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2004 Master Index 2006

2005 Chronology of Aviation History
Major Aviation Events

January 2005

  • 18 January — The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, gets unveiled in an elaborate ceremony in France. [1]

  • 29 January — Nonstop flights between mainland China and Taiwan take off for the first time since 1949. [1]

February 2005

  • 3 February — Kam Air Flight 904 crashes. There are no survivors. [1]

  • 9-13 February — Aero-India show in Bangalore, India. [1]

  • 17 February — Several airlines will have to pay heavy compensation to passengers for flight delays and cancellations under a European regulation. [1]

  • 17 February — Opening of a new international airport in Nagoya, Japan. It is the third Japanese international airport. [1]

  • 20-21 February — British Airways Flight 268, a Boeing 747-436 with 369 people on board, suffers an engine fire during climbout from Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. The crew shuts down the engine and opts to continue the flight to its destination, Manchester in the United Kingdom, on three engines. Although the aircraft arrives safely, controversy ensures when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration threatens to fine British Airways for flying an “unairworthy” plane across the Atlantic Ocean. [1]

March 2005

  • March — Lufthansa acquired their first 11% of Swiss International Air Lines. [1]

  • 5 March — Steve Fossett completes the first non-stop, solo circumnavigation of the world in the Virgin Atlantic “GlobalFlyer”, completing the trip in 67 hours and 2 minutes. [1]

  • 11 March — Jetsgo ceases all operations and declares bankruptcy protection. [1]

  • 11 March — China's first private airline, Okay Airlines has its maiden revenue flight. [1]

  • 16 March — A Regional Airlines Antonov An-24 “Coke” aircraft carrying oil workers to Varandey, Russia crashed five kilometers from the runway. A mixture of bad weather and pilot error caused the crash. Twenty-six of the 45 passengers died as well as two of the seven crew members. [1]

  • 17 March — A judge has found millionaire Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik and sawmill worker Ajaib Singh Bagri not guilty of conspiracy and murder in the 1985 Air India bombing that killed 329 people. [1]

  • 23 March — Baku Cargo Terminal was opened and started to operate. [1]

  • 28 March — Chicago Express Airlines, also known as ATA Connection, ceased operations. [1]

April 2005

  • 12 April — A GT Air de Havilland Canada DHC-6 “Twin Otter 100” aircraft crashes in Indonesia, all 18 on board die. [1]

May 2005

  • 3 May — Airwork Flight 23, a Fairchild Swearingen “Metroliner” crashes in Taranaki, New Zealand killing both crew members. [1]

  • 13 May — A missile strike by an American General Atomics RQ-1 “Predator” unmanned aerial vehicle in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan kills al-Qaeda member Haitham al-Yemeni. [1]

  • 25 May — A chartered Maniema Union Antonov An-28 “Cash” aircraft, owned by Victoria Air, crashes into a mountain near Walungu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, about 30 minutes after takeoff. All 22 passengers and five crew members are killed. [1]

June 2005

  • 9 June — After air traffic controllers at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, give them clearance to take off simultaneously on intersecting runways, US Airways Flight 1170, a Boeing 737-3B7 with 109 people on board, and Aer Lingus Flight 132, an Airbus A330-301 with 272 people on board, nearly collide on takeoff. Disaster is averted when the US Airways first officer sees the approaching A330, realizes the aircraft could collide if they both become airborne, and pushes the control column forward to keep the 737 on the ground until the A330 passes 170 feet (52 m) overhead. The 381 people on the two planes suffer no injuries. [1]

July 2005

  • 2-3 July — Steve Fossett and co-pilot Mark Rebholz recreated the first direct crossing of the Atlantic by the British team of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown on 14 June 1919 in a Vickers “Vimy” biplane. [1]

  • 29 July — The U.S. Army awards a contract for the purchase of 368 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) to Bell Helicopter Textron. [1]

  • 30 July — John Garang de Mabior, serving as both the first President of Southern Sudan and the First Vice President of Sudan, dies in the crash of the Ugandan presidential Mil Mi-172 helicopter in a mountain range in southern Sudan. [1]

August 2005

  • 2 August — Air France Flight 358, an Airbus A340-300 with 309 people on board bursts into flames after skidding off the end of a runway after landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Everyone on board survives, although 43 are injured. [1]

  • 6 August — A Tuninter ATR-72 heading from Italy to Tunisia crashes into the Mediterranean Sea, killing 16 of 39 on board. [1]

  • 14 August — Helios Airways Flight 522 crashes into a mountain north of Marathon and Varnavas, Greece, killing all 121 passengers and crew. [1]

  • 16 August — West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a charter flight, crashes into the mountains of Venezuela with no survivors. [1]

  • 23 August — TANS Peru Flight 204 crashes in Peru. [1]

September 2005

  • 5 September — Mandala Airlines Flight 091, a Boeing 737 crashes in Indonesia killing at least 117. [1]

  • 5 September — an Antonov An-12BP “Cub” (4L-SAS) cargo aircraft owned by Transaviaservice of Georgia, operated for Galaxy Kavatsi of DRC, and flying with an expired Georgian license overshoots and burns at Goma DRC while stopping en route to Bukavu. Five crew (two Ukrainians, two Georgians, one Congolese) and three minor passengers (Congolese girls) were killed. [1]

  • 9 September — an Antonov operated by Air Kasai in the DRC crashes 50 km north of Brazzaville killing 14 including 4 crew on a flight from Buendé to Kinshasa. [1]

  • 21 September — JetBlue Airways Flight 292, an Airbus A320 makes an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport after its nose wheels got stuck at a 90° angle. All 145 people on board survived. [1]

October 2005

  • 6 October — A small plane carrying cargo for FedEx, including six vials of research viruses, crashes in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The only person on board, the female pilot, is killed, but there were no injuries on the ground. [1]

  • 14 October — Air Jamaica Express ceases operations. [1]

  • 29 October — Ghana International Airlines launches with inaugural flight from Accra to London. [1]

November 2005

  • 5 November — At least one Lockheed Martin AGM-114 “Hellfire” missile fired by an American CIA General Atomics RQ-1 “Predator” unmanned aerial vehicle strikes a house in Mosaki, North Waziristan, Pakistan, injuring the senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Hamza Rabia and killing his wife, his daughter, and six others. [1]

  • 14 November — Boeing launches the Boeing 747-8. [1]

December 2005

  • 1 December — Lockheed Martin AGM-114 “Hellfire” missiles fired by an American General Atomics RQ-1 “Predator” unmanned aerial vehicle strike a house in Haisori, Pakistan, killing senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Hamza Rabia, his bodyguard, and two boys. [1]

  • 5 December — Southwest Airlines Flight 1248, a Boeing 737-7H4 with 103 people on board, slides off a runway while landing in a snowstorm at Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois; 11 people on the aircraft are injured. The plane strikes at least three cars in a busy intersection; a six-year-old boy is killed and several people are injured in the cars. [1]

  • 19 December — Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 loses a wing and crashes into the Atlantic Ocean near Miami, Florida, killing 20 people. The crash spells the end for Chalk's Ocean Airways, which has operated since 1917. [1]

  • 26 December — At around 6:00 pm local time, a Piper “Aztec” (N444DA), bound for Providenciales International Airport on the island of Providenciales crashes in shallow water off the coast of South Caicos in the Turks and Caicos Islands. All four people on board (the pilot and three passengers) die. [1]

2005 Aircraft First Flights

  • 27 April — The first Airbus A380 (F-WWOW), makes its maiden flight from Toulouse, France. [1]

  • 21 June — First captive flight of Boeing X-37 under the Scaled Composites “White Knight”. [1]

2005 Aircraft Entering Service

  • December — Lockheed Martin F-22A “Raptor” with the 27th fighter squadron. [1]

Works Cited

  1. Timeline and History: Wikipedia. 2005 in Aviation

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