1982 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1982:

[edit] Events

January 8 - the Airbus A300 is certified, becoming the first wide body airliner with cockpit accommodations for only two to be certified.
January 10 - a Gulfstream III, Spirit of America, flies around the world in just 43 hours 39 minutes and 6 seconds, becoming the fastest business jet to fly around the world.
January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90, crashed into frozen Potomac River
January 22 - a F/A-18 Hornet makes a fully automated landing, its autopilot linked to a ground radar at the Naval Air Test Center Patuxent River
January 23 – World Airways Flight 30, landed long at Boston, Massachusetts, two missing presumed dead.
January 27 - Cessna delivers its 1,000th business jet

February 3 - The Mil Mi-26 helicopter lifts a load weighing 57 metric tons to 2,000 metres (6,500 ft) to break a world record for a helicopter.
February 6 - Freddie Laker's Laker Airways flies for the last time.
February 9 - a Japan Airlines Douglas DC-8 crashes in Tokyo, killing 24 of the 174 passengers on board. The probable cause of the accident was cited as a possible breakdown by captain Seiji Katagiri, who had mental problems. Every airline pilot must now undergo mental testing as well as physical testing.
February 10 - Air Florida Flight 90 Boeing 737 crashes soon after take-off from Washington DC's National Airport, into the Potomac river, killing 70 passengers plus people on the 14th Street Bridge. Many of the passengers actually died frozen by the river's iced waters. The plane's anti-freeze solution was not adequate for the weather that day, and the plane's engines had ice on them before taking off.
February 25 - American Airlines announces it will cancel its orders for 15 Boeing 757s.

April 1 - Air France flies the Concorde over to Rio de Janeiro and Caracas, Venezuela for the last time.
April 2 - Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
April 5 - Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible sail for the Falkland Islands
April 26 - CAAC Trident 2E crashed into a mountain while on approach to Guilin, killing all 112 people on board

May 1 - American Airlines launches AAdvantage, the first frequent flyer program in history. United Airlines launches its own program, Mileage Plus, only a week later.
May 13 - Braniff International Airways' president Howard D. Putnam announces the airline has filed for protection under bankruptcy laws, and the airline's fleet of 71 aircraft is grounded.
May 18 - American Airlines' 1 millionth passenger is flown.
May 24 - The last service by a British Airways Boeing 707, from Cairo, Egypt to London, is performed.

June 8 - VASP Boeing 727 crashed into a hillside in Brazil, killing all 137 on board
June 14 - Argentinan forces surrender to British forces on the Falkland Islands. During their war, the British had destroyed 109 Argentinian planes, compared to only 34 lost by the British.
June 23 – British Airways Flight 9, flew through cloud of volcanic dust south of Java; all engines failed. Was able to restart engines and make safe landing.

July 9 - a Pan Am Boeing 727 crashes while en route from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to New Orleans, killing 137 passengers plus people on the ground. The sole survivor of the crash is a baby girl in a house.

September 13 - Spantax Flight 995, crashed after an aborted takeoff in Málaga, Spain; this DC-10 overshot the runway, crossed a four lane highway and killed three people in vehicles, and burst into flames in a field. Fifty people died.
September 30 - H Ross Perot Jr. and J.W. Coburn make history by landing their Bell LongRanger II helicopter in Dallas, Texas 29 days, 3 hours, and 8 minutes after taking off. It is the first time a trip around the world is completed by helicopter.

November 4 - Pan Am inaugurates service from Los Angeles to Sydney; at 7,487 non-stop miles (11,979 km), it is the longest non-stop flight in the world.