1964 in aviation

none May 2025 in aviation 19th century 20th century 21st century 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Aviation This is a list of aviation-related events from 1964. Events Chilean President Jorge Alessandri grants the Chilean Navy the authority to operate all types of aircraft without restriction. It is the first time that the navy has administrative control of all naval aircraft since 1930.Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, 978-0-87021-295-6, p. 200. January January 4 – Pope Paul VI becomes the first pope to use a commercial airliner for an official visit. He flies from Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport in Fiumicino, Italy, to Marka International Airport in Amman, Jordan, in a chartered Alitalia Douglas DC-8 marked with the Vatican colors, white and yellow, and the papal coat of arms.Cross Lee January 4, 2025 1/04/1964: First Papal Visit to Use a Commercial Airliner https://www.airwaysmag.com/new-post/first-papal-visit-use-commercial-airliner Airways May 11, 2025 January 13 – A United States Air Force B-52D Stratofortress carrying two Mark 53 nuclear bombs loses its vertical stabilizer in turbulence during a winter storm and crashes on Savage Mountain near Barton, Maryland. Only two of the five crewmen survive. The bombs are recovered two days later. January 22 – In its first public violation of the 1959 requirement for all aircraft operating from the aircraft carrier Minas Gerais to belong to the Brazilian Air Force, the Brazilian Navy steams Minas Gerais into Guanabara Bay at Rio de Janeiro with four navy T-28 Trojan trainers on her flight deck.Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, 978-0-87021-295-6, p. 197. January 28 – A Soviet MiG-19 shoots down a T-39 Sabreliner which had accidentally entered East German airspace, killing all three men aboard the T-39. February February 3 The North Vietnamese Air Force establishes its first jet fighter unit, Fighter Regiment No. 921, equipped with MiG-17s. North Vietnamese jet fighter units will be based in the People's Republic of China until August while their pilots undergo training. A Turkish Airlines Douglas C-47A-5-DK Skytrain on a cargo flight crashes in Ankara Province, Turkey, while on approach to Esenboğa Airport in Ankara, killing the entire crew of three. February 7 – The Canadian Golden Hawks aerobatic team is disbanded. February 15 The North Vietnamese Air Force scores its first aerial victory against an American aircraft when a North Vietnamese T-28 Trojan armed trainer shoots down a C-123 Provider transport plane.ASN Wikibase Occurrence #332952 https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/332952 Aviation Safety Network Flight Safety Foundation 2024 29 January 2026The Rise of North Vietnam’s Air Defense https://www.historynet.com/rise-north-vietnams-air-defense/ HistoryNet HistoryNet LLC 2017 29 January 2026 American professional baseball player Ken Hubbs of the Chicago Cubs and his passenger are killed when the Cessna 172D Skyhawk he is piloting crashes in adverse weather near Provo, Utah.planecrashinfo.com Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents: 1960s February 19 – French troops are airlifted to Gabon to put down a coup by the army.1964 Gabonese Coup d'État https://www.mooflife.com/gabon/moment/1964-gabonese-coup-dtat Mooflife Mooflife 2021 29 January 2026 February 25 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 304, a Douglas DC-8, crashes into Lake Pontchartrain 20 miles (32 km) northeast of New Orleans, nine minutes after taking off from New Orleans International Airport, killing all 58 people on board. Among the dead is the American singer and actor Kenneth Spencer. February 28 – A U.S. Navy helicopter of Utility Helicopter Squadron 1 (HU-1) lands on the deck of the combat stores ship Mars AFS-1, beginning the true incorporation of helicopters into the fleets logistic support system after experiments dating back to 1959.http://www.vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941–1999 December 29, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20160331224444/http://vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm March 31, 2016 dead February 29 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson reveals the existence of the CIA's Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft March Four men are photographed forming a four-person star formation while parachuting over Arvin, California. It is the first documented example of formation skydiving.http://www.starcrestawards.com/history/history_the_first_rw_records.html First RW Records BBMSC starcrestawards.com October 21, 2015 June 28, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150628015410/http://www.starcrestawards.com/history/history_the_first_rw_records.html dead March 5 – Somali Airlines is founded as the national airline of Somalia. It will begin flight operations in July. March 19 – American Jerrie Mock departs Columbus, Ohio, in the Cessna 180 Spirit of Columbus (registration N1538C), nicknamed "Charlie", in an attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/09/13/trailblazing-female-pilot-honored-in-bronze-in-newark.html Trailblazing woman pilot honored in bronze in Newark Dean Narciso The Columbus Dispatch October 4, 2014Buchanan Paul D. American Women's Rights Movement: A Chronology of Events and of Opportunities from 1600 to 2008 https://books.google.com/books?id=lc9Pzsa2zyUC&pg=PA183 May 22, 2011 September 15, 2009 Branden Books 978-0-8283-2160-0 183–http://womenaviators.org/JerrieMock.html Women Aviators October 4, 2014 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20140227011718/http://womenaviators.org/JerrieMock.html February 27, 2014 April Kitty Hawk CVA-63 becomes the first aircraft carrier assigned to Point Yankee, the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier operating area in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam. Point Yankee will become unofficially but universally known as "Yankee Station" and will remain in use until August 1973. Braniff Airways makes deposits on two Boeing Supersonic Transports (SSTs). Thanks to the cancellation of the SST program in 1971, it will never take delivery of the aircraft.BNF Puts Money Down On Supersonic Jets Braniff B Liner Employee Newsletter May 1964 1 Air Djibouti begins flight operations. thumb|Jerrie Mock's Spirit of Columbus, which she piloted as the first woman to fly solo around the world, at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center April 17 Middle East Airlines Flight 444, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III, crashes into the Persian Gulf while on approach to Dhahran International Airport in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing all 49 people on board. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Saudi Arabian history at the time.Aviation Safety Network Accident Description American Jerrie Mock arrives in Columbus, Ohio, in the Cessna 180 Spirit of Columbus (registration N1538C), nicknamed "Charlie", completing a solo round-the-world flight and becoming the first woman to fly around the world. The journey has taken 29 1 2 days, required 21 stopovers, and covered almost 22860 mi km.Mock, Jerrie: Three-Eight Charlie, First Edition, 1970. 97976 During the flight, Mock has become the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean from west to east and the first woman to fly a single-engine plane in either direction across the Pacific.Horvat William J., Lieutenant Colonel 1966 Above the Pacific Aero Publishers, Inc. 198–199 https://aviation.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Above-the-Pacific-by-Lieutenant-Colonel-William-J.-Horvat-1966.pdf 3 June 2026 The U.S. Air Force completes Operation Helping Hand, an airlift begun on March 28 that has brought 1,850 short tons (1,678 metric tons) of relief equipment and supplies to Anchorage, Alaska, in the aftermath of a massive earthquake there.Haulman, Daniel L., One Hundred Years of Flight: USAF Chronology of Significant Air and Space Events, 1903-2002, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press, 2003, no ISBN, p. 93. April 21 – A Middle East Airlines Vickers 754D Viscount is damaged beyond economical repair while taxiing at El Arish, Egypt, when the taxiway collapses beneath it, severely damaging its fuselage, engines, and propellers.Aviation Safety Network Accident Description May United States Air Force and United States Navy aircraft begin Operation Yankee Team reconnaissance flights over Laos.Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, 978-0-87021-559-9, p. 151. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff assign search-and-rescue responsibilities in Southeast Asia to the U.S. Air Force.Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 29. May 2 – A North Vietnamese frogman sinks the U.S. Navy aviation transport Card T-AKV-40 – formerly the escort aircraft carrier Card CVE-11 – pierside while she unloads helicopters at Saigon, South Vietnam.Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 35. She soon is refloated and repaired. May 7 – Francisco Paula Gonzales shoots both the pilot and copilot of Pacific Air Lines Flight 773, a Fairchild F27A Friendship, before turning the gun on himself, causing the plane to crash near San Ramon, California. All 44 aboard are killed. The crash is likely the first instance in the United States of an airliners pilots being shot by a passenger as part of a mass murder/suicide. May 9 – An F-105B Thunderchief (serial number 57-5801) operated by the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron (the Thunderbirds) disintegrates during a six-G tactical pitch-up for landing after an air display at Hamilton Air Force Base, California, killing its pilot. The accident prompts the U.S. Air Force to ground all F-105s and retrofit them with a structural brace. The Thunderbirds revert to using the F-100 Super Sabre and never fly another show in F-105s.1957 USAF Serial Numbers https://web.archive.org/web/19991008201958/http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/1957.html October 8, 1999 Thompson, Warren E., "F-105 Thunderchief", Combat Aircraft, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, Surrey, UK, February–March 2009, Volume 10, Number 1, page 68. May 11 – Jackie Cochran sets a new women's airspeed record of 1,429 mph (2,300 km/h) in an F-104 Starfighter. North American Aviation rolls out the United States Air Force′s first XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 1 (AV-1) – at Palmdale, California. May 21 – Pathet Lao antiaircraft artillery damages a U.S. Navy RF-8A Crusader photographic reconnaissance aircraft over Laos. The RF-8A, flown by Lieutenant Charles F. Klusmann, burns for 20 minutes in the air but lands safely aboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk CVA-63.Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Last Photo Plane," Naval History, October 2010, p. 64. June The Indian Air Forces Aircraft Manufacturing Depot at Kanpur is incorporated as Aeronautics (India) Ltd. It later will become the Kanpur Division of Hindustan Aeronautics.Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the Worlds Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, 0-89009-771-2, p. 74. Aero Trasporti Italiani (ATI), a subsidiary of Alitalia, begins flight operations. ATI takes over secondary domestic routes in Italy formerly operated by the Alitalia subsidiary Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM). June 1 Flying a Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran sets a women's world speed record of 1,303.24 mph (2,098.62 km/h). The flight brings to an end a longstanding competition between Cochran and Jacqueline Auriol in which they broke many of one another's women's speed records.Handleman, Philip, "Discovering Purpose in the Sky," Aviation History, July 2017, p. 13. The Kenyan Air Force is established. Trans World Airlines begins Boeing 727 service.TWA History Timeline https://web.archive.org/web/20150410102544/http://twaflightattendants.com/liftoffhtml/historytimeline.html April 10, 2015 June 6 Over Laos, Pathet Lao antiaircraft artillery shoots down a U.S. Navy RF-8A Crusader photographic reconnaissance aircraft piloted by Lieutenant Charles F. Klusmann. It is the first U.S. Navy aircraft and first American fixed-wing aircraft lost over Indochina in the Vietnam War era. Silver City Airways announces that it has airlifted its one millionth car between England and continental Europe. June 19 An Aero Commander 680 flying from Washington, D.C., with United States Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy aboard as a passenger crashes in an apple orchard in Southampton, Massachusetts, while on final approach in bad weather to Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield, Massachusetts. The crash kills the pilot and one of Kennedy's aides. Suffering a severe back injury, a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding, Kennedy is pulled from the wreckage by U.S. Senator Birch Bayh. Kennedy will be hospitalized until December and suffer chronic back pain for the rest of his life as a result of his injuries.Teddy's Ordeal http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,898150,00.html https://archive.today/20130204184340/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,898150,00.html dead February 4, 2013 Time June 26, 1964 May 23, 2008http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Kennedy-N344S.htm Check-Six.com The Luck of the Kennedys February 24, 2009 May 8, 2008John F. Kennedy Jr. – Timeline: Misfortunes of a Family http://www.cnn.com/interactive/specials/9907/kennedy.tragedy.glance/frameset.exclude.html CNN July 1999 May 23, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080323142249/http://www.cnn.com/interactive/specials/9907/kennedy.tragedy.glance/frameset.exclude.html March 23, 2008http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/02/16/chapter_2_the_youngest_brother/ Chapter 2: The Youngest Brother: Turbulence and tragedies eclipse early triumphs Swidey, Neil The Boston Globe February 16, 2009 February 24, 2009Adam Clymer Adam Clymer 1999 Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography Wm. Morrow & Company 0-688-14285-0 https://archive.org/details/edwardmkennedybi00clym_0 , pp. 244, 305, 549.http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1807447,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20080519204457/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1807447,00.html dead May 19, 2008 In the Senate, Ted Kennedy Still Rules Newton-Small, Jay Time May 17, 2008 June 20, 2009 The Portuguese airline Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP) – the future TAP Portugal – carries its one millionth passenger, 18 years after beginning flight operations. June 20 – Civil Air Transport Flight B-908, a Curtiss C-46-CU"Ci - Cz" Airplane Crash Info. run by the Taiwanese airline Civil Air Transport, crashes near the village of Shenkang in western Taiwan, killing all 57 people aboard. Among the dead are 20 Americans, one Briton, and members of the Malaysian delegation to the 11th Film Festival in Asia, including businessman Loke Wan Tho and his wife Mavis. Villagers see blast as 57 die in crash https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OJotAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jp4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7113,4202246&hl=en The Montreal Gazette June 22, 1964 June 1, 2011 June 22 – After making a preliminary flight from Los Angeles to Oakland, California, Henry Ohye takes off from Oakland bound for Tokyo, Japan, on a goodwill flight in the Piper PA-28 Cherokee Toku-Hana in an attempt to become the first Japanese American to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean. On the first leg of his flight, he lands at Honolulu, Hawaii, taking advantage of a tailwind to complete the flight in 13 hours 50 minutes, far under the 18 hours he had expected, and contemporary press reporting suggests that he has set an unofficial record time for a light airplane of the Cherokee's class.Horvat William J., Lieutenant Colonel 1966 Above the Pacific Aero Publishers, Inc. 199 https://aviation.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Above-the-Pacific-by-Lieutenant-Colonel-William-J.-Horvat-1966.pdf 3 June 2026 June 22, 1964 Japan Solo Flight Begins https://newspaperarchive.com/san-mateo-times-jun-22-1964-p-23/ San Mateo Times San Mateo, California 23 5 June 2024 June 22, 1964 Ohye's Near 14 Hours Flight to Hawaii Said to Be a Possible Record for a Plane of His Kind https://hojishinbun.hoover.org/?a=d&d=hbmn19640626-01.1.5&l=ja Hokubei Mainichi San Francisco, California 5 June 2024 July Somalia's national airline, Somali Airlines, begins flight operations, serving domestic routes in Somalia with a fleet of three Douglas DC-3s and two Cessna 180s. July 6 – U.S. Marine Corps UH-34D transport helicopters airlift a 93-man relief force during the Battle of Nam Dong in South Vietnam.Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 35, claims the battle occurred on July 7, 1964, although the Battle of Nam Dong Wikipedia article gives a date of July 6, 1964. July 7 – Henry Ohye arrives at Tokyo, Japan, completing a U.S-Japan goodwill flight from Oakland, California, in the Piper PA-28 Cherokee Toku-Hana and becoming the first Japanese American to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean. Since flying from Los Angeles to Oakland and then setting out across the Pacific, he has made stops at Honolulu, Midway Atoll, Wake Island, Guam, and Okinawa before reaching Tokyo. It is his first visit to Japan, and he delivers 17 messages to Japanese mayors from their cities' sister cities in California. April 15, 2017 Henry Shigeji Ohye https://cloverfield.org/people/ohye_he/index.php cloverfield.org 5 June 2026 July 9 – United Airlines Flight 823, a Vicker Viscount 745D, catches fire in flight and crashes two miles (3.2 km) northeast of Parrottsville, Tennessee, killing all 39 people on board. One of the passengers jumps from the burning plane through an escape door and is killed in the fall. July 24 – The existence of the SR-71 "Blackbird" is made public by US President Lyndon B. Johnson.https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/736495main_Blackbird_FAQ.pdf Peter W. Merlin Blackbird Facts NASA 3 April 29, 2023 March 11, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140311221447/https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/736495main_Blackbird_FAQ.pdf dead July 31 A. H. Parker sets a new sailplane distance record of 1,000 km (621 mi) in a Sisu-1A. Country music star Jim Reeves and his manager die in the crash of a Beechcraft Debonair Reeves is piloting near Brentwood, Tennessee. August In Project Tailchaser, the United States Air Force tests the concept of a fixed-wing gunship, converting a Convair C-131B Samaritan to fire a single GAU-2/A Minigun at a downward angle out of the left side of the aircraft at ground targets. Tests of the gunship at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, demonstrate that such an aircraft flying a pylon turn easily can hit a stationary area with great accuracy even when using only a primitive targeting system. August 2 – The Tonkin Gulf Incident occurs. U.S. Navy aircraft are involved in skirmishes in the Gulf of Tonkin. F-8 Crusaders sink a North Vietnamese torpedo boat. August 5 – In Operation Pierce Arrow, U.S. Navy aircraft from the attack aircraft carriers Ticonderoga CVA-14 and Constellation CVA-64 attack North Vietnamese torpedo boat bases, spearheading direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. They are the first bombing raids launched from Yankee Station. August 6 – The first North Vietnamese Air Force jet fighter unit, Fighter Regiment No. 921 (the "Red Star Squadron"), arrives in North Vietnam after training in the People's Republic of China, bringing 36 MiG-17 and MiG-19 fighters to Phúc Yên Air Base near Hanoi.Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, 978-0-87021-559-9, p. 152, which also claims that this event occurred on August 7. August 7 The United States Congress passes the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, authorizing President Lyndon B. Johnson to use conventional military force in Southeast Asia. American aircraft begin photographic reconnaissance flights over North Vietnam. August 7–9 – The Turkish Air Force strikes Greek positions on Cyprus. August 11 – Pope Paul VI becomes the first pope to fly in a helicopter, flying 70 mi km 0 flip from Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, to a landing site near Orvieto, Italy. August 12, 1964 Pope Paul Takes 70‐Mile Helicopter Trip to Shrine https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/12/archives/pope-paul-takes-70mile-helicopter-trip-to-shrine.html The New York Times New York 1 May 11, 2025 subscription August 23 – Greek Air Force F-4 Phantom IIs are recalled while en route to attack Turkish military positions. September Kingdom of Libya Airlines – the future Libyan Airlines – is founded. It will begin flight operations in August 1965. September 6 – Six men perform the world's first photographed six-man star formation while parachuting over Arvin, California.Newell Bill The Rise and Demise of The Arvin Good Guys: The origin of formation skydiving, Part 1 https://www.starcrestskydivingawards.com/arvin-good-guys-pt-1 www.starcrestskydivingawards.com May 4, 2025 September 14 – President Lyndon B. Johnson presents the 1963 Harmon Trophy to astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, test pilot Fitzhugh Fulton, and pilot Betty Miller.Swopes Brian R. 2018 30 April–13 May 1963: Betty Jean Miller https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/30-april-13-may-1963/ This Day in Aviation 4 June 2026 September 21 – The United States Air Force′s first North American XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 1 (AV-1) – makes its first flight, flying from Palmdale to Edwards Air Force Base, California. The crew has to shut down one of its six engines shortly after takeoff, and it makes the flight with its landing gear down due to a landing gear malfunction, limiting the Mach 3+-capable aircraft to a top speed of 390 mph (628 km/h), only about half what was planned for the flight. October October 1 – Derby Airways changes its name to British Midland Airways. October 10 – Skywriters draw the Olympic rings over Tokyo, Japan, during the opening ceremonies of the 1964 Summer Olympics.Wilkinson, Stepha, "The Sky′s Their Canvas," Aviation History, November 2017, p. 44. October 12 – On its third test flight, the United States Air Force′s first North American XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 1 (AV-1) – reaches supersonic speeds for the first time. October 13 – The first production Learjet, a Model 23, is delivered. October 16 – The People's Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon. October 23 U.S. Navy aircraft begin providing cover for Laotian government forces.Nichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987, 978-0-87021-559-9, p. 152. American rock musician David Box dies in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk which crashes nose-first and overturns at Houston, Texas. The other three people aboard the plane also die. October 24 – On its fourth test flight, the U.S. Air Force's first North American XB-70A Valkyrie – Air Vehicle 1 (AV-1) – flies at speeds above Mach 1 for 40 minutes. October 26 – United Airlines inaugurates jet service to Boise, Idaho. October 30 – The North American Air Defense Command begins manning its Combat Operations Center in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado. October 31 – A snow goose strikes the T-38 Talon flown by American astronaut Theodore Freeman on approach to Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, Texas, causing immediate engine failure. Freeman ejects too close to the ground for his parachute to deploy and is killed. November November 1 – Viet Cong infiltrators stage a mortar attack on Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam, destroying five U.S. Air Force B-57 Canberra bombers, a U.S. Air Force HH-43F helicopter, and four Republic of Vietnam Air Force A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft, and damaging 15 B-57s and some HH-43Fs.Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 36–37 November 2 – A U.S. Air Force HH-43F helicopter based at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, conducts the first night rescue by the Air Forces Air-Sea Rescue Service in Southeast Asia.Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, 978-1-55750-875-1, p. 14. November 4 – The first automatic blind landing by a passenger aircraft occurs when a British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident lands in dense fog. November 15 – Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114, a Fairchild F27 Friendship, crashes near Sloan, Nevada, while on approach to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, in poor weather conditions, killing all 29 people on board. It will be the only fatal accident in the 23-year history of Bonanza Air Lines. November 18 – The U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, provides 105 United States Army helicopters to assist in transporting 7,000 South Vietnamese Army troops to attack a concentration of Viet Cong guerrillas believed to occupy a forest in South Vietnam 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Saigon near Thủ Dầu Một in the largest attack thus far of the Vietnam War. The South Vietnamese troops find no Viet Cong in the area and assess that they had withdrawn at least three days earlier.Grose, Peter, "VIETNAMESE SEND 7,000 INTO ATTACK," nytimes.com, November 20, 1964. November 19 – Seventeen U.S. helicopters transport 54 South Vietnamese troops to attack Viet Cong guerrillas in South Vietnam's Quảng Nam Province. The South Vietnamese reportedly kill 17 Viet Cong and capture 21. November 20 – Linjeflyg Flight 277, a Convair CV-340 Metropolitan, crashes at Ängelholm, Sweden, during its approach to a Swedish Air Force base which is now Ängelholm-Helsingborg Airport. Thirty-one of the 43 people on board die, and all 12 survivors are injured. November 23 – Trans World Airlines Flight 800, a Boeing 707-331, crashes on takeoff from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, due to engine failure, killing 50 of the 73 people on board and injuring all 23 survivors. November 26 – Belgian paratroops are dropped into Congo by the United States Air Force. December President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco of Brazil ends the impasse over whether the Brazilian Air Force or the Brazilian Navy should control aircraft operated from the aircraft carrier Minas Gerais, assigning the responsibility to the navy. The air minister resigns and his successor is fired, and air force personnel machine-gun a naval helicopter on the ground at Porto Alegre in protest. December 8 – A United States Air Force B-58 Hustler carrying a nuclear bomb catches fire while taxiing at Bunker Hill Air Force Base in Indiana. The fire burns the bomb, causing radioactive contamination of the immediate area.http://www.afrri.usuhs.mil/outreach/reports/pdf/SP86-2.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20081218233551/http://www.afrri.usuhs.mil/outreach/reports/pdf/SP86-2.pdf dead December 18, 2008 Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute DoD Mishaps March 1986 December 4, 2008 HR Lease December 14 – The U.S. Air Force launches Operation Barrel Roll, armed reconnaissance flights attacking the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. December 23–24 (overnight) – The first combat use of a fixed-wing gunship takes place when a U.S. Air Force minigun-armed Douglas FC-47 is called in to defend a United States Army Special Forces camp at Tranh Yend in South Vietnam's Mekong Delta that is under attack by the Viet Cong. It drops parachute flares and fires 4,500 rounds, scattering the attackers. Twenty minutes later, it breaks up a Viet Cong attack against another camp at Trung Hung. The success of the FC-47 results in the deployment of additional aircraft of its type, redesignated as the AC-47 and widely nicknamed "Spooky" and "Puff the Magic Dragon."Miskimon, Christopher, "Weapons: The AC-47 Gunship Proved the Concept of the Aerial Gunship As a Close-Support Weapon in the Skies Over Vietnam," Militar Heritage, November 2015, pp. 17–18. December 24 – Flying Tiger Line Flight 282, a Lockheed Super Constellation cargo aircraft, crashes in San Bruno, California, shortly after takeoff from San Francisco International Airport, killing the entire crew of three. First flights American Champion Citabria Beriev Be-1 (first flight from water) January January 5 – Shorts BelfastTaylor 1964 2 January 20 – Beechcraft King AirDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 102. January 30 – Bölkow Bo 46 March March 3 – Sud-Aviation Super CaravelleDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 20. March 7 Hawker Siddeley Kestrel Helwan HA-300 April April 9 – de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo April 10 – EWR VJ 101C, the world's first supersonic V/STOL aircraft April 21 – HFB 320 Hansa Jet April 30 – Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter with the United States Air Forces 4441st Combat Crew Training SquadronAngelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, 978-0-517-56588-9, p. 374. May May 1 – BAC Type 221 May 25 – Ryan XV-5 June June 26 – Curtiss-Wright X-19 July July 15 – Aviomilano F.250 I-RAIE, prototype of the SIAI Marchetti SF.260 July 17 – Beagle B.206 Basset Series 1, civil version of the Beagle BassetDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 8894. August August 27 – Beagle B.242 August 29 – Piaggio PD.808 September September 4 – HAL HJT-16 KiranTaylor 1965 2 September 21 –North American XB-70A Valkyrie September 24 – Mooney M22 Mustang September 27 – BAC TSR.2 XR219Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 92. September 29 – LTV-Hiller-Ryan XC-142 September 30 – Piper PA-31 Navajo October Cessna YAT-37D, prototype of the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly October 2 – Piaggio P.166C October 14 – Sikorsky YCH-53 October 19 – Agusta A.101 MM80358 FF October 24 – Alon A-2 AircoupeDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 978-0-7607-0592-6, p.46. October 30 – Bell Lunar Landing Research Vehicle November November 1 – Agusta A.105 November 7 – Robin DR.200 November 18 – C-2 Greyhound November 25 – Convair Model 48 Charger December December 8 – Turbay T-3 December 21 – General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark December 22 – SR-71 Blackbird Entered service American Champion Citabria Boeing Vertol UH-46A Sea Knight with the United States NavyPolmar, Norman, "It's a Plane...a Helicopter...a Phrog!", Naval History, October 2016, p. 64. Sukhoi Su-11 (NATO reporting name "Fishpot-C") with the Soviet Air Forces and Soviet Air Defense Forces Westland Wasp with the Royal Navy Mid-1964 – Lightning F.3, third production model of the English Electric Lightning, with No. 74 Squadron, Royal Air ForceDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 90. Late 1964 – Beechcraft King Air February Dassault Mirage IV with Armée de l'Air February 1 – Boeing 727 with Eastern Air Lines April April 29 – Vickers VC10Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the Worlds Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, 0-89009-771-2, p. 55. with BOAC May May 13 – Beagle B.206 Basset Series 1, civil version of the Beagle Basset, with Rolls-Royce LimitedDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 94. June June 1 – Convair CV-580 Super Convair with Frontier AirlinesDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 273. Retirements Avro York by Skyways and Dan Air December 13 – Handley Page Hermes by Air Links, Ltd. Deadliest crash The deadliest crash of this year was Aeroflot Flight 721, an Ilyushin Il-18 which crashed whilst on approach to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russian SFSR on September 2, killing 87 of the 93 people on board. References 2 Taylor John W. R. John W. R. Taylor Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1964–65 1964 Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd. London Taylor John W. R. Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1965–66 1965 Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd. London Category:Aviation by year