2015 in aviation

none September 2019 in aviation Aviation This is a list of aviation-related events in 2015. Events January 7 January Divers and an unmanned underwater vehicle discover and photograph the tail section of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 resting on the bottom of the Java Sea. It is the first discovery of a major piece of wreckage of the Airbus A320-216 since it disappeared from radar on 28 December 2014 during a flight from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. 10 January The first major piece of wreckage from Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501, a piece of the Airbus A320-216's tail section, is brought to the surface from the bottom of the Java Sea.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/airasia-flight-8501-tail-lifted-from-sea-but-no-black-boxes-found/ AirAsia Flight 8501 tail lifted from sea but no black boxes found www.cbsnews.com 10 January 2015 12 January A volcanic eruption in Tonga sends ash into the sky, prompting the cancellation of all international flights to and from the country. Flights do not resume until 14 January.https://news.yahoo.com/volcanic-eruption-causes-cancellation-flights-tonga-023042359.html Perry, Nick, "Volcanic eruption causes cancellation of flights to Tonga," Associated Press, 12 January 2015, 10:18 PM.http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2015/January/01-16-04.htm Pacific Island Report Anonymous, "Volcanic Eruption Creates New Island In Tonga", eastwestcenter.org, 16 January 2015. 27 January 2015 3 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232222/http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2015/January/01-16-04.htm dead Divers retrieve the flight data recorder from Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501s wreckage on the bottom of the Java Sea.https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/13/asia/airasia-disaster/index.html 2nd AirAsia Flight QZ8501 black box recovered; fuselage possibly located Jethro Mullen David Molko 13 January 2015 CNN 13 January Divers retrieve the cockpit voice recorder from Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501s wreckage on the bottom of the Java Sea. 14 January A remotely operated vehicle from the Singapore Navy submarine support and rescue ship MS Swift Rescue locates and photographs the fuselage of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 on the bottom of the Java Sea 2 km mi nmi in from the area where the tail section had been found.https://time.com/3667336/airasia-flight-8501-fuselage-found/ Search Crews Locate Missing AirAsia Flight's Fuselage Timehttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30813420 AirAsia plane 'fuselage located' - officials BBC News 14 January 2015https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/airasia-plane-crash/airasia-flight-8501-fuselage-found-java-sea-singapore-military-n285881 AirAsia Flight 8501 Fuselage Found in Java Sea: Singapore Military NBC News 14 January 2015 18 January A Syrian Air Force Antonov An-26 crashes at Abu adh Dhuhur Air Base in Syria, killing all 30 people on board. The Government of Syria says that it crashed due to fog, but the al Nusra Front claims to have shot it down.http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20150118-0 ASN Aircraft accident Antonov An-26 YK-AND Abu adh Dhuhur Air Base aviation-safety.net 19 January Indonesia AirAsia X, an airline created as a joint venture of AirAsia X and Indonesia AirAsia to provide long-haul service from Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport, makes its first flight, from Bali to Taipei, Taiwan. 20 January Olimp Air Flight 4653, an Antonov An-2 biplane crashes, killing six. 26 January A Hellenic Air Force General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon crashes into a flight line, killing 11. 28 January The United States Air Force announces that Boeing will build the next Air Force One. The aircraft is to be a Boeing 747-8 that is to become operational by 2023.Davenport, Christian, "Boeing chosen to build the next Air Force One," washingtonpost.com, 28 January 2015. 29 January A Bombardier Challenger 600 is shot down over Aruba, killing 3. February 4 February TransAsia Airways Flight 235, an ATR 72-600 with 58 people on board, experiences an engine flameout just after takeoff from Taipei Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan. After clearing an apartment building, the aircraft rolls sharply to the left at low altitude, and its left wingtip strikes a taxicab on the Huangdong Viaduct and the viaduct's guardrail before it crashes into the Keelung River in Taipei. Among people on the plane, the crash kills at least 35, with another eight missing and all 15 survivors injured. Two people in the taxicab also suffer injuries. Dashcams in several vehicles driving on the viaduct record the crash. 8 February Chilean mountaineers announce that they have discovered the wreckage of LAN-Chile Flight 621, a Douglas DC-3 carrying 24 people, including eight members of the Chilean football (soccer) team Club de Deportes Green Cross, which disappeared over the Andes Mountains in Chile during a domestic flight from Osorno to Santiago on 3 April 1961. The wreckage is in the Andes at an altitude of about 10,500 ft m off us about 215 mi km off south of Santiago.https://news.yahoo.com/chilean-mountaineers-plane-missing-half-century-195026615.html Anonymous, "Chile mountaineers: We found plane missing for half century," Associated Press, 8 February 2015. March 5 March Landing during a snowstorm at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, Delta Air Lines Flight 1086, a McDonnell Douglas MD-88 carrying 132 people, skids off the end of Runway 13, crashes through a perimeter fence, and comes to rest on an earthen embankment along Flushing Bay. Twenty-four people on board suffer injuries.http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/05/us/new-york-plane-runway/ CNN Quick Linkshttp://www.weather.com/news/news/laguardia-airport-plane-skids-off-runway How Close Did Delta Flight 1086 Come to the Water Surrounding LaGuardia Airport? | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel weather.com 2022-06-08http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/05/us/new-york-plane-runway/http://www.weather.com/news/news/laguardia-airport-plane-skids-off-runway LaGuardia runway reopens after Delta flight skids off it Greg Botelho 6 March 2015 CNN 20 March 2017 http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/03/05/passengers-hit-social-media-after-plane-skids-off-laguardia-airport-runway/ Passengers Hit Twitter, Instagram After LaGuardia Airport Skid 5 March 2015http://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2015/03/06/passengers-describe-skidding-off-laguardiarunway.html Passengers describe skidding off LaGuardia runway on Delta flight 6 March 2015 2015-09-20 Carla Caldwell http://aviationtribune.com/safety/item/2088-ntsb-issues-second-update-on-the-delta-flight-1086-accident NTSB Issues Second Update on the Delta Flight 1086 Accident 11 March 2015 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115148/http://www.aviationtribune.com/safety/item/2088-ntsb-issues-second-update-on-the-delta-flight-1086-accident 2 April 2015 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31754912 US snow: Plane skids off New York runway BBC News 5 March 2015 9 March Two Argentine Eurocopter AS350B3 Écureuil helicopters (registration LQ-CGK and LQ-FJQ) involved in filming the French reality television series Dropped, each carrying a pilot and four passengers, collide in mid-air at an altitude of about 100 m ft off us seconds after takeoff at Villa Castelli, Argentina, crash about 15 m ft off us apart, and burst into flame. All 10 people on board the two helicopters – the two Argentine pilots and eight French passengers – die. Among the dead are French athletes Florence Arthaud, Camille Muffat, and Alexis Vastine.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/527f88bb022b4b8890957b772a00ff60/french-olympians-among-10-dead-argentina-air-crash Pisarenko, Natacha, and Paul Byrne, "Argentina probes copter crash as France mourns dead athletes," Associated Press, 10 March 2015. 7:01 PM EDT. 11 March 2015 13 March 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150313180019/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/527f88bb022b4b8890957b772a00ff60/french-olympians-among-10-dead-argentina-air-crash dead http://modocharlie.com/2015/03/choque-de-helicopteros-en-argentina-10-fallecidos/ Choque de helicópteros en Argentina: 10 fallecidos Helicopter Crash in Argentina: 10 deaths modocharlie es 9 March 2015 10 March 2015 10 March Flying in dense fog, a United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter carrying an Army National Guard crew of four and seven United States Marine Corps personnel crashes in Florida's Santa Rosa Sound near Okaloosa Island, killing all 11 men on board.https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/11/us/florida-army-helicopter/index.html Military helicopter crash: Air search suspended for the night Greg Botelho 11 March 2015 CNN 13 March A Serbian Army Mil Mi-17 crashes, killing 7. 24 March Germanwings Flight 9525 – an Airbus A320-200 (registration D-AIPX) flying from Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport in Barcelona, Spain, to Düsseldorf Airport in Düsseldorf, Germany, crashes near Prads-Haute-Bléone, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France. Evidence recovered from both the cockpit voice and flight data recorders suggests that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, intentionally crashed the aircraft after preventing the captain from returning to the cockpit. All 150 people on board are killed. 27 March After the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, the European Aviation Safety Agency issues a temporary recommendation for airlines to ensure that at least two crew members, including at least one pilot, are in the cockpit at all times of the flight.https://www.easa.europa.eu/newsroom-and-events/news/easa-recommends-minimum-two-crew-cockpit EASA recommends minimum two crew in the cockpit EASA 27 March 2015 28 March 2015 29 March Air Canada Flight 624, an Airbus A320-211 (registration C-FTJP) with 138 people on board, lands short of the runway in snow and poor visibility at Halifax International Airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It smashes through an antenna array, loses its landing gear, severs the power line that supplies all of the airport's electricity, and slides to a stop on its belly, suffering severe damage. All aboard survive, but 23 people suffer injuries. 30 March Yemenia suspends flight operations due to military conflict at its home base, Sanaa International Airport in Sanaa, Yemen. 31 March Since 1 January, Airbus has booked gross orders for 121 aircraft, while Boeing has booked 116. However, after cancellations and conversions, Boeing has 110 net orders since 1 January compared with Airbus's 101. Since 1 January, Airbus has delivered 134 aircraft to customers, including one A350 and four A380s.Anonymous, "Also in Business," Washington Post, 8 April 2015, p. A12. April 13 April Carson Air Flight 66, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner, suffers an in-flight breakup and crashes, killing all on board. 14 April Asiana Airlines Flight 162, an Airbus A320-200 (registration HL7762) with 82 people on board, loses height on final approach to Hiroshima Airport in Mihara, Japan, strikes an instrument landing system localizer antenna, and skids onto the runway on its tail, spinning 180 degrees before coming to a stop. Its landing gear collapses and it suffers damage to its left wing and left engine. No one is killed, but 20 of the people on board suffer injuries. May 8 May To commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day – when Nazi Germany surrendered to the Western Allies at the end of World War II in Europe on 8 May 1945 – the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover takes place over Washington, D.C. Fifty-six aircraft of the World War II era take part; aircraft types represented are the Piper L-4 Grasshopper, Boeing-Stearman Model 75, Fairchild PT-19, North American AT-6 Texan, Beechcraft Model 18, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, North American B-25 Mitchell, Consolidated PBY Catalina, Douglas SBD Dauntless, Grumman F4F Wildcat, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, North American P-51 Mustang, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, Grumman TBF Avenger, Douglas A-26 Invader, Vought F4U Corsair, and Boeing B-29 Superfortress.https://www.c-span.org/video/?325808-1/world-war-ii-victory-europe-70th-anniversary-flyover World War II Victory in Europe 70th Anniversary Flyover | C-SPAN.org www.c-span.orghttps://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2015/03/10/u-s-capitol-flyover-marks-70th-anniversary-of-v-e-day/ U.S. Capitol flyover marks 70th anniversary of V-E Day John Bretschneider 10 March 2015 Military Times["Know Your World War II Airplanes" (graphic), The Washington Post, 8 May 2015, Page B2.] One Avenger suffers a mechanical malfunction as it passes the review area over the World War II Memorial and makes an immediate emergency landing at nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia. A Pakistan Air Force Mil Mi-17 crashes, killing eight. 9 May An Airbus A400M Atlas cargo aircraft on a test flight crashes just after takeoff from Seville Airport in Seville, Spain, killing four people and seriously injuring two. Germany and the United Kingdom ground their A400M aircraft pending an investigation of the crash. Russia celebrates the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany's surrender to the Soviet Union on 9 May 1945 with a Victory Day Parade in Moscow that includes a flyover by 150 aircraft. Participating aircraft types are the Mil Mi-26, Mil Mi-17, Mil Mi-24, Mil Mi-28, Kamov Ka-50, Kazan Ansat, Mikoyan MiG-29, Mikoyan MiG-31, Sukhoi Su-24, Sukhoi Su-25, Sukhoi Su-27, Sukhoi Su-30, Sukhoi Su-34, Sukhoi Su-35, Ilyushin Il-76, Ilyushin Il-78, Tupolev Tu-22M, Tupolev Tu-95, Tupolev Tu-160, Antonov An-124 Ruslan, and Antonov An-22. Also appearing are Yakovlev Yak-130s from the new aerobatic group Crimean Wings and Sukhoi Su-27s and Mikoyan MiG-29s of the Russian Knights and Swifts aerobatics teams. 12 May A United States Marine Corps Bell UH-1Y Venom crashes, killing 13. 22 May Air Lituanica ceases flight operations. It will file for bankruptcy on 8 June. 28 May Eastern Airlines begins flight operations, flying charter flights from Miami International Airport in Miami, to José Martí International Airport in Havana. A new airline, it uses the trademarks of the original Eastern Air Lines, which had gone out of business in 1991; the new Eastern's ownership group had purchased the intellectual property, including trademarks, of the original Eastern in 2009. June 2 June Landing his de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada, retired de Havilland Canada test pilot George Neal sets the world record for oldest active licensed pilot at the age of 96 years 194 days. Neal had held a Canadian pilot's license since 1936 and flown 15,000 hours on 150 different aircraft types.Anonymous, "World's Oldest pilot," Aviation History, November 2015, p. 10.https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2015-06-22/george-neal-enters-guinness-record-book-oldest-pilot George Neal Enters Guinness Record Book as Oldest Pilot Kerry Lynch Aviation International News 8 June Air Lituanica files for bankruptcy. It had ceased flight operations on 22 May. 30 June An Indonesian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crashes in a residential area in Medan, Indonesia, just after takeoff from Soewondo Air Force Base, striking a busy road, homes, and a hotel. The crash kills all 122 people on the plane and 19 people on the ground.https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/30/asia/indonesia-military-plane-crash/index.html More bodies recovered after military C-130 plane crashes in Indonesian city Kathy Quiano Jethro Mullen Catherine E. Shoichet 30 June 2015 CNNhttp://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_28405544/indonesian-military-transport-plane-crashes-medan-area Bakkara, Binsar, "Little hope of survivors in Indonesian military plane crash," Associated Press, 30 June 2015, 12:30:58 a.m. MDT. 30 June 2015 23 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150923104621/http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_28405544/indonesian-military-transport-plane-crashes-medan-area deadhttps://www.aol.com/indonesia-plane-crash-death-toll-071700352.html Indonesia plane crash death toll 141 as search effort ends A. O. L. Staff www.aol.com 18 January 2021 July 1 July A new terminal for international civilian flights, Terminal 2, opens at Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea.http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-opens-showcase-airport-terminal-025318551.html North Korea opens new showcase airport terminal news.yahoo.com 9 July An eruption of Mount Raung in East Java, Indonesia, forces the closure of five airports on Java, Bali, and Lombok through 10 July because of volcanic ash in the atmosphere, greatly disrupting air traffic in the area as flights at the airports are cancelled through late in the day on 10 July. Coming when many Australians travel to Bali on vacation and many Indonesians travel for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, the airport closures strand thousands of travelers.http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/07/10/volcano-eruption-in-indonesia-sparks-travel-chaos/ Anonymous, "Ash spewing from volcano in Indonesia sparks travel chaos," Associated Press, 10 July 2015. Fox News 14 July 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150714211244/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/07/10/volcano-eruption-in-indonesia-sparks-travel-chaos/ 14 July 2015 dead 10 July The Airbus E-Fan X makes a 74 km mi off us flight from Lydd, England, to Calais, France, in approximately 37 minutes, flying at an altitude of around 1,000 m ft off us, becoming the first twin-engine, all-electric plane to cross the English Channel. The flight is made on the same route as that Louis Blériot used made when he made the first crossing of the English Channel in an airplane on 25 July 1909, but in the opposite direction.http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/corporate-social-responsibility/airbus-e-fan-the-future-of-electric-aircraft/Cross-channel-flight.html Anonymous, "E-Fan Crosses the Channel: History Maker!," airbusgroup.com 6 May 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170505214657/http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/corporate-social-responsibility/airbus-e-fan-the-future-of-electric-aircraft/Cross-channel-flight.html 5 May 2017 dead 29 July Aircraft wreckage which appears to be a flaperon – part of the flap system – of a Boeing 777 is found washed up on a beach on Réunion in the Indian Ocean, raising hopes that it is the first piece of wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 to be found since the aircraft vanished in March 2014.abc.net.au, "MH370: Plane wreckage found on French Indian Ocean island sparks Malaysia Airlines speculation," 30 July 2015, 1:53 a.m.Mullen, Jethro, and Nima Elbagir, "Increasing confidence plane wreckage is from MH370, Australian official says," CNN, 31 July 2015, 16:48 GMT. 30 July Facebook announces that it will begin testing the full-size version of its Aquila unmanned aerial vehicle later in the year. The 1,000-pound (454-kg) aircraft has a wingspan of 140 ft m off us and is designed to fly for up to 90 days at an altitude of up to 90,000 ft m off us and use laser optics to bring Internet connectivity to parts of the world where conventional connectivity is impractical.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/565a63c904194cf0a52193583b413069/facebook-ready-test-giant-drone-internet-service Bailey, Brandon, "Facebook ready to test giant drone for Internet service," Associated Press, 30 July 2015, 5:14 p.m. EDT. 1 August 2015 3 August 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150803041656/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/565a63c904194cf0a52193583b413069/facebook-ready-test-giant-drone-internet-service dead Metz, Cade, "Facebook is About to Test Its Enormous Solar-Powered Drone," wired.com, 30 July 2015, 2:30 p.m. 31 July An Embraer Phenom 300 crashes, killing four. August Yemenia resumes flights to Yemen with a flight from Saudi Arabia to Aden International Airport in Aden. 4 August Les Munro, the last surviving pilot who participated in Operation Chastise, the 1943 "Dambuster" raid by the Royal Air Force's No. 617 Squadron, dies in New Zealand at the age of 96.Anonymous, "'Dambuster' Pilot Les Munroe, 96," Military History, January 2016, p. 11. A Colombian government UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter involved in a counter-narcotics operation against the Clan Úsuga criminal organization crashes into the side of a mountain in northwestern Colombia, killing 16 policemen.Acosta, Luis Jaime, "Helicopter accident kills 16 police officers in Colombia," Reuters, 5 August 2015, 2:56 a.m. EDT 5 August Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak announces that a flaperon found on a beach on Réunion in the Indian Ocean on 29 July is from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 which vanished in March 2014."Malaysia says more plane debris recovered on Reunion Island," washingtonpost.com, 6 August 2015, 4:45 a.m. EDT. 6 August Malaysia's Minister of Transportation, Liow Tiong Lai, announces that more aircraft debris – including a window and some aluminum foil – that may be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been discovered washed up on Réunion. 11 August Dutch prosecutors announce that investigators probing the July 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 have identified possible Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile parts mixed in with the airliner's wreckage. Ukraine and many in the West have accused pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine with shooting down the airliner using a surface-to-air missile system supplied by Russia, which Russia and the rebels deny.Anonymous, "Fragments from MH17 site may be from Russian-made Buk missile, Dutch prosecutors say," Reuters/AFP, 11 August 2015, 4:18 p.m. 16 August Trigana Air Flight 267, an ATR 42-300 with 54 occupants aboard on a domestic flight in Indonesia from Sentani Airport in Jayapura to Oksibil crashes into a mountain in the Bintang highlands region of the Indonesian province of Papua on New Guinea.Anonymous, "Indonesian plane missing over Papua region," bbc.com, 16 August 2015. All on board die, making it the deadliest accident in the history of Trigana Air Service, as well as the deadliest accident to date involving an ATR 72.detik.com 20 August Two Let L-410 Turbolet aircraft carrying parachutists rehearsing for a nearby air show collide over Červený Kameň, Slovakia, at an altitude of about 5,000 ft m off us and crash. The accident kills seven people – two crewmembers aboard each plane and three parachutists aboard one of them – but the other 31 people aboard the two planes parachute to safety. Five of them are treated for injuries. One of the dead crew members is former Slovak ice hockey player Michal Česnek. 22 August A Hawker Hunter T7 performing aerobatics at the Shoreham Airshow at Shoreham Airport in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England, crashes onto the A27 road, striking several ground vehicles. The crash destroys eight ground vehicles and kills at least 11 people – including two players from the English football team Worthing United F.C. – and injures 16 others. It is the deadliest air show accident in the United Kingdom since a crash at the 1952 Farnborough Airshow which killed 31 people.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/eb135f92deb44164bb8b813922855cea/single-seat-jet-crashes-uk-airshow-several-casualties Hui, Sylvia, "Police say 7 dead after jet in UK airshow crashes into road," Associated Press, 22 August 2015 12:58 PM EDT. 22 August 2015 24 August 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150824035500/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/eb135f92deb44164bb8b813922855cea/single-seat-jet-crashes-uk-airshow-several-casualties dead Anonymous, "Shoreham air crash death toll 'rises to 11'," bbc.com, 24 August 2015 September 3 September The Paris prosecutor in France announces that a technician from Airbus Defence and Space in Spain had confirmed that a flaperon found washed up on Réunion in the Indian Ocean on 29 July was from the Boeing 777 that disappeared in March 2014 while operating as Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. Airbus Defence and Space had manufactured the flaperon for Boeing.Rose, Michael, "France says wing part found on Reunion Island definitely from MH370," Reuters, 3 September 2015. 5 September Over eastern Senegal, Ceiba Intercontinental Airlines Flight 71, a Boeing 737-8FB (registration 3C-LLY) flying from Dakar, Senegal, to Cotonou, Benin, collides with a Senegal Airlines Hawker Siddeley HS125-700A air ambulance (registration 6V-AIM) flying from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Dakar. The Boeing 737 suffers only minor damage and diverts to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, where it lands safely. Aboard the air ambulance, the collision apparently disables everyone on board, and it flies on autopilot beyond Dakar, finally crashing in the Atlantic Ocean about 110 km mile nmi off the coast of Senegal, presumably when it runs out of fuel. All seven people aboard the air ambulance die. 8 September The left engine of British Airways Flight 2276, a Boeing 777-236ER (registration G-VIIO), catches fire while the aircraft waits to take off from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada for a flight to London. All 170 people on board escape the plane via inflatable evacuation slides; 14 of them suffer minor injuries.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/57c9dc465eff4dcc8abbf7ae93f7faa3/british-airways-flight-catches-fire-las-vegas-runway KIMBERLY PIERCEALL Pierceall, Kimberly, and Ken Ritter, "British Airways plane catches fire on Las Vegas runway," Associated Press, 9 September 2015. 9 September 2015 11 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150911184702/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/57c9dc465eff4dcc8abbf7ae93f7faa3/british-airways-flight-catches-fire-las-vegas-runway dead 15 September A South African Beechcraft King Air 200 becomes the first aircraft in history to land at Saint Helena's new Saint Helena Airport. The plane is visiting the island to conduct a series of flights to calibrate the airport's radio navigation equipment.Rosenberg, Zach. "Tiny, Remote St. Helena Gets Its First Airport" Air & Space/Smithsonian, 18 September 2015. Accessed: 26 September 2015.HISTORY MADE AS FIRST EVER PLANE LANDS AT ST HELENA 15 September 2015 http://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/history-made-as-first-ever-plane-lands-at-st-helena/ 16 September 2015 23 September Iran's Tasnim News Agency reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran Army has unveiled the Mohajem 92, a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured by the "self-suffiency department" of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. Tasnim reports that the new UAV is a reconnaissance vehicle with a range of 500 km mi off us and a maximum speed of 200 km/h mph on.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e732c90b76084555839d041c48d03176/report-iran-unveils-locally-made-reconnaissance-drone Anonymous, "Report: Iran unveils locally-made reconnaissance drone," Associated Press, 23 September 2015. 26 September 2015 27 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150927050554/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e732c90b76084555839d041c48d03176/report-iran-unveils-locally-made-reconnaissance-drone dead October SATA International is rebranded as Azores Airlines. 1 October> Tracey Curtis-Taylor begins a 13,000 mile on solo flight from Farnborough Airport in Farnborough, England, to Sydney, Australia, in the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 open-cockpit biplane Spirit of Artemis, intending to recreate the first solo flight between the United Kingdom and Australia by a woman, the 1930 Croydon-to-Darwin flight of Amy Johnson. Curtis-Taylor will arrive in Sydney on 9 January 2016.Anonymous, "Bi-plane pilot in Amy Johnson UK to Australia flight," bbc.com, 1 October 2015.Anonymous, "Tracey Curtis-Taylor finishes UK to Australia biplane flight," bbc.com, 9 January 2016. 2 October Aviastar Flight 7503, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (registration PK-BRM) crashes in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, soon after takeoff for a domestic flight from Andi Jemma Airport in Masamba to Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, killing all 10 people on board. Its wreckage is not found until 5 October. A United States Air Force C-130J Hercules crashes at Jalalabad Airport in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, killing all 11 people – six U.S. Air Force members and five civilians – on board. A further three on the ground were also killed. The Taliban claims to have shot it down, but the United States armed forces respond that enemy fire is highly unlikely to have caused the crash.Starr, Barbara, and Theodore Schleifer, "11 killed when U.S. C-130 plane crashes in eastern Afghanistan," cnn.com, 2 October 2015, 12:10 PM EDT. 13 October The Dutch Safety Board releases its report on the crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in July 2014, in which it concludes that a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile brought the Boeing 777 down, blowing its cockpit off and causing it to break up in mid-air over Ukraine before crashing. It adds that the aircraft should not have flown over the war zone in eastern Ukraine, but also notes that 160 other aircraft did so safely on the day Flight 17 was shot down. Although the report does not attempt to determine who shot the airliner down, the Russian government dismisses it as biased and the result of "political orders" to reach the conclusion that it did.Roth, Andrew, Brian Murphy, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, "Dutch report: Buk missile downed MH17 in Ukraine," washingtonpost.com, 13 October 2015. 17 October An Airbus A321 operating as US Airways Flight 1939 – commemorating the year of the airline's founding – lands before dawn at the airline's hub in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, completing a journey begun from Philadelphia on 16 October that stopped at all of US Airways' other hubs – at Charlotte, North Carolina; Phoenix, Arizona; and San Francisco, California. When it lands, the 76-year history of US Airways – which earlier had done business as All American Aviation, Allegheny Airlines, and USAir – comes to an end as it completes its merger with American Airlines. The merger leaves the United States with just four major domestic airlines – American, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines – down from ten in 2001; the four control 87 percent of the U.S. domestic market.Patterson, Thom, "Last flight of US Airways evokes 'golden age' of air travel," cnn.com, 17 October 2015, 8:05 a.m. EDT. 25 October The bankrupt Russian airline Transaero goes out of business. 29 October The left engine of Dynamic Airways Flight 405, a Boeing 767-200ER with 101 people aboard bound for Caracas, Venezuela, leaks fuel and bursts into flames as the aircraft taxis for takeoff at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida. The airliner's passengers and crew evacuate via evacuation slides in six minutes; 17 of them are injured. The airport is closed for about two-and-a-half hours, resulting in the cancellation of 43 flights and delays to more than 200 others.McLaughlin, Eliott C., "Plane catches fire on runway at Fort Lauderdale airport," cnn.com, 30 October 2015,7:30 AM EDT. 31 October Metrojet Flight 9268, an Airbus A321-231 operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia bound for Saint Petersburg, Russia, breaks apart in midair near its cruising altitude of 31,000 feet 23 minutes after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and crashes in the central Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.Mohammed, Yusri, and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, "Russian airliner with 224 aboard crashes in Egypt's Sinai, all killed," Reuters, 31 October 2015, 12:21 p.m. EDT. The Islamic State claims to have brought the plane down, but does not describe how, and experts claim that the Islamic State has no weapons capable of hitting the airliner at the altitude at which it was flying when the incident occurred; after the crash, Air France-KLM, Emirates, and Lufthansa nonetheless announce that their airliners will avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula.Cunningham, Erin, "Russian jet carrying 224 people crashes in Sinai. No survivors found.," washingtonpost.com, 31 October 2015, 12:49 p.m. EDT.Cunningham, Erin, "Russian team in Egypt to assist in probe of airliner crash," washingtonpost.com, 1 November 2015, 8:16 a.m. EDT. November 1 November Air Arabia, Emirates, flydubai, Gulf Air, Jazeera Airways, and Qatar Airways announce that they will reroute their aircraft to avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula in the wake of 31 October crash of Metrojet Flight 9268. British Airways and Etihad Airways say that they will continue to fly over the Sinai.Emirates, Qatar stop flights over Sinai after Russian plane crash https://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/emirates-qatar-stop-flights-over-sinai-after-russian-plane-crash-1.1610937 2023-01-22 gulfnews.com November 2015 en 4 November Volcanic ash from an eruption of Mount Rinjani on Lombok in Indonesia forces Ngurah Rai International Airport on Bali to close until 5 November, prompting the cancellation of 59 international and 47 domestic flights. Lombok International Airport in Mataram on Lombok also closes because of the ash.2015-11-04 Eruption At Indonesia's Mount Rinjani Closes Bali Airport https://www.ibtimes.com/mount-rinjani-eruption-indonesia-leads-bali-airport-closure-several-flights-cancelled-2168332 2023-01-22 International Business Times en-US An overloaded Antonov An-12 cargo aircraft (registration EY-406) operated by Allied Services, Ltd., carrying a crew of six and at least 12 passengers crashes into a farming village on an island in the White Nile shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan. The crash kills a combined 37 people aboard the plane and on the ground; two people aboard the plane survive.2015-11-04 South Sudan plane crash: Dozens killed near Juba airport en-GB BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34719679 2023-01-22 10 November Execuflight Flight 1526, a Hawker 800 business jet, crashes into an apartment complex while on approach to land at Akron Fulton International Airport in Akron, Ohio. No one on the ground is injured, but all nine people – two pilots and seven passengers – aboard the plane die.Goldstein, Sasha, "Nine dead after small plane crashes into Akron, Ohio, house," nydailynews.com, 10 November 2015, 7:41 PM EST. 21 November A Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil sightseeing helicopter operated by Alpine Adventures crashes on Fox Glacier on the South Island of New Zealand, killing all seven people on board. 22 November Avia Traffic Company Flight 768, a Boeing 737 Classic, crashed following a runway overrun, injuring 14. 23 November The search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 missing since March 2014, shifts to a remote part of the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia where an experienced British Boeing 777 captain, Simon Hardy, estimates that it may have made a controlled water landing and sunk largely intact. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau reports that the shift is occurring because of improved Southern Hemisphere spring weather in a 120,000 km2 mi2 off us on priority search area rather than because of Hardy's analysis. Although a flaperon from Flight 370 found in July 2015 washed up on a beach on Réunion was from Flight 370, the search for Flight 370 on the Indian Ocean floor, taking place more than 1,800 km mi off us off the Australian coast since October 2014, has covered 70,000 km2 mi2 off us without finding any trace of the airliner.http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3bd7bf477fb248a08726c79fe6e7d851/mh370-hunt-moves-where-british-pilot-believes-it-crashed McGurik, Rod, "MH370 hunt moves to where British pilot believes it crashed," Associated Press, 23 November 2015, 4:29 AM EST. 24 November 2015 25 November 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151125040847/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3bd7bf477fb248a08726c79fe6e7d851/mh370-hunt-moves-where-british-pilot-believes-it-crashed dead 24 November A Turkish Air Force General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon shot down a Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24, killing one. 29 November The last Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, intended for delivery to the United Arab Emirates Air Force in 2017, takes off from the Boeing assembly plant at Long Beach, California, conducting a flyover of the facility before departing. Boeing, which delivered the U.S. Air Force's last C-17 in September 2013, plans to close the Long Beach plant by the end of 2015 – except for small sections left open for one to two more years to provide engineering support for C-17s – because of insufficient foreign orders for the C-17 to justify keeping the assembly line open.Anonymous, "Last Boeing C-17 leaves Southern California assembly plant," Associated Press, 29 November 2015, 10:22 p.m. EST. December 22 December A Beechcraft King Air operated by the Indian Border Security Force crashes, killing 10. 30 December A South African teenager finds a piece of debris on a beach in Mozambique and takes it home to South Africa. In March 2016, his family will turn the debris in to South African aviation officiaLs, who plan to examine it to see if it is from Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 missing since 8 March 2014.Almasy, Steve, Faith Karimi, and Radina Gigova, "MH370: Another possible piece of debris found in Mozambique," cnn.com, 13 March 2016, 3:36 a.m. EDT. First flights February 3 February - Embraer KC-390 - PT-ZNFEmbraer KC-390 takes maiden flight 6 February - Dassault Falcon 8X - F-WWQAhttp://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/maiden-flight-quotsmoothquot-sortie-opens-falcon-8x-test-campaign-408805/ MAIDEN FLIGHT: "Smooth" sortie opens Falcon 8X test campaign 6 February 2015 6 February - Enstrom TH180 - N180THhttp://www.verticalmag.com/news/article/EnstromTH180completesfirstflight Enstrom TH180 completes first flight 27 February - Bombardier CS300 - C-FFDK March 7 March - Kamov Ka-52KFlight International 17 March 2015 First flight edges Ka-52K towards maritime debut 15 187 5480 0015-3710 April 9 April - Flight Design C4 - D-EZFDhttp://flightdesign.com/wordpress/?p=4521 Flight Design Completed First Flight of New C4 15 April 1015 3 May 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150521050305/http://flightdesign.com/wordpress/?p=4521 21 May 2015 dead May 7 May - Antonov An-178 - UR-EXPhttp://www.janes.com/article/51263/antonov-begins-an-178-flight-trials Antonov begins An-178 flight trials 7 May 1015 11 May Pilatus PC-24 - HB-VXAhttp://www.20min.ch/finance/news/story/Schweizer-Jet-PC-24-hat-den-Erstflug-absolviert-25659384 Schweizer Jet PC-24 hat den Erstflug absolviert 11 May 2015 18 May Gulfstream G500 - N500GA 22 May Sikorsky S-97 Raider - N971SK June 13 June - Airbus Helicopters H160 - F-WWOGFlight International Airbus Helicopters lifted by debut as H160 flight test get off the ground 23 June 2015 0015-3710 July 1 July - Bell 525 Relentless - N525TA Osborne Tony http://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/bell-helicopter-completes-first-flight-model-525-0 Bell Helicopter Completes First Flight of Model 525 Aviation Week & Space Technology 1 July 2015 McGraw-Hill September 2 September – Windward Performance Perlan IIhttp://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Perlan-2-Glider-Completes-First-Flight-224898-1.html Perlan 2 Glider Completes First Flight AVweb 23 September 2015 26 September 2015 Video https://web.archive.org/web/20150926001239/http://www.flyingmag.com/videos/video-channel/airbus-perlan-2-takes-flight 26 September 2015 14 September - Aero L-39NGFlight International 22 September 2015 Enhanced L-39NG trainer makes maiden sortie 17 25 September – Boeing KC-46 Pegasus October 5 October - KAI KT-100 - 16-001Flight International Maiden sortie for new KT-100 trainer 20 October 2015 21 27 October - Sikorsky CH-53K King StallionDrew James Sikorsky's CH-53K lifts off after troubled start https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/sikorskys-ch-53k-lifts-off-after-troubled-start-418268/ Flightglobal 1 February 2016 27 October 2015 November 11 November - Mitsubishi Regional JetTon Mavis PICTURES: MRJ completes maiden sortie https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-mrj-completes-maiden-sortie-418947/ Flightglobal 1 February 2016 11 November 2015 December 19 December - Epic E1000 - N331FT 25 December - KB SAT SR-10Butowski Piotr Russia's New Jet Trainer Air International February 2016 90 2 15 0306-5634 Entered service 15 January – Airbus A350 with Qatar Airways 31 July – F-35B Lighting II, United States Marine Corps version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121); first version of the F-35 to enter serviceDavenport, Christian, "The Marines say the controversial F-35 fighter is now ready for combat. Now what?," washingtonpost.com, 31 July 2015, 1:53 p.m. EDT. Retirements 1 August – Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight by the United States Marine Corps; the last one to fly is a CH-46E modelPolmar, Norman, "It's a Plane...a Helicopter...a Phrog!", Naval History, October 2016, p. 65. 29 September – Boeing Vertol HH-46 Sea Knight by the United States Navy; the last one to fly is an HH-46E model Deadliest crash The deadliest crash of this year was Metrojet Flight 9268, an Airbus A321 which was destroyed by a terrorist bomb in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt on 31 October, killing all 224 people on board. References Category:Aviation by year