Violating a 1959 requirement that all aircraft operating from the aircraft carrierMinas Gerais - which never has operated aircraft - belong to the Brazilian Air Force, the Brazilian Navy establishes an air group of its own for the carrier and smuggles aircraft purchased abroad into the country for the air group. Air force reconnaissance aircraft discover the naval carrier aircraft, causing tension between the two services.[1]
The rules of engagement for American armed helicopter crews in South Vietnam are relaxed to allow them to fire at clearly identified Viet Cong forces who are threatening American helicopters without waiting for the Viet Cong to fire first. Previously, they had been permitted to open fire on Viet Cong forces only if the Viet Cong fired first.[3]
Commercial airline flights between the United States and Cuba are "temporarily" suspended.[4] They will not resume until August 2016.
The U.S. Army completes a six-month test of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter (the "Huey") in an armed escort role, evaluating the operations of the Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company's operations escorting CH-21C Shawnee transport helicopters in South Vietnam, concluding that the value of attack helicopters in suppressing enemy fire during the landing phase of a helicopter operation justified the fielding of attack helicopter units.[8]
April 22 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Colorado Anti-Discrimination Commission v. Continental Airlines that Continental Airlines unlawfully discriminated against African-American pilot Marlon Green when it rejected him for employment in 1957 and hired five less-qualified white applicants. The ruling paves the way for the hiring of ethnic minority members as commercial airline pilots in the United States. Continental eventually hires Green in 1965.
April 27-May 20 - U.S. Marine Corps transport helicopters are heavily involved in airlifting South Vietnamese troops during Operation Bach Phuong XI, a South Vietnamese offensive against Viet Cong forces near Do Xa, South Vietnam.[12]
April 27 - The U.S. Marine Corps loses its first aircraft to enemy action in Vietnam, a UH-34D transport helicopter shot down by Viet Cong ground fire near Do Xa, South Vietnam.[12]
June 7 – Middle East Airlines merges with Air Liban, giving Air France a 30 percent ownership stake in the merged airline, which becomes known as Middle East Airlines–Air Liban.
June 14 – Flying a Dassault Mirage IIIR, French aviator Jacqueline Auriol sets a women's world speed record of 1,266.78 mph (2,038.68 km/h). It is her fifth women's world speed record since 1951 and her final one.[16]
July 20 – The U.S. Air Force C-47 SkytrainExtol Pink evacuates wounded Vietnamese at night under heavy fire. Its six-man crew receives the MacKay Trophy for the flight.[19]
September 14 – The Tokyo Convention – officially the "Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft" – is concluded in Tokyo, Japan. It establishes that at least one state, specifically the one in which the aircraft is registered, will take jurisdiction over the suspect in the event of an in-flight criminal offense that jeopardizes the safety of an aircraft or people on an aircraft during international air navigation or an intention to commit such an offense, and it provides for situations in which other states may also have jurisdiction. It also recognizes certain powers and immunities of the pilot in command, who on international flights may restrain any person or persons he or she has reasonable cause to believe is committing or is about to commit an offense liable to interfere with the safety of persons or property on board the aircraft or who is jeopardizing good order and discipline aboard the aircraft, the first time this has been recognized in international aviation law. The convention will go into force on December 4, 1969.
October 16 – In Operation Greased Lightning, an unmodified B-58 Hustler bomber of the U.S. Air Force's 305th Bombardment Wing named Greased Lightning sets a new speed record by flying nonstop from TokyotoLondon nonstop, passing over via Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and covering the 14,850-kilometer (9,230-mile); 8,028-nautical mile) distance in 8 hours, 35 minutes, 20.4 seconds, at an average speed of 938 mph (1,510 km/h), despite having to slow five times for aerial refueling. The B-58 flies at Mach 2 for most of the flight – maintaining an average cruise speed over a five-hour period of 2,276 km/h (1,414 mph; 1,229 kn) at an altitude of 16,160 meters (53,020 feet) – throttling back to subsonic speeds only for the last hour after losing an afterburner; the reduction in speed in the flight's late stages results in an average speed for the entire trip of about Mach 1.5. In addition to the Tokyo-London speed record, the flight also sets speed records for the leg from Tokyo to Anchorage, Alaska, which the B-58 covers in 3 hours, 9 minutes, 42 seconds at an average speed of 1,093.4 mph (1,759.7 km/h), and for the leg from Anchorage to London, which it covers in 5 hours, 24 minutes, 54 seconds at an average speed of 826.9 mph (1,330.8 km/h). As of 2017[update], the Tokyo-Anchorage leg of the flight remains the longest supersonic flight in history.[23][24][25][26][27] The flight is the last record-setting attempt by a B-58, which has set 19 recognized speed and altitude world records, the most in history by any combat aircraft.[23]
October 22 – During its flight development program, the BAC One-Elevenairlinerprototype, G-ASHG, crashes, killing the entire crew of seven, including test pilot M. J. Lithgow. The investigation of the accident reveals that it resulted from a deep stall caused by the aircraft assuming an unexpected and dangerously high angle of attack, and remedial measures will be of great use worldwide in designing aircraft that have a T-tail and rear-mounted engine configuration.[28]
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 312.
^Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 289.
