January 6 – A U.S. Air Force XB-70A Valkyrie remains in the air continuously for 3 hours 40 minutes, the longest flight ever by an XB-70.
January 8–14 – In
Operation Crimp, a U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade helicopter and ground assault destroys a Viet Cong headquarters in the
Ho Bo Woods in South Vietnam.[3]
January 12 – A U.S. Air Force XB-70A Valkyrie reaches 2,020 mph (3,250 km/h), the highest speed ever reached by an XB-70.
January 17 – A U.S. Air Force
B-52 Stratofortress collides with a
KC-135 Stratotanker during
aerial refueling near
Palomares,
Spain.
Both aircraft crash, killing the entire four-man crew of the KC-135 and three of the seven men aboard the B-52. Two of the B-52's nuclear bombs rupture, scattering radioactive material over the Spanish countryside. One bomb lands intact near Palomares, and another is lost in the
Mediterranean Sea. It is later recovered intact 5 miles (8.0 km) offshore.
January 22 – The U.S. Air Force completes
Operation Blue Light, the largest airlift of troops and equipment into a combat zone in history. Since the operation began on December 27, 1965, the Air Force has flown 4,600
short tons (4,173
metric tons) of equipment and over 3,000 troops from
Hickam Air Force Base,
Hawaii, to
Pleiku, South Vietnam.[2]
January 24
Operation Masher, later renamed Operation White Wing, a helicopter and ground assault by the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and
South Vietnamese Army and
South Korean Army units, begins against North Vietnamese Army forces in
Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam. The operation concludes on March 6.[4]
Nicholas Piantanida launches from
Joe Foss Field in
Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, in the
balloonStrato Jump II, hoping to set a new world record for the highest
parachute jump. He is forced to give up the attempt when he is unable to disconnect his
oxygen system, and he detaches the balloon's
gondola and parachutes safely to earth inside it. The flight sets an unofficial world
balloon altitude record of 123,500 feet (37,642 meters (23.390 miles),[8][9][10][11] although the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale does not recognize it as official because he returns to earth in the gondola without remaining attached to the balloon. The record will stand until
Felix Baumgartner's balloon flight on
14 October 2012.
February 17 –
Aeroflot Flight 65, a
Tupolev Tu-114, crashes on takeoff in deteriorating weather at
Sheremetyevo International Airport in
Moscow, killing 21 and injuring at least 18, after its crew attempts to take off without realizing that snow has not been fully cleared from the runway and its wing strikes a sowban during its takeoff roll, forcing two of its propellers to strike the runway, after which it veers off the runway and catches fire. It is the only fatal crash involving the long-range turboprop Tu-114.
After taxiing past the wreckage of Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 at
Tokyo International Airport,
Boeing 707-436G-APFE, operating as
BOAC Flight 911, disintegrates in severe
clear-air turbulence and crashes near
Mount Fuji in Japan shortly after take-off, killing all 124 people on board. The two crashes kill a combined 188 people, a record total at the time for aviation accidents in a 24-hour period.
For the first time, the United States employs the Alpha section (listing major fixed ground targets in North Vietnam) of a U.S.
Joint Chiefs of StaffRolling Thunder order.[6]
March 27 – The
flight engineer aboard a
Cubana de AviaciónIlyushin Il-18B (registration CU-T831) shoots and kills the on-board security guard during a domestic flight in
Cuba from
Santiago de Cuba to
Havana and
hijacks the plane, demanding to be flown to
Florida. The
captain pretends to be flying to Florida but actually lands the airliner at
José Martí International Airport in Havana. Seeing an
Aeroflot airliner on the
tarmac and realizing that captain had tricked him, the flight engineer shoots the captain dead and tries to initiate a takeoff, but the copilot shuts the engines down. The flight engineer jumps out of the plane and flees; he will be apprehended several days later.[14]
March 31 – The U.S. Air Force's
Strategic Air Command retires its last
B-47 Stratojet. The first all-jet strategic bomber, the B-47 had served since 1951.[13]
The U.S. Air Force's second
North American XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – reaches a maximum speed of
Mach 3.08 and maintains it for 20 minutes. It is the highest Mach number ever reached by an XB-70.
April 19 – U.S. Navy aircraft strike the
coal port of
Cam Pha, North Vietnam, only 35 miles (56 km) from North Vietnam's border with the
People's Republic of China.[6]
While ascending in the
balloonStrato Jump III to attempt to set a new world
skydiving altitude record of over 120,000 feet (37,000 meters),
Nicholas Piantanida is fatally injured when his
pressure suit depressurizes at an altitude of about 57,000 feet (17,000 meters). Although ground controllers detach the
gondola from the balloon at an altitude of 56,000 feet (17,000 meters) and return it to earth in a 25-minute parachute descent with Piantanida on board, Piantanida suffers
brain damage and never emerges from a
coma. He will die on August 29.
May 19 – The
United States Air Force′s second
North American XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – covers 2,400 miles in 91 minutes of flight, flying at
Mach 3 for 32 minutes – the longest continuous time at Mach 3 ever achieved by an XB-70 – and reaching a maximum speed of Mach 3.06.
May 23–26 – A new
Learjet 24 makes a round-the-world demonstration flight to exhibit its capabilities. The total flight time for the trip is 50 hours and 20 minutes.
June
The
Indian Air Force begins re-arming to replace losses from the previous year's war with Pakistan.
June 8 – During a publicity photo shoot of aircraft powered by
General Electric engines in which the U.S. Air Force's second
XB-70A research aircraft – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – flies in formation with an
F-4 Phantom II, an
F-5 Freedom Fighter, an
F-104 Starfighter, and a
T-38 Talon at an altitude of about 25,000 feet (7,600 meters), the F-104 collides with the XB-70A. The F-104 explodes, killing its pilot,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) chief test pilot
Joseph A. Walker. The XB-70A crashes and is destroyed. The XB-70A's copilot is killed, while its pilot,
Alvin S. White ejects and suffers serious injuries. The crash leaves only one XB-70A – Air Vehicle 1 (AV-1) – in existence.
June 20 –
Sheila Scott completes a solo round-the-world flight.
June 29
The U.S. Air Force bombs
Hanoi for the first time.
For the first time,
PresidentLyndon B. Johnson's administration authorizes attacks on industrial targets in northeastern North Vietnam and on North Vietnam's entire
petroleum,
oil, and
lubricants system.[6]
July 14 – In response to Fatah commando attacks launched from inside
Syria,
Israeli Air Force jets strike Syrian tractors and mechanical equipment in the
Golan Heights southeast of
Almagor,
Israel. The equipment had been engaged in diverting the flow of water from the
Baniyas springs away from the
Jordan River.[19][20]
July 24 – American professional golfer
Tony Lema dies in the crash of a
Beechcraft Bonanza on approach to
Lansing Municipal Airport in
Lansing,
Illinois; the plane crashes into a water hazard short of the seventh green on the golf course at Lansing Country Club, less than a mile (1.6 km) from the airport. The other three people on the plane – the pilot, the co-pilot, and Lema's wife – also are killed.[5]
August
Three
hijackers commandeer an
Aeroflot airliner in the
Soviet Union. Security forces storm the plane while it is on the ground at
Batumi and arrest the hijackers.[21]
August 3 – With enough land-based aircraft now available to support forces in the area, the U.S. Navy ends aircraft carrier deployments to
Dixie Station off
South Vietnam.[23]
August 5 – The
Soviet Union protests damage to one of its
merchant ships in a North Vietnamese port due to American air attacks.[24]
August 15 – Syrian forces open fire on an
Israelipatrol boat that has run aground on the shore of the
Sea of Galilee, leading to combat between the
Israeli and
Syrian air forces. Israel claims two Syrian jets shot down.[19][25]
The deadliest crash of this year was
All Nippon Airways Flight 60, a
Boeing 727 which crashed into
Tokyo Bay,
Japan on 4 February, as it approached
Haneda Airport, killing all 133 people on board; as well as being then the world's deadliest single-aircraft accident, it was also among a string of five major crashes to strike Japan in 1966; 371 people were killed in these incidents.
^
abcdefghNichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987,
ISBN0-87021-559-0, p. 154.
^Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,
ISBN1-55750-076-2, p. 27.
^Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978,
ISBN0-89009-771-2, p. 58.
^Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,
ISBN1-55750-875-5, pp. 67-68.
^Hollway, Don, "Fox Two!", Aviation History, March 2013, p. 57.
^
abChinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,
ISBN1-55750-875-5, p. 69.
^Potter, E. B., ed., Sea Power: A Naval History, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1981,
ISBN0-87021-607-4, p. 374.
^
abcdeNichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987,
ISBN0-87021-559-0, p. 155.
January 6 – A U.S. Air Force XB-70A Valkyrie remains in the air continuously for 3 hours 40 minutes, the longest flight ever by an XB-70.
January 8–14 – In
Operation Crimp, a U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade helicopter and ground assault destroys a Viet Cong headquarters in the
Ho Bo Woods in South Vietnam.[3]
January 12 – A U.S. Air Force XB-70A Valkyrie reaches 2,020 mph (3,250 km/h), the highest speed ever reached by an XB-70.
January 17 – A U.S. Air Force
B-52 Stratofortress collides with a
KC-135 Stratotanker during
aerial refueling near
Palomares,
Spain.
Both aircraft crash, killing the entire four-man crew of the KC-135 and three of the seven men aboard the B-52. Two of the B-52's nuclear bombs rupture, scattering radioactive material over the Spanish countryside. One bomb lands intact near Palomares, and another is lost in the
Mediterranean Sea. It is later recovered intact 5 miles (8.0 km) offshore.
January 22 – The U.S. Air Force completes
Operation Blue Light, the largest airlift of troops and equipment into a combat zone in history. Since the operation began on December 27, 1965, the Air Force has flown 4,600
short tons (4,173
metric tons) of equipment and over 3,000 troops from
Hickam Air Force Base,
Hawaii, to
Pleiku, South Vietnam.[2]
January 24
Operation Masher, later renamed Operation White Wing, a helicopter and ground assault by the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and
South Vietnamese Army and
South Korean Army units, begins against North Vietnamese Army forces in
Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam. The operation concludes on March 6.[4]
Nicholas Piantanida launches from
Joe Foss Field in
Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, in the
balloonStrato Jump II, hoping to set a new world record for the highest
parachute jump. He is forced to give up the attempt when he is unable to disconnect his
oxygen system, and he detaches the balloon's
gondola and parachutes safely to earth inside it. The flight sets an unofficial world
balloon altitude record of 123,500 feet (37,642 meters (23.390 miles),[8][9][10][11] although the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale does not recognize it as official because he returns to earth in the gondola without remaining attached to the balloon. The record will stand until
Felix Baumgartner's balloon flight on
14 October 2012.
February 17 –
Aeroflot Flight 65, a
Tupolev Tu-114, crashes on takeoff in deteriorating weather at
Sheremetyevo International Airport in
Moscow, killing 21 and injuring at least 18, after its crew attempts to take off without realizing that snow has not been fully cleared from the runway and its wing strikes a sowban during its takeoff roll, forcing two of its propellers to strike the runway, after which it veers off the runway and catches fire. It is the only fatal crash involving the long-range turboprop Tu-114.
After taxiing past the wreckage of Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 at
Tokyo International Airport,
Boeing 707-436G-APFE, operating as
BOAC Flight 911, disintegrates in severe
clear-air turbulence and crashes near
Mount Fuji in Japan shortly after take-off, killing all 124 people on board. The two crashes kill a combined 188 people, a record total at the time for aviation accidents in a 24-hour period.
For the first time, the United States employs the Alpha section (listing major fixed ground targets in North Vietnam) of a U.S.
Joint Chiefs of StaffRolling Thunder order.[6]
March 27 – The
flight engineer aboard a
Cubana de AviaciónIlyushin Il-18B (registration CU-T831) shoots and kills the on-board security guard during a domestic flight in
Cuba from
Santiago de Cuba to
Havana and
hijacks the plane, demanding to be flown to
Florida. The
captain pretends to be flying to Florida but actually lands the airliner at
José Martí International Airport in Havana. Seeing an
Aeroflot airliner on the
tarmac and realizing that captain had tricked him, the flight engineer shoots the captain dead and tries to initiate a takeoff, but the copilot shuts the engines down. The flight engineer jumps out of the plane and flees; he will be apprehended several days later.[14]
March 31 – The U.S. Air Force's
Strategic Air Command retires its last
B-47 Stratojet. The first all-jet strategic bomber, the B-47 had served since 1951.[13]
The U.S. Air Force's second
North American XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – reaches a maximum speed of
Mach 3.08 and maintains it for 20 minutes. It is the highest Mach number ever reached by an XB-70.
April 19 – U.S. Navy aircraft strike the
coal port of
Cam Pha, North Vietnam, only 35 miles (56 km) from North Vietnam's border with the
People's Republic of China.[6]
While ascending in the
balloonStrato Jump III to attempt to set a new world
skydiving altitude record of over 120,000 feet (37,000 meters),
Nicholas Piantanida is fatally injured when his
pressure suit depressurizes at an altitude of about 57,000 feet (17,000 meters). Although ground controllers detach the
gondola from the balloon at an altitude of 56,000 feet (17,000 meters) and return it to earth in a 25-minute parachute descent with Piantanida on board, Piantanida suffers
brain damage and never emerges from a
coma. He will die on August 29.
May 19 – The
United States Air Force′s second
North American XB-70A Valkyrie – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – covers 2,400 miles in 91 minutes of flight, flying at
Mach 3 for 32 minutes – the longest continuous time at Mach 3 ever achieved by an XB-70 – and reaching a maximum speed of Mach 3.06.
May 23–26 – A new
Learjet 24 makes a round-the-world demonstration flight to exhibit its capabilities. The total flight time for the trip is 50 hours and 20 minutes.
June
The
Indian Air Force begins re-arming to replace losses from the previous year's war with Pakistan.
June 8 – During a publicity photo shoot of aircraft powered by
General Electric engines in which the U.S. Air Force's second
XB-70A research aircraft – named Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) – flies in formation with an
F-4 Phantom II, an
F-5 Freedom Fighter, an
F-104 Starfighter, and a
T-38 Talon at an altitude of about 25,000 feet (7,600 meters), the F-104 collides with the XB-70A. The F-104 explodes, killing its pilot,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) chief test pilot
Joseph A. Walker. The XB-70A crashes and is destroyed. The XB-70A's copilot is killed, while its pilot,
Alvin S. White ejects and suffers serious injuries. The crash leaves only one XB-70A – Air Vehicle 1 (AV-1) – in existence.
June 20 –
Sheila Scott completes a solo round-the-world flight.
June 29
The U.S. Air Force bombs
Hanoi for the first time.
For the first time,
PresidentLyndon B. Johnson's administration authorizes attacks on industrial targets in northeastern North Vietnam and on North Vietnam's entire
petroleum,
oil, and
lubricants system.[6]
July 14 – In response to Fatah commando attacks launched from inside
Syria,
Israeli Air Force jets strike Syrian tractors and mechanical equipment in the
Golan Heights southeast of
Almagor,
Israel. The equipment had been engaged in diverting the flow of water from the
Baniyas springs away from the
Jordan River.[19][20]
July 24 – American professional golfer
Tony Lema dies in the crash of a
Beechcraft Bonanza on approach to
Lansing Municipal Airport in
Lansing,
Illinois; the plane crashes into a water hazard short of the seventh green on the golf course at Lansing Country Club, less than a mile (1.6 km) from the airport. The other three people on the plane – the pilot, the co-pilot, and Lema's wife – also are killed.[5]
August
Three
hijackers commandeer an
Aeroflot airliner in the
Soviet Union. Security forces storm the plane while it is on the ground at
Batumi and arrest the hijackers.[21]
August 3 – With enough land-based aircraft now available to support forces in the area, the U.S. Navy ends aircraft carrier deployments to
Dixie Station off
South Vietnam.[23]
August 5 – The
Soviet Union protests damage to one of its
merchant ships in a North Vietnamese port due to American air attacks.[24]
August 15 – Syrian forces open fire on an
Israelipatrol boat that has run aground on the shore of the
Sea of Galilee, leading to combat between the
Israeli and
Syrian air forces. Israel claims two Syrian jets shot down.[19][25]
The deadliest crash of this year was
All Nippon Airways Flight 60, a
Boeing 727 which crashed into
Tokyo Bay,
Japan on 4 February, as it approached
Haneda Airport, killing all 133 people on board; as well as being then the world's deadliest single-aircraft accident, it was also among a string of five major crashes to strike Japan in 1966; 371 people were killed in these incidents.
^
abcdefghNichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987,
ISBN0-87021-559-0, p. 154.
^Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,
ISBN1-55750-076-2, p. 27.
^Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978,
ISBN0-89009-771-2, p. 58.
^Chinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,
ISBN1-55750-875-5, pp. 67-68.
^Hollway, Don, "Fox Two!", Aviation History, March 2013, p. 57.
^
abChinnery, Philip D., Vietnam: The Helicopter War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,
ISBN1-55750-875-5, p. 69.
^Potter, E. B., ed., Sea Power: A Naval History, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1981,
ISBN0-87021-607-4, p. 374.
^
abcdeNichols, CDR John B., and Barret Tillman, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1987,
ISBN0-87021-559-0, p. 155.