January 15

2012 -- A Robinson R22 helicopter clipped some high voltage cables and crashed near a highway at San Liberato locality, near Narni in central Italy.

Both occupants were killed.

2012 -- Intercepted militant radio communications indicate the leader of the Pakistani Taliban may have been killed in a recent U.S. drone strike.

The claim that the Pakistani Taliban chief was killed came from officials who said they intercepted a number of Taliban radio conversations. In about a half a dozen intercepts, the militants discussed whether their chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed on Jan. 12 in the North Waziristan tribal area. Some militants confirmed Mehsud was dead, and one criticized others for talking about the issue over the radio.

2012 -- A Russian space probe  on a mission to a moon of Mars has come down in flames, showering fragments into the south Pacific west of Chile's coast, officials said.

The Zenit-2SB rocket with the Phobos-Ground probe was launched pad from the Cosmodrome Baikonur, Kazakhstan. on November 9, 2011. Pieces from the Phobos-Ground, which had become stuck in Earth's orbit, landed in water today 1,250 kilometers (775 miles) west of Wellington Island in Chile's south, the Russian military Air and Space Defense Forces said in a statement carried by the country's news agencies.

2011 -- Iran has barred four domestic airlines from operating old Soviet-produced Tupolev airplanes after a string of accidents involving the aircraft, the Mehr news agency reported.

Reza Nakhjavani, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, said in a letter to these airlines, which still operate Tupolev TU154 jets, to stop flying them as of February 20. The ban applies to 17 TU154 planes, which are in service with Iran Air Tour, Kish Air, Taban and Caspian airlines.

2010 -- U.S. Air Force provides Global Hawk imagery in Haiti.

2010 -- U.S. Air Force reopens Haitian airport.

A major obstacle to delivering aid to Haiti began to be cleared, as the U.S. Air Force brought order to the chaotic Port-au-Prince airport. Earlier, authorities had been forced to turn away aid flights when the large influx of aircraft overwhelmed the facility's small tarmac. But by daybreak, a 115-person Air Force team, which flew in five C-17 cargo planes of communications and air-traffic management equipment overnight, had undone most of the logjam. A steady stream of flights arrived and departed without difficulty even during the pre-dawn hours, the first time the airport was able to accept nighttime flights since the quake.

2009 -- Chesley Burnett Sully Sullenberger successfully landed a passenger jet in the Hudson River.

US Airways flight 1549 had taken off from New York's LaGuardia Airport, en route to Charlotte, when it ran into a flock of Canada geese near the George Washington Bridge. Both engines of the Airbus A320 were disabled, and the left engine caught fire. Sullenberger warned the passengers to brace for impact, and then made a water landing near the U.S.S. Intrepidmuseum adjacent midtown Manhattan. All 155 passengers and crew survived; Sullenberger was the last to exit, which he did after checking the cabin and retrieving the log book.

1993 -- An Azeerbaijani Air and Defence Force MiG-21 shot down an Armenian MiG-21 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Azerbaijan's air force was composed of forty-five combat aircraft which were often piloted by experienced Russian and Ukrainian mercenaries from the former Soviet military. They flew mission sorties over Karabakh with such sophisticated jets as the MiG-25 and Sukhoi Su-24 and with older-generation Soviet fighter bombers, such as the MiG-21. They were reported to have been paid a monthly salary of over 5,000 rubles and flew bombing campaigns from air force bases in Azerbaijan often targeting Stepanakert.

1992 - -- USAF loses a Lockheed U-2 in the Sea of Japan.  USAF Pilot Capt. Marty McGregor was killed.

1991 -- The first hot-air balloon to cross the Pacific Ocean takes off from Japan and eventually lands in Canada.

Per Lindstrand and Richard Branson become the first to traverse the Pacific by hot air balloon, reaching speeds in the jet stream of up to 245 mph, in their Otsuka Flyer, which travels 6,700 miles in 46 hours. They fly from Japan to Arctic Canada and break the world distance record.

1977 -- Linjeflyg Flight 618, a Vickers 838 Viscount (registered SE-FOZ) crashes on approach to Stockholm-Bromma Airport. 

Linjeflyg Flight 618 was a scheduled Linjeflyg passenger flight, operated by Skyline Sweden, that crashed into a residential area on 15 January 1977, killing all 22 people on board. The plane had left Malmö earlier that morning. The airplane, a Vickers 838 Viscount, was at an altitude of 1,150 feet and was descending to land at the Stockholm-Bromma Airport (BMA/ESSB), serving Stockholm. Suddenly, the aircraft experienced a loss of pitch control. The aircraft went into a steep dive and crashed into the residential area of Kälvesta, five km short of the runway. The aircraft impacted a car park, and no one on the ground was killed. All 19 passengers and 3 crew members on board the airplane were killed. One of them was the well-known table tennis player Hans Alsér. A full investigation into the cause of the accident was conducted by the Government of Sweden. The investigation came to the following conclusions: The aircraft had been cruising for a long period with the number two and number three engines at a low power setting. This meant that the anti-icing systems run from the engines were not at a temperature sufficient for them to operate correctly.  The plane entered a steep dive from an altitude of 1,150ft due to ice that had developed on the horizontal stabilizer, killing all 22 aboard.

1973 -- The last mission of a B-52 in the Vietnam War.    President Nixon has ordered a halt to American bombing in North Vietnam following peace talks in Paris.

1970 -- American manufacturer of small aircraft, William T. Piper, best known for the Piper Cub [Video] died, bringing to an end a career that added immeasurably to the role of the private airplane in the great transportation revolution. 

He earned the sobriquet "the Henry Ford of Aviation" for his efforts to popularize air travel. In WW II, Piper delivered more than 5,600 Piper Cubs, long popular as a training plane, to the U.S. government for use as special personnel planes, for photoreconnaissance, and as artillery spotters. Because of their low landing speed, 20 mph (32 kph) and high maneuverability, the Pipers wer often able to eluded enemy fighters. In addition to the Piper Cub, the company manufactured light to medium-sized aircraft for use as business planes.

1969 -- The first docking of two manned spacecraft took place between the Soviet Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5. The spacecraft formed what was termed "the world's first space station" with a crew of four aboard.

They remained docked for four and a half hours - three orbits of the Earth. During that time, two cosmonauts 'space walked' from Soyuz 4 to Soyuz 5, becoming the first spacefarers to return to Earth in a different spacecraft from the one in which they went into space.

1950 -- General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold dies of a heart ailment in Sonoma, California.

Arnold was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and later General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938-1941), Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces during WW II, the only Air Force general to hold five-star rank, and the only person to hold a five-star rank in two different U.S. military services.

Instructed in flying by the Wright Brothers, Arnold was one of the first military pilots worldwide, and the second rated pilot in the history of the United States Air Force. He overcame a fear of flying that resulted from his experiences with early flight, oversaw the expansion of the Air Service during WW I.

Arnold was a powerful advocate for creation of an independent Air Force and played a key role in the political struggles over it with the hierarchies of the United States Army and United States Navy. He rose to command the Army Air Forces immediately prior to U.S. entry into WW II and directed its expansion into the largest and most powerful Air Force in the world. He was especially interested in the development of sophisticated aerospace technology to give the United States an edge in the achievement of air superiority and fostered the development of such innovations as jet aircraft, rocketry, rocket-assisted take-off, and supersonic flight.

1948 -- Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, approved the development of satellite components and satellites.

As Air Force Chief of Staff he was a senior official in the DOD during the formative period of rocketry development and the work on intercontinental ballistic missiles.

1941 -- Jean-Jacques Barre report, a comprehensive report on the military potential of rocketry.

French rocket pioneer Barre sketeched out ballistic missiles with 1000 km range, powered by liquid oxygen/gasoline engines. Armor-piercing rockets could reach 2000 m/s and defeat any tank armor. Anti-aircraft rockets would intercept aircraft in half the time. Rocket-boosted bombs would destroy enemey emplacements. Air-augmented rockets could reach even higher range and efficiencies.

1936 -- Missing U.S. aviators located by RAAF in Antarctica.

When radio contact was lost with the Northrop Gamma monoplane taking U.S. explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and his pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon on a successful attempt to fly across the Antarctic continent in November 1935, a relief expedition was organised in Melbourne using the Royal Research Society’s vessel Discovery II. Two RAAF floatplanes, a D.H.60X Gipsy Moth and a Westland Wapiti, were put on board the ship, along with seven personnel. Once the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea was reached, Flight Lieutenant Eric Douglas and Flying Officer Alister Murdoch took off in the Moth at 9 pm and overflew the Little America base, 10 kilometres inland from the ice barrier. On sighting a man in the snow, the RAAF flyers dropped a bag by parachute containing food and messages to the ‘missing’ men. After ground contact was made, Ellsworth accompanied Discovery II on the voyage back to Melbourne, Australia.

1936 -- The U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office published a Naval Air Pilot for the Pacific Islands in January 1936 as a confidential document.

It had detailed maps and photographs of all the airfields and seaplane anchorages in Hawaii. The most important anchorages were listed as Pearl Harbor, Kaneohe, Hilo, Kahului, Lahaina, Nawiliwili, Ahukini and Port Allen. The most important landing fields were listed as Luke Field, Wheeler Field, John Rodgers Airport, Hilo, Maalaea, Hana, Lanai City, Molokai (Homestead), Port Allen and Wailua, Kauai.

1935 -- Maj James Doolittle establishes a record for a transport flight across the United States, from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey in 11 hours and 59 minutes.

1927 -- In what would later become  United Airlines , Boeing Air Transport is established, carrying airmail between San Francisco and Chicago.

1918 -- Royal Flying Corps ace Capt. Matthew Brown Bunty Frew scores his 18th, 19th, and 20th victories.

1918 -- Welsh Royal Flying Corps ace Capt. Peter Carpenter scored his 7th victory.

He finished the war having flown 190 combat patrols and 9 bombing raids. He led 139 patrols and flew a total of 422 hours, and 30 minutes, with 24 victories.  In 1920 he was started his own company, the Loyal Shipping Co., but lost this business in the Great Crash of 1929. Later, he was the London General Manager with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, of New York and its subsequent British incorporation. During WW II Carpenter served with the 13th Company, 20th Battery, Middlesex Home Guard. He died at his home in 1971. He was 79.

1915 -- Lt. Byron Q. Jones set a new one-man duration record of 8 hours, and 53 minutes in a Martin T tractor biplane at San Diego, California.

1914 -- The first regularly scheduled passenger airline in the United States begins service. The Benoist Company, flying its Benoist flying boat, runs a line between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida.

1914 -- The first U.S. Army aviation safety regulation was issued requiring pilots to wear helmets and leather coats for overland flights, and unsinkable coats for over water flights.