United Nations forces in Korea begin Operation Moonlight Sonata, which uses the illumination effect of the moon on snow to allow night-flying aircraft to find enemy trains operating at night and isolate them by bombing the tracks in front of and behind them, with carrier-based naval aircraft destroying the isolated trains the following morning. Several trains are destroyed in this way by the spring of 1952.[2]
The Royal Navy'sFleet Air Arm makes use of a helicopter in a major rescue effort for the first time when a Westland Dragonfly attempts to rescue two men from the sinking cargo shipSSFlying Enterprise. Although the attempt is unsuccessful, the Dragonfly proves capable of flying in conditions previously thought to preclude helicopter operations.[3]
The United States Navy begins Operation Package, an effort to use carrier air power to interdict enemy road and rail traffic in northeastern Korea, in conjunction with Operation Derail, a shore bombardment campaign against coastal roads and railroads by surface warships. The two operations will end in February and be only partially successful.[4]
Operation Strangle, a day-and-night air interdiction campaign against enemy roads, bridges, and tunnels across the width of the Korean Peninsula between 38 degrees 15 minutes North and 39 degrees 15 minutes North, by the United States Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps which had begun in June 1951, ends without success. The similar Operation Saturate begins, but also ultimately will be unsuccessful.[13]
February 4 – A SabenaDouglas C-47A Skytrain suffers a propeller failure in flight over the Belgian Congo. Debris from the propeller failure cuts some of the aircraft's control cables, causing the crew to lose control. The plane crashes near Kikwit, killing all 16 people on board.[14]
February 10 – Major George A. Davis Jr. is awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, after attacking a group of 12 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s that were about to bounce other U.S. aircraft. He shot down two before being shot down himself. He had been a World War II flying ace and was Korean War ace of aces.
February 11 – Just after National Airlines Flight 101, a Douglas DC-6 (registration N90891), takes off from Newark International AirportinNew Jersey, its No. 3 propeller reverses. Misunderstanding the problem, the crew feathers the No. 4 propeller and attempts to return to the airport, but the aircraft crashes in Elizabeth, New Jersey, narrowly missing an orphanage and killing 29 of the 63 people on board and four people on the ground.[15][16] It is the third in a string of airliner accidents at Newark International since December 1951 and prompts the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to close the airport until November 15.[16]
February 19 – During a night insertion mission over South Korea, a North Korean double agent detonates a grenade aboard a U.S. Air Force Curtiss C-46D Commando (registration 44–78038). The C-46D crashes, killing all 10 people on board.[17]
Temporarily blinded when enemy antiaircraft fire hits his USS Valley Forge (CV-45)-based AD Skyraider during a bombing raid against rail and truck lines in North Korea, U.S. Navy Ensign Kenneth Schechter rejects the suggestion of fellow Valley Forge Skyraider pilot and best friend Lieutenant, junior grade, Howard Thayer that he bail out over the ocean, where Navy forces can rescue him from the water. Instead, Thayer, flying only feet away from Schechter's aircraft, coaches Schechter to a safe, blind landing at a United States Army dirt airstrip in Korea. Schechter loses his right eye but recovers the sight in his left eye; he receives the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1995 for his 1952 flight. Thayer dies in a crash in 1961, but receives a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross in 2009 for assisting Schechter.[20][21][22]
March 26 – An Aeroflot airliner landing at Tula AirportinTula in the Soviet Union slides off the runway and collides with a Soviet Air Force transport aircraft carrying 34 military academy students that is preparing for takeoff, killing a total of 70 people. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident in the history of the Soviet Union or Russia at the time.[26][27]
The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff decide that if the Korean War broadens to include war with the Soviet UnioninEast Asia, the United States will conduct an atomic and conventional air offensive in the region but will fall back into a defensive posture there if the war spreads to Europe.[30]
April 9 – A Japan Air LinesMartin 2-0-2 (registration N93043) crashes into Japan's Mount Mihara, killing all 37 people on board. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident in Japanese history at the time.[31]
June 16 – Over the Baltic Sea west of Hiiumaa, two Soviet Air Force MiG-15s attack two Swedish Air Force Tp-47 – the Swedish designation for the Canso A, which in turn was the Canadian version of the Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina – amphibious flying boats searching for survivors of the Douglas Tp-79 shot down on June 13, pursuing them and firing at them as they flee westward. One Tp-47 escapes, but the other makes an emergency landing on the sea near the West Germancargo shipMünsterland with only one engine working. Münsterland rescues all five members of its crew, two of whom are injured, but the TP-47 sinks.[43]
July 26–27 (overnight) – The second major outbreak of UFO sightings over Washington, D.C., in seven days occurs. A pilot and flight attendant aboard a National Airlines plane see strange lights over their aircraft, and air traffic controllers at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base soon begin to track unidentified objects on radar which are making rapid changes in direction and speed and travelling at speeds of up to 7,000 mph (11,000 km/h). The crews of a B-25 Mitchell bomber and an Eastern Airlines airliner vectored toward the objects see nothing. Four U.S. Air Force F-94 Starfire fighters arrive from New Castle Air Force Base in Delaware; two of the fighter pilots see nothing, but the other two fighter pilots observe strange lights in the sky, as does a Capital Airlines flight departing Washington National Airport. A U.S. Air Force investigation will dismiss the sightings and radar detections as mirages caused by a temperature inversion.
A U.S. Air Force spokesman confirms press reports that Air Force pilots have orders to intercept UFOs and shoot them down if they cannot be talked down.
A massive strike by United Nations aircraft against industrial targets in and around Pyongyang, Korea, completes the destruction begun by the similar strike on July 11, 1952.[44]
August 4 – Off Korea, the explosion of an aircraft fuel tank causes a fire on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) which kills nine and injures 30 men and destroys or damages 18 aircraft.[51]
August 28 – The first launch in combat of a guided missile by an aircraft carrier occurs when Guided Missile Unit 90 on board the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) launches a pilotless F6F-5K Hellcat loaded with explosives as a remote-controlled drone against a railway bridge at Hungnam, Korea. The unit fires five more Hellcat drones at the bridge between August 28 and September 2, scoring two hits and one near-miss.[53]
August 30 – At the International Aviation Exposition in Detroit, Michigan, one of a pair of Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighters flying together disintegrates in flight, killing its pilot and one spectator.[56]
September 10 – During a dogfight between two piston-engined United States Marine CorpsF4U Corsair fighter-bombers from the escort aircraft carrier USS Sicily (CVE-118) and several MiG-15 jet fighters, Corsair pilot Captain Jesse G. Folmar shoots down a MiG-15 before being shot down himself; he survives and is rescued. It is the only Corsair victory over a MiG-15 during the Korean War.[59]
September 15 – Noticing that the damaged F-86 Sabre fighter of his wingman, U.S. Air Force First Lieutenant Joseph Logan, was rapidly leaking fuel over enemy-held territory, CaptainJames R. Risner instructs Logan to shut down his engine. Amid heavy enemy antiaircraft fire, Risner in an unprecedented maneuver twice places the nose of his own F-86 into the tailpipe of Logan's at 200 mph (320 km/h) to push Logan's powerless plane out of enemy territory. He succeeds, although Logan lands in the ocean after parachuting from the plane and drowns. Risner receives the Silver Star for his effort to save Logan.[60][61][62]
September 17 – Flying a Bell 47, Bell Aircraft pilot Elton J. Smith flies nonstop from Hurst, Texas, to Buffalo, New York, setting a nonstop distance record for helicopters of 1,217 miles (1,959 km).[63]
In an attempt to rescue a downed aviator, a U.S. Navy helicopter from the heavy cruiserUSS Helena (CA-75) makes a 105-mile (169-km) flight, often under heavy enemy antiaircraft fire, during which the enemy attempts to jam its communications with Helena and builds fires to lure it closer to antiaircraft guns. The rescue attempt, extremely lengthy for its time, is unsuccessful.[64]
The U.S. Navy'sTask Force 77 begins "Cherokee Strikes," in which aircraft from the task force's aircraft carriers attack enemy supply, artillery, and troop concentrations in Korea. Through January 1953, Cherokee Strikes will constitute a third of the United States Seventh Fleet's air effort in the Korean War.[45]
October 1 – The United States Navy reclassifies all of its "aircraft carriers" (CV) and "large aircraft carriers" (CVB) as "attack aircraft carriers" (CVA).[58]
October 5 – In the Soviet Union, an AeroflotIlyushin Il-12 (registration CCCP-L1328) on approach to Leningrad-Shosseynaya AirportinLeningrad collides in mid-air with an Aeroflot Douglas TS-62 (registration CCCP-L1055) climbing out from the airport in the opposite direction in the same air corridor. Both aircraft crash near Skvoritsky, killing all 24 people aboard the Il-12 and all seven aboard the TS-62.[65][66]
Mid-October – Task Force 77 carrier aircraft attack a 25-mile-long stretch of shoreline along the east coast of North Korea around the town of Kojo, on one day flying 667 sorties and losing five planes, as preparation for an amphibious landing. The carrier commanders later are infuriated to discover that no landing was planned, the attack being merely a feint to put pressure on North Korean negotiators to make peace.[69]
November 2[72] or 3[73] – The first combat between jets at night occurs, when a United States Marine CorpsF3D Skyknight night fighter piloted by Major William T. Stratton and crewed by radar operator Master Sergeant Hans C. Hoglind shoots down an enemy jet aircraft over Korea they identify as a Yak-15.[73][74]
November 14 – A U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-119C Flying Boxcar (serial number 51-2551) carrying American military personnel back to South Korea after leave in Japan crashes into a 2,000-foot (610-meter) hill near Cho-ok, South Korea, killing all 44 people on board.[76]
November 28 – After the crew of a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-54G Skymaster decides to abort their approach to McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma. Washington, in dense fog and darkness and divert to Malmstrom Air Force BaseinGreat Falls, Montana, the aircraft strikes trees and crashes just north of McChord, catching fire and killing 37 of the 39 people on board.[84]
December 25 – An Iran Air Douglas C-47A Skytrain (registration EP-ACJ) crashes on approach to Mehrabad AirportinTehran, Iran, killing 24 of the 25 people on board. A child is the only survivor.[87]
December 26
A Royal Hellenic Air Force Douglas C-47D Skytrain fails to gain height after takeoff from Chinhae Air BaseinJinhae, South Korea, and crashes, killing all 14 people on board.[87]
During a domestic flight in the Philippines from LaoagtoAparri, a man enters the cockpit of a Philippine Air LinesDouglas DC-3 (registration PI-C38) carrying 10 people, pulls a .45-caliber pistol on the flight crew, and demands to be flown to the People's Republic of China. The pilot puts the airliner into a steep dive, but the hijacker respond by shooting and killing the pilot; he also fires two shots through the cockpit door and kills the flight steward when the flight steward knocks on the door to find out what is wrong. The copilot takes the controls and flies over the South China Sea toward China at 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) until two Republic of China Air ForceT-6 Harvards from Taiwan intercept the airliner and fire machine guns at it. The DC-3 escapes, but other Republic of China Air Force fighters intercept it and force it to land at Quemoy, where the hijacker is arrested.[88]
^ abSturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 216.
^Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, pp. 52–54.
^Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN0-87021-026-2, p. 184.
^Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, p. 52.
^Ross, Steven T., American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union, Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, ISBN0-7146-4192-8, p. 147.
^Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, p. 44.
^Ross, Steven T., American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union, Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, ISBN0-7146-4192-8, p. 142.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 204.
^Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, ISBN0-89009-771-2, p. 55.
^"Today in History," Washington Post Express, May 2, 2012, p. 26.
^ abcKnott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, p. 54.
^ abIsenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945–1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN0-312-09911-8, p. 274.
^Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, pp. 54–55.
^Crosby, Francis, The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World's Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day, London: Hermes House, 2006, ISBN9781846810008, p. 37.
^ abKnott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, p. 56.
^Cearley Jr., George W. (1986). "The Building of a Major International Airline". Braniff International Airways 1928-1965: 56–67.
^Aeroplane Monthly magazine – May 1975 "Fighters of the Fifties – Northrop Scorpion"
^Muir, Malcolm, Jr., Sea Power on Call: Fleet Operations June 1951 – July 1953, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2005, ISBN0-945274-53-X, p. 24.
^ abcKnott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, p. 57.
^Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, pp. 60, 62.
^Wilkinson, Stephan, "Amazing But True Stories," Aviation History, May 2014, pp. 33-34.
^McGowen, Stanley S. Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Weapons and warfare series. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2005. ISBN1-85109-468-7, p. 56.
^Muir, Malcolm, Jr., Sea Power on Call: Fleet Operations June 1951 – July 1953, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2005, ISBN0-945274-53-X, p. 35.
^Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945–1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN0-312-09911-8, p. 275.
^Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Flying Banana," Naval History, August 2010, p. 16.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 187.
^ abKnott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, p. 63.
^Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, p. 187.
^Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN0-945274-52-1, p. 60.
^Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, ISBN0-89009-771-2, p. 89.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN0-517-56588-9, p. 402.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN0-517-56588-9, p. 249, says that the first flight took place on "April 19 or May 19, 1952", but also places the date on May 19, 1952, in an accompanying table.
^Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, ISBN0-89009-771-2, p. 94.
^Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN0-7607-0592-5, p. 21.
^ abDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 88.
^ abGuttman, Jon, "Douglas X-3 Stiletto," Aviation History, November 2016, p. 15.
^Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN0-7607-0592-5, p. 273.
^Swanborough, Gordon, and Peter M. Bowers, United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, London: Putnam, 1976, ISBN0-370-10054-9, p. 233.
^Guttman, Robert, "Bristol Brabzaon," Aviation History, May 2014, p. 15.
Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1952–53. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd, 1952.
Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54. London: Jane's All The World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd., 1953.
