2013 in aviation

none September 2024 in aviation 20th century 21st century 22nd century 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 1980s 1990s 2000s (decade)2000s 2010–20192010s 2020s 2030s 2040s Aviation This is a list of aviation-related events in 2013. Events January 4 January A Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander carrying the head of the Missoni fashion house, Vittorio Missoni, and five other people on a domestic flight from Los Roques to Simón Bolívar International Airport outside Caracas, Venezuela, disappears over the Caribbean Sea 10 mi km south of Los Roques.https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/world/europe/plane-carrying-italian-designer-lost-near-venezuela.html Fashion Boss From Italy Lost in Flight Off Venezuela Eric Wilson The New York Times 5 January 2013 7 May 2023 16 January During a domestic flight from Yamaguchi, Japan, to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, All Nippon Airways Flight 692, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, makes an emergency landing at Takamatsu Airport in Takamatsu after cockpit warning lights indicate a battery failure and the presence of smoke; one passenger is injured during the evacuation of the plane. Because of this incident and several others in recent days involving fuel leaks, a battery fire, a wiring problem, a glitch in the computer controlling the brakes, and a cracked cockpit window in various Boeing 787s around the world, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines both ground their Dreamliner fleets.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-ana-idUSBRE90F01820130116 Japanese airlines ground Dreamliners after emergency landing Reuters 16 January 2013 Kelly Mayumi Negishi Later in the day, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounds all Boeing 787s in the United States.Halsey, Ashley III, The Washington Post, 17 January 2013, p. A14. 17 January The European Aviation Safety Agency endorses the Federal Aviation Administrations grounding of Boeing 787 Dreamliners.Halsey, Ashley III, "," The Washington Post, 17 January 2013, p. A14. By the end of the day, Dreamliners have been grounded worldwide pending investigation of the possibility of a fire hazard posed by their lithium-ion batteries.https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/17/us-boeing-dreamliner-idUSBRE90F1N8201301 Topham, James, and Alwyn Scott, "Boeing Dreamliners Grounded Worldwide on Battery Checks," Reuters, 17 January 2013, 2:13 p.m. Reuters 7 May 2023 28 January Italys highest criminal court rules that "ample and congruent" evidence exists to make it "abundantly" clear that a missile shot down Itavia Flight 870 over the Mediterranean Sea in June 1980 and orders the Government of Italy to pay damages to the families of the victims.https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0128/Missile-caused-1980-plane-crash-Italian-court Missile caused 1980 plane crash: Italian court The Christian Science Monitor 28 January 2013https://www.reuters.com/ Reuters 7 May 2023 29 January SCAT Airlines Flight 760, a Bombardier CRJ200, crashes in thick fog near Kyzyltu, Kazakhstan, 5 km mi nmi off short of the runway at Almaty, killing all 21 people on board. 31 January The bankrupt Indonesian airline Batavia Air ceases operations and goes into liquidation. February India's Kingfisher Airlines ceases all corporate operations due to financial difficulties. It had suspended flight operations in October 2012. 1 February Malaysia Airlines joins the Oneworld airline alliance. 13 February South Airlines Flight 8971, an Antonov An-24 with 52 people on board, overshoots the runway and crash-lands while attempting to make an emergency landing in fog at Donetsk International Airport in Donetsk, Ukraine, killing five people. 14 February American Airlines and US Airways announce an $11,000,000,000 deal to merge, creating the worlds largest airline, with 900 planes, 3,200 daily flights, and 95,000 employees. Under the deal, former US Airways management will dominate the merged airline, but the "US Airways" brand will disappear.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-airlines-us-airways-announce-11b-merger/ American Airlines, US Airways announce $11B merger 14 February 2013 CBS News 16 February Iraqi Airways begins flights to Kuwait for the first time since Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-kuwait-iraq-idUSLNE91B02620130212 Iraq sets first Kuwait flights since 1990 invasion Reuters 12 February 2013 18 February After cutting a hole in a perimeter fence at Brussels Airport outside Brussels, Belgium, eight armed and masked men dressed as police officers drive in two vehicles displaying flashing blue lights onto the tarmac and confront guards loading a cargo of diamonds onto Helvetic Airways Flight LX789, a Fokker 100 passenger jet packed with passengers and preparing for departure for a flight to Zurich, Switzerland. They steal 120 small packages containing a combined $50,000,000 (£32,000,000) worth of diamonds in a three-minute robbery and escape via the same hole in the fence without firing a shot.http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/19/17013510-robbers-snatch-50-million-of-diamonds-off-plane-in-belgium?lite Robbers snatch $50 million of diamonds off plane in Belgium World News 29 October 2015 NBC News 26 February A fire starts aboard the Ultramagic N-425 hot-air balloon SU-283 while it is attempting to land near Luxor, Egypt, carrying 19 tourists, a tour guide, and its pilot. The pilot and one tourist leap from the balloon and suffer serious injuries before the balloon, with the other 19 people still aboard, rises rapidly to an altitude of about 300 m ft off, experiences an explosion heard several kilometers away, collapses, crashes to the ground, and suffers another explosion. The 19 people still aboard, seven of whom jump to their deaths to escape the fire, are killed.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21584413 Balloon crashes near Luxor killing 19 tourists BBC 15 January 2013 26 February 2013 It is the deadliest hot-air balloon accident in history, exceeding the death toll in a 1989 accident in Australia. March Lion Air and Airbus sign the most valuable commercial order in history, a $23,800,000,000 Lion Air order for 234 Airbus A320 airliners. It exceeds the previous most valuable order, a $22,400,000,000 order by Lion Air for 230 airliners from Boeing in 2011.http://business.inquirer.net/113903/airbus-boeing-battle-shifts-to-indonesia Airbus-Boeing battle shifts to Indonesia Agence France-Presse Philippine Daily Inquirer 24 March 2013 Evergreen International Aviation sells its subsidiary Evergreen Helicopters to Erickson Air-Crane. 4 March Two minutes from touchdown at Goma International Airport, the Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Fokker 50 9Q-CBD crashes in bad weather in an empty lot in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing six of the people on board and injuring all three survivors. 22 March The Malaysian low-cost airline Malindo Air makes its first flights. 25 March Boeing makes the first of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner test flights to show that modifications to the 787's lithium-ion battery system have solved the problem of battery overheating experienced by Dreamliners earlier in the year. The aircraft, bearing the livery of LOT Polish Airlines, departs from Paine Field in Everett, Washington, flies south down the coast of Washington and halfway down the coast of Oregon, and makes a low-altitude, low-speed circle over the Strait of Juan de Fuca before returning without incident.Reuters, "Boeing Makes First of Two 787 Dreamliner Flight Checks," The Washington Post, 26 March 2013, p. A16. 28 March Two United States Air Force B-2 Spirit bombers make the first nonstop B-2 flight to and from the Korean Peninsula, departing Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, bombing a target range on a South Korean island, and returning in a 371 2-hour flight. The flight, part of the annual Foal Eagle field training exercise, is intended to signal American support to South Korea in the face of belligerent North Korean rhetoric.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-korea-north-usa-b-idUSBRE92S0IE20130329 U.S. B-2 bombers sent to Korea on rare mission: diplomacy not destruction Reuters 29 March 2013 Strobel Warren The low-cost Indian-Malaysian airline AirAsia India is founded. It will begin flight operations in June 2014. 31 March Austrian Airlines retires the "Lauda Air" brand. Austrian Airlines and Lauda Air had merged in July 2012. A United States Marine Corps pilot makes the first vertical landing in a production Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II.Guttman, Robert, "Vertical Dreams," Aviation History, March 2016, p. 35 (photo caption). April Bankrupt Aerosvit Airlines ceases operations. Some of its fleet is transferred to Ukraine International Airlines. Meridiana Fly completes its merger with Air Italy and is renamed Meridiana. 5 April Boeing makes the second of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner test flights to show that modifications to the 787s lithium-ion battery system have solved the problem of battery overheating experienced by Dreamliners earlier in the year. The aircraft, bearing the livery of LOT Polish Airlines, makes a 755-mile (1,216-kilometer) flight along the West Coast of the United States in just under two hours without incident. The completion of two successful test flights is a major step toward ending the worldwide grounding of 787s.Reuters, "Boeing's Dreamliner Passes Test Flight," The Washington Post, 6 April 2013, p. A8. 7 April A Helicópteros del Pacífico (Helipac) Mil Mi-8P registration OB-1916-P crashes en route from Iquitos to a Perenco site near the Curaray River, in the Loreto Region of Peru. All 13 people on board died.Loreto: Helicóptero con 13 ocupantes se precipitó a tierra en Iquitos https://peru21.pe/lima/loreto-helicoptero-13-ocupantes-precipito-tierra-iquitos-100916 27 December 2018 Perú21 7 April 2013Brigadistas de la FAP buscan a ocupantes de helicóptero caído en Loreto https://peru21.pe/lima/brigadistas-fap-buscan-ocupantes-helicoptero-caido-loreto-100920 27 December 2018 Perú21 7 April 2013 13 April Lion Air Flight 904, a Boeing 737-8GP carrying 108 people, ditches in shallow water off Bali 0.6 nmi km off from the runway while attempting to land at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Indonesia. All on board survive, although 22 people are injured. 27 April The Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes its first passenger-carrying flight since the worldwide grounding of Dreamliners in January 2013, when a packed Ethiopian Airlines 787 flies from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya. Boeing vice president Randy Tinseth is among the passengers.https://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/04/boeing-787-dreamliner-resumes-passenger-flights/ Boeing 787 Dreamliner Finally Resumes Passenger Flights Jason Paur 29 April 2013 WIRED 29 April National Airlines Flight 102, a Boeing 747-428BCF cargo aircraft, crashes just after takeoff from Bagram Airfield in Bagram, Afghanistan, after its crew reported that its cargo of five heavy military vehicles had shifted and caused the aircraft to stall. Its entire crew of seven dies in the crash. Virgin Galactics commercial spacecraft SpaceShipTwo makes its first powered flight. Released by its jet-powered mothership White Knight Two after a 45-minute climb at an altitude of 48000 ft m off us over the Mojave Desert, SpaceShipTwo burns its engine for 16 seconds, climbing to 55000 ft m off us and reaching a speed of Mach 1.2 before gliding to a landing at Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, after 10 minutes of independent flight. Mark Stuckey is the pilot and Mike Alsbury the co-pilot for the flight.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/virgin-galactic-spaceship-makes-1st-powered-flight Dillon, Raquel Maria, "Virgin Galactic Spaceship Makes First Powered Flight," Associated Press, 30 April 2013, 11:44 a.m. EDT. 30 April 2013 11 June 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130611100013/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/virgin-galactic-spaceship-makes-1st-powered-flight dead May 1 May A Boeing X-51A WaveRider unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft detaches from a Boeing B-52H Stratofortress and reaches Mach 4.8 (3200 mph km/h on or) powered by a booster rocket. It then separates cleanly from the booster, ignites its own engine, accelerates to Mach 5.1 (3400 mph km/h on or), and flies for 240 seconds – setting the record for the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight in history – before running out of fuel and plunging into the Pacific Ocean off Point Mugu, California, after transmitting 370 seconds of telemetry. The flight – the fourth and last planned X-51A test flight and the first successful one – completes the X-51 program.https://www.flightglobal.com/hypersonic-x-51-programme-ends-in-success/109619.article Hypersonic X-51 programme ends in success Zach Rosenberg 2013-05-03 FlightGlobal 7 May 2023http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_05_02_2013_p0-575769.xml "X-51A Waverider Achieves Hypersonic Goal On Final Flight," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2 May 2013. 7 May 2023 20 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130520225842/https://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_05_02_2013_p0-575769.xml deadAnonymous, "WaveRider Goes Hypersonic," Aviation History, September 2013, p. 12. 3 May Batik Air, a full-service airline owned by Lion Air, makes its first flight. 4 May The first Solar Impulse aircraft, HB-SIA, the world's first solar powered aircraft capable of operating day and night, completes the first leg of its attempt to become the solar-powered aircraft to fly across the continental United States, landing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, at 12:30 a.m. PDT after departing Moffett Field in Mountain View, California, at dawn on 3 May and covering 1203 km mi off in 18 hours 18 minutes at an average speed-over-ground of 65.5 km/h mph on. Plans call for the aircraft, which requires no fuel because it uses photovoltaic cells in its wings to supply it with power and charge its batteries for use at night, to make a series of five flights of 19 to 25 hours each, flying at about 40 mph km/h on, with a stopover of approximately 10 days in each city it visits, culminating in an arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, New York.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/solar-plane-lands-ariz-1st-leg-major-trip Dailey, Haven, and Bob Seavey, "Solar Plane Lands in Ariz., 1st Leg of Major Trip," Associated Press, 3 May 2013, 9:48 p.m. EDT. 5 May 2013 9 November 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131109161155/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/solar-plane-lands-ariz-1st-leg-major-trip dead http://www.solarimpulse.com/en/across-america/phoenix/ SOLAR IMPULSE – Phoenix solarimpulse.com 7 July 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130819191902/http://www.solarimpulse.com/en/across-america/phoenix/ 19 August 2013 dead 16 May Nepal Airlines Flight 555, the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 9N-ABO, skids off the runway at Jomsom Airport in Jomsom, Nepal, and falls 20 m ft off into the Gandaki River. All 21 people on board survive, but seven suffer serious injuries. 20 May Passenger-carrying flights of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner resume in the United States as United Airlines Flight 1 flies from Houston, Texas, to Chicago, Illinois. United, which plans to resume international 787 service on 10 June, becomes the fourth airline to resume Dreamliner flights, after Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Air India.Associated Press, "News Summary: United Airlines Resumes 787 Flying After 4-Month Halt," washingtonpost.com, 20 May 2013, 3:14 p.m. EDT.June 2021 medicmedic 27 May TACA Airlines leaves the Star Alliance. June AirAsia exits its investment in the first incarnation of AirAsia Japan, leaving AirAsia Japan as a wholly owned subsidiary of All Nippon Airways. 11 June Air traffic controllers in France begin a strike to protest European Union plans to reorganize and privatize air traffic control over Europe.http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/06/20136127954890770.html Europe risks air traffic chaos over strike Al Jazeera 12 June In response to a call for industrial action by the European Transport Workers' Federation, air traffic controllers in 11 other countries engage in lower-key industrial actions in sympathy with the French strike, although flights are not disrupted in other countries.http://www.airportregions.org/resources/atc-strike-echoes-throughout-europe/ ATC strike echoes throughout Europe airportregions.org 15 June 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130720101247/http://www.airportregions.org/resources/atc-strike-echoes-throughout-europe/ 20 July 2013 dead 13 June The Canadian AeroVelo Atlas human-powered helicopter makes a 64-second flight that reaches an altitude of 3.3 m ft off, winning the American Helicopter Society Internationals Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition by becoming the first such helicopter to fly for at least 60 seconds and achieve an altitude of at least 3 m ft off.http://vtol.org/hph AHS – Human Powered Helicopter vtol.org 22 July 2013 12 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201112023256/http://vtol.org/hph dead The French air traffic controller strike ends, having forced the cancellation of over 2,000 flights, without resolution of the issues which prompted it. Industrial actions in other countries related to the French strike are also ended.https://www.npr.org/2013/06/13/191226119/french-air-traffic-controllers-strike-disrupts-flights Strike By French Air Traffic Controllers Ends 13 June 2013 NPR 15 June Google reveals its previously secret Project Loon with the first public launch of a maneuverable unmanned balloon designed to operate in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 12 mi km and bring broadband wireless Internet access to remote regions and areas affected by natural disasters. Google has launched 30 such balloons during the week from a field near Lake Tekapo on New Zealands South Island to test the system over the cities of Christchurch and Canterbury.https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/google-to-use-balloons-to-provide-internet-access-to-remote-areas/2013/06/14/f9d78196-d507-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html Google to use balloons to provide Internet access to remote areas Cecilia Kang 14 June 2013 The Washington Posthttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/10120198/Googles-internet-balloons-offer-remote-areas-web-access.html Google's 'internet balloons' offer remote areas web access The Daily Telegraph 15 June 2013 7 May 2023 18 June EVA Air joins the Star Alliance. 30 June Air Lituanica begins flight operations, using a single leased Embraer E-170 to provide service between Vilnius, Lithuania, and Brussels, Belgium. July 2 July When its pilot loses control in high winds, a Polar Airlines Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashes at Yakutsk, Russia, killing 24 of the 28 people on board and injuring all four survivors."Children die in air crash in Russia's Sakha Republic", News$4, 2 July 2013"Russian helicopter crash kills at least 19", Reuters, 2 July 2013"23 die in Yakutia helicopter crash, 5 survive", Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, 2 July 2013"Helicopter Crash in Siberia Kills at Least 19 – Officials" https://web.archive.org/web/20130710202735/http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130702/182003060/At-least-15-Killed-in-Siberian-Helicopter-Crash---Police.html 10 July 2013 , RIA Novosti, 2 July 2013 6 July Attempting to land at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, after a flight from Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea, Asiana Airlines Flight 214, the Boeing 777-28E(ER) HL7742, comes down short of the runway, strikes a seawall, and crashes, killing two – one of whom is struck by a responding fire truckAssociated Press, "Third Person Dies From Asiana Crash," The Washington Post, 13 July 2013, p. A3. – of the 307 people on board and injuring 182 of the 304 survivors; one of survivors later also dies. It is the second crash and first fatal crash of a Boeing 777 and the first fatal airline crash in the United States since February 2009. 7 July A Rediske Air de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter air taxi crashes onto the runway immediately after takeoff from Soldotna Airport in Soldotna, Alaska, and bursts into flames, killing all 10 people on board. August 1 August The Government of Serbia and Etihad Airways formalize an agreement under which Jat Airways will be reorganized and rebranded as Air Serbia, with Serbia owning 51% of the airline and Etihad owning 49%. Etihad Airways is granted management rights over Air Serbia for an initial five-year period. The name change to Air Serbia will take place in October. 13 August The United States Department of Justice files suit to block the proposed merger of American Airlines and US Airways, saying it would harm consumers and lead to substantially less competition, higher airfares and fees, and less service to many airports.https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/u-s-seeks-to-block-airline-merger/ U.S., Filing Suit, Moves to Block Airline Merger Jad Mouawad 13 August 2013 DealBook 7 May 2023 14 August UPS Airlines Flight 1354, a Airbus A300F4-622R cargo aircraft N155UP arriving from Louisville, Kentucky, with a crew of two aboard, crashes one-half-mile (0.8 m) from the runway at Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Both crew members die.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/14/ups-plane-crash_n_3753963.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D357939 UPS Plane Crash: Jet Crashes on Approach To Birmingham, Ala. Airport: FAA Spokeswoman HuffPost September South Supreme Airlines begins operations. 12 September In a ceremony at Boeing's assembly plant in Long Beach, California, the United States Air Force takes delivery of the last of the 223 C-17 Globemaster IIIs produced for it. After the ceremony, the final U.S. Air Force C-17 takes off from the Long Beach plant bound for Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, recreating the flight of the first C-17, which flew from Long Beach to Charleston Air Force Base when it was delivered to the U.S. Air Force in July 1993. Boeing continues to manufacture the C-17, but only for foreign customers.Weber, Christopher, "Boeing delivers last C-17 to US Air Force," Associated Press, 13 September 2015, 12:50 a.m. EDT.August 2026 InternetArchiveBot 18 September Zest Airways rebrands itself as AirAsia Zest. 22 September To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first flight across the Mediterranean Sea, pilot Baptiste Solis flies a near-replica Morane-Saulnier G nonstop along the same route from France to Tunisia. Roland Garros made the original nonstop flight on 23 September 1913 in a Morane-Saulnier H, a single-seat version of the Morane-Saulnier G.Wilkinson, Stephan, "Morane-Saulnier Across the Med," Aviation History, January 2014, p. 9. October 1 October LAN Colombia joins the Oneworld airline alliance. 3 October Associated Aviation Flight 361, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia on a domestic charter flight in Nigeria carrying the body of Olusegun Agagu, the former governor of Ondo State, from Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos to Akure Airport in Ondo State, crashes shortly after takeoff, killing 15 of the 20 people on board.http://avherald.com/h?article=46961c3e/0001&opt=0 Crash: Associated E120 at Lagos on Oct 3rd 2013, lost height after takeoff The Aviation Herald 12 October 2013 Simon Hradecky 13 March 2019 7 October Japan Airlines announces that it will purchase 31 A350 airliners from Airbus for $9,500,000,000 to replace its fleet of Boeing 777s. The announcement ends Boeings decades-long dominance of the Japanese market; before the Japan Airlines deal with Airbus, Boeing and Airbus had competed head-to-head in almost every market worldwide except for Japan.https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/business/international/jal-orders-9-5-billion-worth-of-airbus-jets.html Japan Airlines Deal With Airbus Is Blow in Boeing Stronghold Christopher Drew Eric Pfanner The New York Times 7 October 2013 7 May 2023 16 October Lao Airlines Flight 301, an ATR 72 on a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Laos from Vientiane to Pakse, crashes into the Mekong River while on approach to Pakse, killing all 49 people on board.http://avherald.com/h?article=46a05359&opt=0/ Crash: Lao AT72 at Pakse on October 16th 2013, went into Mekong River on approach Simon Hradecky The Aviation Herald 16 October 2013 26 October The first incarnation of AirAsia Japan ceases operations following the June departure of AirAsia from its investment in the airline, which had left it as a wholly owned subsidiary of All Nippon Airways. Jat Airways begins operations under its new name, Air Serbia, with a flight from Belgrade, Serbia, to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The first free-flight test of the Sierra Nevada Corporations Dream Chaser lifting-body spaceplane takes place at Edwards Air Force Base in California. After dropping from an Erickson Air-Crane Skycrane helicopter at an altitude of 12500 ft m, the unmanned Dream Chaser flies autonomously in a steep dive, pulls up perfectly, and glides to the center line of the runway, but its left landing gear fails to deploy, causing it to roll on its side and skid off the runway in a crash-landing.Achenbach, Joel, "Dream Chaser has rough landing in test flight, but firm hails ‘successful day’ for space plane," Washington Post, 29 October 2013. 30 October Qatar Airways joins the Oneworld airline alliance. November 1 November Vanilla Air, a rebranding of the first incarnation of AirAsia Japan, is founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of All Nippon Airways. It will begin flight operations in December. 2 November Tracey Curtis-Taylor takes off from Cape Town International Airport in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 Spirit of Artemis to recreate the flight of Mary, Lady Heath, who in 1928 became the first person to fly a small, open-cockpit plane from South Africa to London, taking three months to complete the journey in an Avro Avian. Curtis-Taylor will complete her flight on 31 December.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/10560546/Tracey-Curtis-Taylor-from-Cape-Town-to-Cairo-in-a-Forties-biplane.html Tracey Curtis-Taylor: from Cape Town to Cairo in a Forties biplane The Daily Telegraph 11 January 2014 7 May 2023http://www.birdinabiplane.com/capetown/ Tracey Curtis Taylor - Aviatrix, Adventurer, Inspirational Speaker birdinabiplane.com 7 May 2023 12 November The United States Department of Justice drops its lawsuit to block the merger of American Airlines and US Airways in exchange for the new airline giving up gates at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, Boston Logan International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Dallas Love Field, Los Angeles International Airport, Miami International Airport, and LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The agreement clears the way for the merger, which will create the worlds largest airline, to be named American Airlines but to be run by US Airways management.Halsey, Ashley, III, "Justice set to approve merger of American Airlines, US Airways," The Washington Post, 12 November 2013. 17 November Seconds after the crew of Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363, the Boeing 737-53A VQ-BBN, initiates a go-around due to an unstable approach while attempting to land at Kazan International Airport in Kazan, Russia, the aircraft noses down, crashes almost vertically, and disintegrates in an explosion, killing all 50 people on board. It the greatest loss of life in a single aviation accident in 2013. 29 November LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470, an Embraer 190 flying over Botswana, suddenly begins a steep descent from 38000 ft m off us, crosses into Namibia, and crashes in Namibias Bwabwata National Park, killing all 33 people aboard. It is LAM Mozambique Airliness first fatal accident since 1970, and Mozambiques deadliest air accident since a crash that killed the countrys president, Samora Machel, in October 1986. The Police Scotland Eurocopter EC135 T2+ helicopter G-SPAO crashes onto the roof of The Clutha, a crowded pub in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, at 10:30 p.m., killing all three people on board and six people on the ground.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-25163157 I saw helicopter crash into pub BBC News 7 May 2023 30 November Evergreen International Aviation ceases operations. December 2 December Evergreen International Airlines flies its last flight. 11 December NAM Air, regional airline subsidiary of Sriwijaya Air in Indonesia takes its first flight from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang. 20 December Vanilla Air begins flight operations, flying from Tokyo's Narita International Airport to Okinawa and Taipei. 26 December Textron, the parent company of Cessna Aircraft, announces that it has reached an agreement to purchase Beechcraft Corporation for $1,400,000,000.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/beechcraft-be-bought-cessna-parent-company Donnelly, Scott, "Beechcraft to be bought by Cessna parent company," Associated Press, 26 December 2013, 8:52 p.m. EST. 27 December 2013 27 December 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131227092335/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/beechcraft-be-bought-cessna-parent-company dead 30 December For the first time in more than 50 years, a commercial flight takes place between Key West, Florida, and Cuba, when a Cessna 441 Conquest II with nine paying passengers aboard flies from Key West International Airport to Havana. Key West had received approval to conduct flights to and from Cuba in October 2011, but it had taken over two years for charter airline operators to receive all the necessary permissions to make the first flight. Key West International Airport director Peter Horton describes the flight as "test run", and regular Key West-Cuba commercial air service remains a distant prospect.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/first-flight-key-west-cuba-takes Newman, Andy, and Christine Armario, "," Associated Press, 30 December 2013 3:42 PM EST. 1 January 2014 2 July 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150702161937/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/first-flight-key-west-cuba-takes dead 31 December Tracey Curtis-Taylor arrives at Goodwood, West Sussex, England, at the end of a 9,825-mile (15,821-kilometer), 59-day flight from Cape Town International Airport in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 Spirit of Artemis. During the flight – which recreates the first South Africa-to-London flight in a small, open-cockpit plane in history, made over the course of three months in 1928 by Mary, Lady Heath, in an Avro Avian – Curtis-Taylor has made 38 stops, flying over Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and Egypt before crossing Europe and arriving in England only 13 days behind schedule despite various challenges and setbacks along the way. Evergreen International Aviation files for its own dissolution under U.S. Chapter 7 bankruptcy law. The filing is on behalf of itself and its subsidiaries Evergreen Aviation Ground Logistics Enterprise, Evergreen Defense and Security Services, Evergreen International Airlines, Evergreen Systems Logistics, Evergreen Trade, and Supertanker Services. First flights June 14 June – Airbus A350 XWB (registration F-WXWB) at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport, Toulouse, France September 16 September – Bombardier CS100 (C-FBCS) at Montréal-Mirabel International Airport, Montreal, Quebec.http://cseries.com/bombardiers-cseries-aircraft-completes-historic-first-flight/ Bombardier's CSeries Aircraft Completes Historic First Flight Bombardier Inc. cseries.com 25 November 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131203101057/http://cseries.com/bombardiers-cseries-aircraft-completes-historic-first-flight/ 3 December 2013 dead 17 September – Boeing 787-9 (N789ZB) at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, United States.http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-787-9-takes-off-for-maiden-flight-390652/ Boeing 787-9 takes off for maiden flight FlightGlobal 26 September – Gee Bee Super Q.E.D. IIJim Moss's Gee Bee Q.E.D. Makes Maiden Flight http://www.eaa.org/news/2013/2013-10-03_jim-moss-gee-bee-qed-makes-maiden-flight.asp 4 October 2013 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220722/http://www.eaa.org/news/2013/2013-10-03_jim-moss-gee-bee-qed-makes-maiden-flight.asp 4 October 2013Sport Aviation June 2011February 2016Sport Aviation The Last Gee Bee April 2014 53 October 24 October – e-Go (G-OFUN) at Tibenham airfield, Norfolk, England. November 14 November – Piaggio-Selex P.1HH HammerHead (XAV-SA-001) at Trapani Airport, Italy.http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/dubai-air-show/2013-11-18/piaggio-aero-achieves-first-flight-hammerhead-demonstrator Piaggio Aero Achieves First Flight of HammerHead Demonstrator Aviation International News December 28 December – Embraer Legacy 450 PT-ZIJ at Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil.http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-legacy-450-moves-into-flight-test-394442/ Legacy 450 moves in flight test 28 December 2013 30 December 2013 FlightGlobal Entered service 1 August – Airbus A400M Atlas with the French Air Force Retirements September 20 September – Vickers VC10 by the Royal Air Force Deadliest crash The deadliest crash of this year was Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363, Boeing 737 which crashed during landing in Kazan, Russia on 17 November, killing all 50 people on board. References Category:Aviation by year