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1991 Master Index 1993

1992 Chronology of Aviation History
Major Aviation Events

1992 Events

  • 1992 — The European Commission approves three new regulations to liberalize air travel within the European Union. EU airlines are gradually given unlimited rights to serve airports in other member states, with the final round of reforms complete by April 1997. [1]

  • 1992 — The operations of Australia's two government airlines, Australian Airlines and Qantas, are merged in preparations for Qantas's privatization, which will happen in 1995. Australian Airlines ceases to exist as a separate airline until 2002, when it will re-emerge as a low-cost airline flying to destinations in Southeast Asia. [1]

  • 1992 — The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration initiates the Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) program to develop technology to help revitalize the slumping general aviation industry. [1]

January 1992

  • January 10 — Trans World Airlines files for bankruptcy. [1]

  • January 11 — The United States Federal Aviation Administration approves a helicopter rating for a pilot based solely on flight simulator performance for the first time. [1]

  • January 15 — The USAF loses a Lockheed U-2 in the Sea of Japan. [1]

  • January 18 — The United States Armed Forces retire the last McDonnell-Douglas F-4 “Phantom II” from front-line service. [1]

  • January 20 — Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes in the Vosges Mountains near Barr, France, while circling to land at Strasbourg, France, killing 87 of the 96 people on board. Facing tough competition from French high-speed TGV trains, Air Inter had encouraged its pilots to fly at high speeds at low altitudes, and had not installed ground proximity warning systems on its airliners because such systems generated too many nuisance alarms during high-speed, low-altitude flight. It is the deadliest accident in Inter Air's history. [1]

  • January 28 — An Azerbaijani Air Force Mil Mi-8 “Hip” transport helicopter is shot down near Shusha, Azerbaijan, killing all 44 people on board. [1]

February 1992

  • February 14 — Passengers aboard Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 386 — a Boeing 747-287B en route from Lima, Peru, to Los Angeles, California, with 356 people on board - are inadvertently fed an in-flight meal that includes shrimp tainted with cholera. Seventy-six people become ill, and one of them dies. [1]

March 19922

  • March — Two USAF Boeing B-52 “Stratofortress”es visit a Russian Federation Air Force base near Moscow, the first visit by American military aircraft since World War II to any place that had been part of the Soviet Union before its dissolution in December 1991. [1]

  • March 22 — USAir Flight 405, a Fokker F28 “Fellowship”, cannot gain lift after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York City due to icing of the wings and airframe. It crashes into Flushing Bay, killing 27 of the 51 people on board and injuring 21 of the 24 survivors. [1]

  • March 24 — The United States Department of Transportation announces that it will sign “open skies” treaties with any countries that wish to reciprocate. The first “open skies” treaty is signed between the United States and the Netherlands later in the year. [1]

April 1992

  • April 5 — The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force bombs bases in northern Iraq belonging to the Iranian Kurd Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran. The Iraqi Air Force violates the no-fly zone over northern Iraq north of the 36th parallel by scrambling jets to intercept the Iranian planes, but aircraft involved in “Operation Provide Comfort II” to enforce the no-fly zone do not interfere. [1]

  • April 7 — Azerbaijan Airlines is established. [1]

  • April 22 — The Lockheed YF-22A “Lightning II” prototype of the Lockheed F-22 “Raptor” is damaged beyond repair. [1]

  • April 24 — A USAF Lockheed C-130 “Hercules” carrying out an anti-narcotics mission over Peru is attacked by Peruvian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22 “Fitters”. [1]

May 1992

  • May — S7 Airlines starts operations. [1]

  • May — Two Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-95 “Bears” visit Barksdale Air Force Base in the United States. [1]

  • May 8 — Excavations begin at Devonport Naval Base, near Auckland, in search of two Boeing seaplanes - the first two aircraft built by that company - supposedly buried there in 1919. The search proves fruitless. [1]

  • May 16 — The 2,000th Lockheed C-130 “Hercules” rolls off the production line. [1]

June 1992

  • June 1 — The USAF's Strategic Air Command is disestablished and replaced by United States Strategic Command. [1]

  • June 6 — Following faulty instrument readings during a night flight, the crew of Copa Airlines Flight 201, a Boeing 737-204 “Advanced”, unwittingly dives the airliner into the ground in a jungle area of the Darién Gap in Panama. The plane strikes the ground at 400 knots (460 mph; 740 km/hr), killing all 47 people on board. It remains the deadliest accident in the history of Panamanian aviation and the only fatal accident in the history of Copa Airlines. [1]

  • June 7 — American Eagle Flight 5456, a CASA C-212 “Aviocar” operated by Executive Airlines, crashes into a swamp on approach to Eugenio María de Hostos Airport in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, in heavy rain, killing all five people on board. [1]

  • June 8 — GP Express Flight 861, a Beechcraft Model 99, crashes into a wooded ridge in Calhoun County, Alabama, while on approach to a landing at Anniston Metropolitan Airport in Anniston, Alabama, killing three of the six people on board. [1]

July 1992

  • July 6 — The final McDonnell-Douglas F-4 “Phantom IIs” are retired from RAF service. [1]

  • July 24 — Attempting to land at Pattimura Airport on Ambon Island in Indonesia during a heavy thunderstorm, Mandala Airlines Flight 660, a Vickers “Viscount 816”, crashes into Mount Lalaboy, killing all 70 people on board. [1]

  • July 30 — The flight crew of Trans World Airways Flight 843, a Lockheed L-1011 “TriStar” with 292 people on board, aborts their takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, and the plane crashes and is destroyed by a fire. Passengers and crew evacuate in only two minutes; there are no fatalities, and only 10 people are injured. [1]

  • July 31 — Thai Airways International Flight 311, an Airbus A310-304, crashes in Langtang National Park while on approach to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all 113 people on board. [1]

  • July 31 —China General Aviation Flight 7552, a Yakovlev Yak-42D “Clobber”, crashes into a pond just after takeoff from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport in Nanjing, China, killing 108 of the 126 people on board and injuring all 18 survivors. [1]

August 1992

  • August 26 — U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces a no-fly zone over southern Iraq south of the 33rd parallel to protect Shiite rebels and civilians there from attacks by the Iraqi Air Force. [1]

  • August 27 — Joint Task Force Southwest Asia, under the command of United States Central Command and consisting of forces of the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Saudi Arabia, commences “Operation Southern Watch” to enforce the new no-fly zone over southern Iraq. It will continue until the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003. [1]

  • August 28 — Four USAF McDonnell-Douglas F-4G “Wild Weasel” aircraft of the 52nd Fighter Wing arrive at Dhahran Airfield in Saudi Arabia to participate in “Operation Southern Watch”. [1]

September 1992

  • September 4 — A USAF Northrop-Grumman B-2A “Spirit” bomber drops a bomb for the first time. [1]

  • September 26 — A Nigerian Air Force Lockheed C-130H “Hercules” aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Lagos, Nigeria after three of its four engines fail. All 158 people on board, including 8 foreign nationals, are killed. The crash remains the deadliest one involving a Lockheed C-130 “Hercules” to date. [1]

  • September 28 — Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268, an Airbus A300B4-203, crashes into the southern slope of the Chure Hills on approach to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all 167 passengers and crew. The crash of Flight 268 is the 100th aviation disaster with more than 100 fatalities and the deadliest one to happen in Nepal. [1]

October 1992

  • October 4 — El Al Flight 1862, a Boeing 747-200 cargo freighter, crashes in the Bijlmermeer neighborhood of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, after takeoff, killing all four people on board and killing 39 and injuring 26 people on the ground. [1]

  • October 9 — The United Nations Security Council passes Resolution 781, establishing a no-fly zone for unauthorized military flights in the airspace of Bosnia and Herzegovina. [1]

  • October 16 — NATO begins “Operation Sky Monitor”, in which NATO Boeing E-3 “Sentry” Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft based in Germany, Italy, Greece, and the United Kingdom monitor the airspace of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The operation will document more than 500 violations of the military no-fly zone created under United Nations Security Council Resolution 781 by April 1993. [1]

  • October 16 — Flight Lieutenant Nicky Smith, graduates from 89 Course at Shawbury, England, to become the RAF's first female helicopter pilot. [1]

December 1992

  • December 16 — NATO votes to enforce the no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 781 with military force if requested to by the United Nations. [1]

  • December 21 — During a thunderstorm, Martinair Flight 495, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-10, makes a hard landing at Faro Airport in Faro, Portugal, collapsing the starboard main landing gear, setting the right wing fuel tank on fire, and breaking the fuselage in two. The crash kills 56 of the 340 people on board and badly injures 106 of the 284 survivors. [1]

  • December 22 — Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103, a Boeing 727-2L5, collides with a Libyan Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 “Flogger” while Flight 1103 is on approach to land at Tripoli International Airport in Tripoli, Libya. Both aircraft crash, killing all 157 people aboard the airliner and both crewmen of the MiG-23 “Flogger”. [1]

  • December 27 — For the first time, the Iraqi Air Force challenges the no-fly zone established in August under “Operation Southern Watch”. An Iraqi Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 “Foxbat” flies south of the 32nd parallel but flees Back across the parallel from pursuing USAF McDonnell-Douglas F-15 “Eagles” before they can attack it. Other Iraqi fighters dodge Back and forth across the parallel later in the day. Finally, a USAF General Dynamics F-16 “Fighting Falcon” of the 33rd Tactical Fighter Squadron piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Gary L. North shoots down a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 “Foxbat”. It is the first combat kill by an General Dynamics F-16 “Fighting Falcon” in USAF service, and the first kill by an Hughes AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile. [1]

1992 Aircraft First Flights

  • March 26 — Saab 2000. [1]

  • April — Sikorsky “Cypher”. [1]

  • July 8 — Bede BD-10. [1]

  • August 20 — HAL “Dhruv”. [1]

  • November 2 — Airbus A330. [1]

  • December 18 — McDonnell-Douglas MD-90. [1]

Works Cited

  1. Timeline and History: Wikipedia. 1992 in Aviation

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