World
Aviation in 1973
15 January
United States President Nixon orders a halt to air strikes
and all other offensive military action against North
Vietnam.
24 January
An agreement to end the Vietnam War is signed in Paris and a
cease-fire takes effect at midnight on 27 January .
21 February
Israeli fighters shoot down a Libyan Airlines Boeing 727,
killing all 104 passengers and crew. Israel claims the
aircraft had flown into restricted airspace over the Sinai
peninsula and that all attempts to communicate with the pilot
had failed.
3 June
The 30th Paris Air Show closes with the crash of the second
production Tupolev Tu144 supersonic airliner, killing all six
crew members and eight people on the ground.
14 August
The United States Air Force (USAF) ends its bombing attacks
on Cambodia, after 9 years of United States air combat in
South East Asia.
30 September
Pan
American World Airways (Pan-Am) opens a huge new terminal at
New York's John F. Kennedy airport, to accommodate it's
Boeing 747 aircraft.
6 October
Massive air strikes by the Egyptian Air Force against Israeli
artillery and command positions herald the beginning of the
Yom Kippur War.
6-8 October
Israeli air counter-attacks against Egyptian air and ground
forces are frustrated by large scale and effective use of
Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and anti-aircraft
artillery (AAA).
8 - 13 October
Aircraft operated by Israel's El Al airline begin to fly-in
supplies from America to support the Israeli war effort. The
United States Air Force (USAF) supplement this effort with
seven Lockheed C5A Galaxy transport aircraft, arriving in
Israel on the 14th.
21 October
The Militky MBE1 becomes the first electrically powered,
piloted airplane to fly. It is powered by an electric motor
driven by four rechargeable batteries.
29 November
The 1,000th Boeing 727 rolls off the production line. |