera: Plane or Pilot to Blame for Crash? 10 December 2012 foxnews.com 25 April 2018 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061617/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/12/10/jenni-rivera-plane-or-pilot-to-blame-for-crash/ 4 March 2016 21 December The Republic of South Sudans Sudan People's Liberation Army shoots down a United Nations helicopter on a reconnaissance flight as Nizhnevartovskavia Flight 544 over Jonglei in South Sudan, killing its entire four-man Russian crew. South Sudan at first denies shooting the helicopter down, then expresses regret for the incident, saying its forces had shot the helicopter down after mistaking it for a plane from Sudan flying supplies in to rebels in Jonglei.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20824750 Russia angered over UN helicopter BBC News 22 December 2012 25 April 2018 BBC live https://web.archive.org/web/20160724104848/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20824750 24 July 2016Reuters, "South Sudan: Army Shoots Down U.N. Helicopter," The New York Times, 22 December 2012, p. A10. https://web.archive.org/web/20130101182313/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/world/africa/south-sudans-army-shoots-down-un-helicopter.html?_r=0 1 January 2013 25 December The crew of an Air Bagan Fokker 100 with 71 people on board for a domestic flight in Burma from Rangoon to Heho via Mandalay mistakes a road for the runway while descending to land at Heho in heavy fog, hits power lines, and crash-lands either on the road or in a nearby rice paddy and burns, killing a tour guide and injuring eleven other people aboard the plane. A man on the ground riding a bicycle also is killed.Associated Press, "Burma Plane Crash Survivors Describe 'Rollercoaster' Landing," The Guardian, 26 December 2012, 09:07 EST https://web.archive.org/web/20160928010027/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/26/burma-plane-crash-survivors 28 September 2016 An Antonov An-72 military transport aircraft belonging to the military forces of Kazakhstan carrying a crew of seven and 20 members of the Kazakhstan Border Guard Service crashes in bad weather about 20 km mi on from Shymkent while descending to a landing there after a domestic flight from Astana, killing everyone on board. The acting Director of the Kazakhstan Border Guard Service, Colonel Turganbeck Stambekov, is among the dead, along with one of his deputies and a number of regional Border Guard commanders.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20842116 Kazakhstan plane crash kills 27 BBC News 26 December 2012 25 April 2018 BBC live https://web.archive.org/web/20170120134034/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20842116 20 January 2017Associated Press, "Kazakh Jet Crash Kills 27 Aboard," The Wall Street Journal, 25 December 2012, 8:41 p.m. EST 29 December Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268, Tupolev Tu-204-100B RA-64047, arriving from Pardubice Airport at Pardubice in the Czech Republic at the end of a repositioning flight with a crew of eight and no passengers on board, overruns the runway on landing at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, crosses partly onto a highway, crashes into a ditch, breaks into three pieces, and catches fire, killing five crew members and critically injuring all three survivors.Anonymous, "4 Killed in Moscow Plane Crash," The Washington Post, 30 December 2012, Page A14.Associated Press, "Four Dead in Moscow as Plane Rolls Off Runway," The Washington Examiner, 30 December 2012, Page 13. Aerosvit Airlines files for bankruptcy. It will cease operations in April 2013. First flights March 9 March – Cessna Citation M2Citation M2 Flown Air International April 2012 82 4 4 0306-5634 April 3 April – Diamond DA52Jerram Mike New Diamond Twin Flying Air International May 2012 82 5 36 0306-5634 May 10 May – AgustaWestland AW169 I-EASFNew Generation AW169 helicopter completes its maiden flight http://www.agustawestland.com/news/new-generation-aw169-helicopter-completes-its-maiden-flight AgustaWestland 11 May 2012 13 May 2012 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120515083224/http://www.agustawestland.com/news/new-generation-aw169-helicopter-completes-its-maiden-flight 15 May 2012 June 1 June – Boeing Phantom EyePhantom Eye in the Sky Air International July 2012 83 1 10 0306-5634 July e-volo VC2Mauro, Stephen, "e-volo Takes Lindbergh Prize," Aviation History, November 2012, p. 10.September 2012 September 21 September – Sukhoi Su-30SM October 31 October – Shenyang J-31Shenyang Stealth Fighter Takes to the Air Air International December 2012 83 6 4 0306-5634 November 27 November – Embraer Legacy 500 PT-ZEXJerram Mike Embraer Legacy 500 Flies Air International January 2013 84 1 17 0306-5634 December 1 December – Dassault nEUROnBroadbent Mark NEUROn Become's Europe's First Stealth Aircraft to Fly Air International January 2013 84 1 4 0306-5634 Entered service 1 June – Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental with Lufthansa.http://www.seattlepi.com/business/boeing/article/First-airline-Boeing-747-8-Intercontinental-3602330.php First airline Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental enters service seattlepi.com 6 January 2012 6 January 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20120601172239/http://www.seattlepi.com/business/boeing/article/First-airline-Boeing-747-8-Intercontinental-3602330.php 1 June 2012 Retirements February 8 February Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N911A by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); the aircraft was retired to the aircraft boneyard at Mojave Air and Space Port in California for use as a source of spare parts for NASAs Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft.http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/Features/sca_911_final_flight.html NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 911's Final Flight NASA Administrator 5 June 2013 nasa.gov 25 April 2018 live https://web.archive.org/web/20170622185515/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/Features/sca_911_final_flight.html 22 June 2017 September 24 September Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N905A by NASA;nasa.gov A graphic history of 35 years of space shuttle ferry flights now adorns the upper forward fuselage of NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905. (NASA / Tony Landis) https://web.archive.org/web/20120725053424/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/images/content/636738main_ED12-0096-02.jpg 25 July 2012 found to have few parts useful for the SOFIA aircraft, N905A is later earmarked for museum display at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Deadliest crash The deadliest crash of this year was Dana Air Flight 992, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 which crashed in Lagos, Nigeria on 3 June, killing all 153 people on board, as well as six on the ground. References 30em Category:Aviation by year