1999

Master Index

2001

2000 Chronology of Aviation History
Major Aviation Events

January 2000

• January 9 — The United States reports that Iraqi surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery sites have fired at aircraft participating in “Operation Southern Watch” to enforce a no-fly zone over southern Iraq more than 420 times since December 1998 and that Iraqi aircraft have violated the southern no-fly zone more than 140 times since “Operation Desert Fox” took place in mid-December 1998. ^[1]

• January 10 — Crossair suffers the first fatal accident in its 25-year history when Crossair Flight 498, a Saab 340, crashes in Niederhasli, Switzerland, shortly after takeoff from Zurich, killing all 10 people on board. ^[1]

• January 30 — Kenya Airways suffers its first fatal accident when Kenya Airways Flight 431, the Airbus A310-304 Harambee Star, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire a minute after takeoff from Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport in Abidjan, killing 169 of the 179 people on board and injuring all 10 survivors. It will be the deadliest aviation accident of 2000. ^[1]

• January 31 — Due to inadequate maintenance, the horizontal stabilizer of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, jams during a flight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Seattle, Washington, forcing the plane into a dive from 31,500 feet (9,601 m) to between 23,000 (7,010 m) and 24,000 feet (7,315 m) in 80 seconds. Although the crew manages to stop the dive and attempts to divert to Los Angeles, California, the stabilizer jams again minutes later and the plane dives into the Pacific Ocean near Anacapa Island, California, killing all 88 people on board. Among the dead is Morris Thompson, who had served as Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1973 to 1976. ^[1]

February 2000

• February 11 — JetBlue Airways commences operations. ^[1]

March 2000

• March 5 — Southwest Airlines Flight 1455, a Boeing 737-3T5 with 142 people on board, overshoots the runway on landing at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport in Burbank, California. Forty-four people are injured. ^[1]

April 2000

• April 19 — Circling in low clouds while waiting for another aircraft to clear the runway at Davao International Airport in Davao, the Philippines, Air Philippines Flight 541, a Boeing 737-2H4, slams into a mountainside in Island Garden City of Samal, killing all 131 people on board. ^[1]

May 2000

• May 15 — Helios Airways commences airline operations. ^[1]

• May 22 — The United States reports that Iraqi surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery sites have fired at aircraft participating in “Operation Southern Watch” to enforce a no-fly zone over southern Iraq more than 470 times since December 1998 and that Iraqi aircraft have violated the southern no-fly zone more than 150 times since “Operation Desert Fox” took place in mid-December 1998. ^[1]

• May 25 — Reginald Chua hijacks Philippine Airlines Flight 812, an Airbus A330-301 with 290 other people on board, just before landing at Ninoy Aquino International Airport near Manila, the Philippines. He demands the passengers place their valuables in a bag, and then attempts to jump from the plane via the rear door using a homemade parachute, but panics and instead clings to the door; a male flight attendant then pushes him from the door and he falls from the plane over Antipolo, Rizal. His body is found three days later near Llabac in Real, Quezon. ^[1]

June 2000

• June 17 — A passenger aboard CityFlyer Express Flight 8106 — a BAe 146 with 97 other people on board flying from Zürich Airport in Zürich, Switzerland, to London Gatwick Airport in England - grabs a flight attendant, holds scissors to her throat, and threatens to blow up the plane. Police arrest him after the plane lands safely at London Gatwick. ^[1]

• June 22 — After circling Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, China, for 30 minutes in bad weather, Wuhan Airlines Flight 343, a Xian Y-7, encounters windshear and is struck by lightning. The airliner breaks in two and crashes in Sitai Village, Yongfeng Township, striking a dike on the Han River and a farmhouse, killing all 44 people on board and seven people on the ground. ^[1]

July 2000

• July 4 — With their landing gear warning horn turned off due to frequent false alarms while passing over hills during a low-altitude approach to Thessaloniki International Airport in Thessaloniki, Greece, the flight crew of Malév Flight 262, a Tupolev Tu-154B-2 “Careless”, mistakenly makes a gear-up touchdown. The airliner skids along the runway on its belly before the flight crew manages to get it airborne again, perform a go-around, put its landing gear down, and make a normal landing with no injuries to anyone on board. ^[1]

• July 8 — Aerocaribe Flight 7831, a British Aerospace “Jetstream 32”, crashes in a mountainous region near Chulum Juarez, Mexico, while attempting to avoid bad weather as it approaches for a landing at Carlos Rovirosa Pérez International Airport in Villahermosa, Mexico. All 19 people on board die. ^[1]

• July 10 — EADS is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, Dornier, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA), and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). ^[1]

• July 12 — After Hapag-Lloyd Flight 3378, an Airbus A310-304 with 150 people aboard, takes off from Chania, Greece, bound for Hanover, Germany, it is unable to retract its landing gear fully, increasing its fuel consumption. Its flight crew opts to shorten the flight and plans to land at Munich, but fuel consumption is greater than estimated, forcing the plane to try to land at Vienna, Austria, with little fuel left. The plane runs out of fuel 20 km (12.4 miles) short of the airport but glides to within 500 meters (1,640 feet) of the runway before crash-landing. All aboard survive, but the plane is written off. ^[1]

• July 17 — After coming in too high to make a successful landing at Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport in Patna, India, Alliance Air Flight 7412, a Boeing 737-2A8, attempts to make a 360-degree left turn for another landing attempt but stalls and crashes, killing 55 of the 58 people on board and injuring all three survivors. On the ground, five more people die and two are injured. ^[1]

• July 25 — A “Concorde” of Air France, operating as Air France Flight 4590, catches fire during takeoff then crashes at Gonesse, France, killing all 100 passengers and all nine crewmembers on board and four people on the ground. ^[1]

August 2000

• August 23 — Gulf Air Flight 072, an Airbus A320-212, crashes into the Persian Gulf while attempting a go-around for a second landing attempt at Bahrain International Airport in Al Muharraq, Bahrain, killing all 143 people on board. At the time, it is the deadliest accident involving an A320, and it will remain so until 2007. ^[1]

• August 31 — Virgin Australia begins airline operations as Virgin Blue. ^[1]

September 2000

• September 4 — A Beechcraft “King Air” on a flight from Perth. Australia, to the Gwalia Gold Mine at Gwalia, Australia, fails to land. Instead, with everyone aboard apparently incapacitated by a cabin pressurization failure, it flies on autopilot from Western Australia across Australia to Queensland, where it eventually crashes at Burketown after running out of fuel. All eight people on board — the pilot and seven passengers — die. ^[1]

October 2000

• October 31 — During heavy rain caused by Typhoon Xangsane, the flight crew of Singapore Airlines Flight 006, a Boeing 747-412, attempts to take off from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, using the wrong runway. During its takeoff roll, the plane is destroyed when it collides with construction equipment parked on the runway and bursts into flame, killing 83 of the 179 people on board and injuring 71 of the 96 survivors. It is the first fatal accident involving a Singapore Airlines aircraft other than the 1997 crash of an airliner operated by the Singapore Airlines subsidiary SilkAir. Among the injured survivors is William Wang, later the founder of Vizio. ^[1]

November 2000

• November 3 — The last flight of an Boeing EC-135E ARIA (Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircrafttakes place as a United States Air Force flight crew from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, delivers the last Boeing EC-135E ARIA (AF 60-374), nicknamed “The Bird of Prey”, with full Prime Mission Electronic Equipment (PMEE), to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. ^[1]

2000 Aircraft First Flights

• January — Northrop Grumman RQ-8A “Fire Scout” first autonomous flight. ^[1]

• February 29 — Mikoyan MiG-35 “Fulcrum F ”. ^[1]

• March — Adam M-309 “CarbonAero”. ^[1]

• July 18 — Dassault AVE-D “Petit” Duc stealth UAV. ^[1]

2000 Aircraft Entering Service

• 2000 — Mitsubishi F-2 with Japan Air Self-Defense Force. ^[1]

• October 1 — Mitsubishi MH2000 with Excel Air Service, Japan. ^[1]

Works Cited

1. Timeline and History: Wikipedia. 2000 in Aviation