This is a list of

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

-related events from 1963:

Events

* Violating a 1959 requirement that all aircraft operating from the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

''Minas Gerais'' - which never has operated aircraft - belong to the

Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...

, the

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warf ...

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 A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...

discover the naval carrier aircraft, causing tension between the two services. * The

North Vietnamese Air Force The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF, ), formally refers itself as the Air Defence - Air Force (ADAF, ) or the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF, ), is the aerial warfare service branch of Vietnam. It is the successor of the former North Vietnamese ...

and Air Defense Force merge to form a unified Air and Air Defense Force.

January

* January 2 – The

Battle of Ap Bac The Battle of Ấp Bắc was a major battle fought on 2 January 1963 during the Vietnam War, in Định Tường Province (now part of Tiền Giang Province), South Vietnam. On 28 December 1962, US intelligence detected the presence of a radio ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

is the first time that

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

forces stand and fight against a major South Vietnamese attack. At the outset, Viet Cong ground fire shoots down a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

UH-1 The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...

attack helicopter An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their heavy armament they ...

and four U.S. Army

CH-21 The Piasecki H-21 Workhorse/Shawnee is an American helicopter, the fourth of a line of tandem rotor helicopters designed and built by Piasecki Helicopter (later Boeing Vertol). Commonly called "the flying banana", it was a multi-mission helicop ...

transport helicopters as they arrive at their

landing zone In military terminology a landing zone (LZ) is an area where aircraft can land. In the United States military, a landing zone is the actual point where aircraft, especially helicopters, land (equivalent to the commonwealth landing point.) In ...

Republic of Vietnam Air Force The South Vietnam Air Force, officially the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF; vi, Không lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa, KLVNCH; french: Force aérienne vietnamienne, FAVN) (sometimes referred to as the Vietnam Air Force or VNAF) was the aer ...

C-123 Provider The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and then built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Rese ...

transport planes drop about 300 South Vietnamese

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

s later in the day. * January 7 –

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

launches service from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, using

Tupolev Tu-114 The Tupolev Tu-114 Rossiya ( ru , link=no, Tyполев Тy-114 Poccия; NATO reporting name Cleat) was a turboprop-powered long-range airliner designed by the Tupolev design bureau and built in the Soviet Union from May 1955. The aircraft was ...

turboprop airliners. * January 24 – A

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

B-52C Stratofortress loses its

vertical stabilizer A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...

and crashes on

Elephant Mountain ''Elephant Mountain'' is an album by the American rock band The Youngbloods, released in 1969. It reached number 118 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. History With the departure of member and co-founder Jerry Corbitt, Jesse Colin Young became the ...

, in

Piscataquis County Piscataquis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,800, making it Maine's least-populous county. Its county seat is Dover-Foxcroft. The county was incorporated on March 23, 1838, ta ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, killing seven of the nine-man crew.

February

* The

rules of engagement Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pro ...

for American

armed helicopter An armed helicopter is a military helicopter equipped with aircraft ordnance. Most commonly, it is used for attacking targets on the ground. Such a helicopter could be either purposely designed for a ground-attack mission—in which case it wou ...

crews in

are relaxed to allow them to fire at clearly identified

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. * Commercial airline flights between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

are "temporarily" suspended. They will not resume until August 2016. * February 1 ** Descending to land at Esenboğa International Airport in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Middle East Airlines Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. ( ar, طيران الشرق الأوسط ـ الخطوط الجوية اللبنانية ''Ṭayyarān al-Sharq al-Awsaṭ – al-Khuṭūṭ al-jawiyyah al-lubnāniyyah''), more commonly known as Middle ...

Flight 265 – a Vickers 754D Viscount (registration OD-ADE) flying to Ankara from

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

– collides with a

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force ( tr, ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known t ...

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

, slicing off the C-47's left

horizontal stabilizer A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplan ...

with its No. 3

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

. The collision tears the Viscount's right side open, and some passengers aboard the Viscount are sucked out of the aircraft. Both planes crash in a residential area of Ankara, killing all 14 people on the Viscount, all three people aboard the C-47, and 87 people on the ground. **The United States Army activates the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) to test the concept of helicopter assault by ground forces. * February 8 – The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

conducts the worlds first experimental trials of a

vertical take-off and landing A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-win ...

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinc ...

aboard an aircraft carrier, testing the

Hawker Siddeley P.1127 The Hawker P.1127 and the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1 are the British experimental and development aircraft that led to the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first ''vertical and/or short take-off and landing'' ( V/STOL) jet fighter-bomber. Devel ...

prototype aboard HMS ''Ark Royal''. * February 12 –

Northwest Airlines Flight 705 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 was a scheduled passenger flight operated on February 12, 1963, that broke up in midair and crashed into the Florida Everglades shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport in a severe thunderstor ...

, a Boeing 720-051B, breaks up in mid-air during a severe

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

and crashes into the

Florida Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...

west of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, shortly after takeoff from

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...

, killing all 43 people on board. * February 14 – The

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

receives its first batch of

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

fighters,

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, De ...

s (

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

"Fishbed").

March

* The U.S. Army completes a six-month test of the

Bell UH-1 Iroquois The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helic ...

helicopter (the "Huey") in an armed escort role, evaluating the operations of the

Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...

s operations escorting CH-21C Shawnee transport helicopters in South Vietnam, concluding that the value of

s in suppressing enemy fire during the landing phase of a helicopter operation justified the fielding of attack helicopter units. * March 5 -

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

performers

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

Cowboy Copas Lloyd Estel Copas (July 15, 1913 – March 5, 1963), known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer. He was popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline a ...

, and

Hawkshaw Hawkins Harold Franklin "Hawkshaw" Hawkins (December 22, 1921 – March 5, 1963) was an American country music singer popular from the 1950s into the early 1960s. He was known for his rich, smooth vocals and music drawn from blues, boogie and honky ...

are among four people killed in the crash of a

Piper PA-24 Comanche The Piper PA-24 Comanche is an American four-seat or six-seat, low-wing, all-metal, light aircraft of semimonocoque construction with tricycle retractable landing gear. Piper Aircraft designed and developed the Comanche, which first flew on May ...

near Camden,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. * March 18 - The Dassault Balzac makes its first transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and back * March 29 – Alisarda is founded. It operates initially as an air taxi and general charter airline.

April

* Air Djibouti is founded. It will begin flight operations in April 1964. * April 13 **

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

UH-34 Seahorse transport helicopters based at

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

, South Vietnam, airlift 435 South Vietnamese troops to attack a suspected

stronghold in mountains along the Thu Bồn River. For the first time, Marine Corps helicopters receive

escort in the form of

UH-1B The Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, first introduced in 1959, is the first production member of the prolific Huey family of helicopters, and was itself developed in over twenty variants, which are listed below. XH-40 and YH-40 The firs ...

gunships. **Americans

Don Piccard Donald Louis Piccard (January 13, 1926 – September 13, 2020) was a Swiss-born American balloon pioneer, promoter, innovator, designer, builder, and pilot. Piccard was born in Lausanne, Switzerland to Jean Felix Piccard and Jeanette (Ridlon ...

and

Ed Yost Paul Edward Yost (June 30, 1919 – May 27, 2007) was the American inventor of the modern hot air balloon and is referred to as the "Father of the Modern Day Hot-Air Balloon." He worked for a high-altitude research division of General Mill ...

become the first people to cross the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

in a

hot-air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

. The 3¾-hour flight from Rye,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, to

Gravelines Gravelines (, ; ; ) is a commune in the Nord department in Northern France. It lies at the mouth of the river Aa southwest of Dunkirk. It was formed in the 12th century around the mouth of a canal built to connect Saint-Omer with the sea. As ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, reaches an altitude of 13,000 feet (3,962 meters). * April 22 – The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

rules in ''Colorado Anti-Discrimination Commission v. Continental Airlines'' that

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

unlawfully discriminated against

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

pilot

Marlon Green Marlon Dewitt Green (June 6, 1929 – July 6, 2009) was an African-American pilot whose landmark United States Supreme Court decision in 1963 helped dismantle racial discrimination in the American passenger airline industry. The decision led t ...

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

. 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.Chinnery, Philip D., ''Vietnam: The Helicopter War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, , p. 20. * April 27 - The U.S. Marine Corps loses its first aircraft to enemy action in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, a UH-34D transport helicopter shot down by Viet Cong ground fire near Do Xa, South Vietnam.

May

* The

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

acquires its first 25

Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizonta ...

CJ fighters.

June

* June 3 –

Northwest Airlines Flight 293 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 was an American military charter operated on 3 June 1963 by a Northwest Orient Airlines Douglas DC-7, Douglas DC-7C Aircraft registration, registered ''N290'' which crashed into the sea off the coast of Alas ...

, a

Douglas DC-7C The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the earl ...

, crashes in the Pacific Ocean west-southwest of Annette Island,

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, off the coast of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, killing all 101 people on board. * June 5 –

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

announces during a speech at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

that the

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

would team with private industry to quickly develop "the prototype of a commercially successful

supersonic transport A supersonic transport (SST) or a supersonic airliner is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupol ...

superior to that being built in any other country," a reference to the British-French

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

and the Soviet

Tupolev Tu-144 The Tupolev Tu-144 (russian: Tyполев Ту-144; NATO reporting name: Charger) is a Soviet supersonic passenger airliner designed by Tupolev in operation from 1968 to 1999. The Tu-144 was the world's first commercial supersonic transport ai ...

(

"Charger"). His statement gives rise to the Boeing 2707 ("SST") project. * June 7 –

merges with

Air Liban Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. ( ar, طيران الشرق الأوسط ـ الخطوط الجوية اللبنانية ''Ṭayyarān al-Sharq al-Awsaṭ – al-Khuṭūṭ al-jawiyyah al-lubnāniyyah''), more commonly known as Middle ...

, giving

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...

a 30 percent ownership stake in the merged airline, which becomes known as Middle East Airlines–Air Liban. * June 8 – The

National Museum of Naval Aviation The National Naval Aviation Museum, formerly known as the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the Naval Aviation Museum, is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Founded in 1962 and moved to its curr ...

opens at

Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

. * June 14 – Flying a

R, French aviator Jacqueline Auriol sets a women's world speed record of 1,266.78 mph (2,039.90 km/hr). It is her fifth women's world speed record since

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and her final one. * June 21 – After his

F-8 Crusader The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass), and for the Frenc ...

fighter catches fire during

in-flight refueling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft ...

from a U.S. Air Force

KC-97 Stratofreighter The Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter is a four-engined, piston-powered United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It replaced the KB-29 and was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Design and developme ...

tanker aircraft This is a list of tanker aircraft used for aerial refuelling of another aircraft whilst in powered flight. Refueling methods ;Looped hose: The first commercial method employed a hose which was held slack in a trailing half-loop behind both aircr ...

over the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

during a flight from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

Cliff Judkins ejects. His main

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

fails to open, and he falls 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) into the ocean. Although he suffers several serious injuries, he survives and is rescued. * June 23 – Piloted by

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Robert A. Rushworth, a North American X-15-3 reaches the threshold of

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

, achieving an altitude of 285,000 feet (86,869 meters).

July

* July 2 –

Mohawk Airlines Flight 121 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 was a scheduled passenger flight from Rochester-Monroe Airport in Rochester, New York to Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. On July 2, 1963, the aircraft operating the flight, a Martin 4-0-4 with a to ...

, a

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G (l ...

, crashes on takeoff into a heavy

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in the

, killing seven of the 43 people on board and injuring all 36 survivors. * July 3 ** National Airways Corporation Flight 441, a

Douglas DC-3C The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

, flies into a vertical rock face in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Kaimai Ranges The Kaimai Range (sometimes referred to as the ''Kaimai Ranges'') is a mountain range in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of a series of ranges, with the Coromandel Range to the north and the Mamaku Ranges to the south. The Kaimai R ...

near Mount Ngatamahinerua, killing all 23 people on board. **The

Peruvian Navy The Peruvian Navy ( es, link=no, Marina de Guerra del Perú, abbreviated MGP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with surveillance, patrol and defense on lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean up to from the Peruvian littoral. Addit ...

reestablishes a naval air arm,

Peruvian Naval Aviation The Peruvian Naval Aviation ( es, Fuerza de Aviación Naval) is the air branch of the Peruvian Navy. It was originally formed in 1919 as the Naval Aviators Corps (''Cuerpo de Aviadores Navales'') but was merged in 1932 with the Peruvian Army Aviat ...

. * July 19 – Joe Walker flies a

North American X-15 The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed an ...

to a record altitude of 106,010 metres (347,800 feet) on

X-15 Flight 90 Flight 90 of the North American X-15 was a research flight conducted by NASA and the US Air Force on July 19, 1963. It was the first of two X-15 missions that passed the 100-km high Kármán line, the FAI definition of space, along with Flight ...

. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km (62.1

statute mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

s, 54 nautical miles), this flight qualifies as a

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

under international convention. * July 20 – The U.S. Air Force

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

''Extol Pink'' evacuates wounded Vietnamese at night under heavy fire. Its six-man crew receives the

MacKay Trophy The Mackay Trophy is awarded yearly by the United States Air Force for the "most meritorious flight of the year" by an Air Force person, persons, or organization. The trophy is housed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museu ...

for the flight. * July 27 – United Arab Airlines Flight 869, a

de Havilland Comet 4C The de Havilland DH.106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four ...

, crashes into the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

on approach to Bombay-Santa Cruz Airport in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, in heavy rain and

, killing all 63 people on board. Among the dead are 26 Boy Scouts from the Philippines on their way to the 11th World Scout Jamboree in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

August

* August 21 – An

Tupolev Tu-124 The Tupolev Tu-124 (NATO reporting name: Cookpot) was a 56-passenger short-range twinjet airliner built in the Soviet Union. It was the first Soviet airliner powered by turbofan engines. Design and development Developed from the medium-range ...

with 52 people on board ditches in the

Neva River The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it i ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

without a single injury or fatality. * August 23 –

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...

(NASA) research pilot

Joseph A. Walker Joseph Albert Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) (Capt, USAF) was an American World War II pilot, experimental physicist, NASA test pilot, and astronaut who was the first person to fly an airplane to space. He was one of twelve pilots ...

flies the third

into

, setting a world altitude record for aircraft of 354,200 feet (67.08 miles; 108 km).Anonymous, "Milestones: X-15 Reaches the Edge of Space," ''Aviation History'', October 2017, p. 10. It is Walker's second suborbital X-15 flight, making him the first person to reach

twice. * August 27 – Jamaica Air Service Ltd. is founded, jointly owned by the

Government of Jamaica Politics in Jamaica takes place in the framework of a representative parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The 1962 Constitution of Jamaica established a parliamentary system whose political and legal traditions closely fol ...

, the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...

(BOAC), and

British West Indian Airways BWIA West Indies Airways Limited, known locally as "Bee-Wee" and also as British West Indian Airways and BWIA International, was the national airline based in Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of operations, BWIA was the largest airline operating o ...

(BWIA). BWIA's employees in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

transfer to the new airline. * August 28 – Two U.S. Air Force

KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...

s collide over the Atlantic Ocean and crash. * August 31 –

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

establishes the Ministry of Construction and Transportation's Aviation Bureau as its national

civil aviation authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

September

* September 1 – Sued over its name for

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

violation by the

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

airline

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

– which had purchased the rights to the name of the defunct pre-1945 airline

Deutsche Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and th ...

in August 1954 – and as a result unable to join the

International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

, the East German national airline

Deutsche Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

(DLH) is liquidated. Its staff, fleet, and route network are transferred to

Interflug Interflug GmbH (german: Interflug Gesellschaft für internationalen Flugverkehr m.b.H.; ) was the national airline of the German Democratic Republic from 1963 to 1990. Based in East Berlin, it operated scheduled and chartered flights to European ...

, which takes over as

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

's national airline. * September 4 – Shortly after takeoff from Zurich-Kloten Airport in

Kloten Kloten is a municipality in the district of Bülach in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, and belongs to the Glatt Valley (german: Glatttal). History Kloten is first mentioned in 1155 as ''Chlotun''. Geography Kloten is located in the Gl ...

near

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Swissair Flight 306 Swissair Flight 306, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III, named ''Schaffhausen,'' was a scheduled international flight from Zürich to Rome, via Geneva. It crashed near Dürrenäsch, Aargau, on 4 September 1963, shortly after take-off, killing ...

, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III, catches fire, leading to

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

failure and a loss of control. The plane crashes near

Dürrenäsch Dürrenäsch is a municipality in the district of Kulm in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History While Dürrenäsch is first mentioned in 924 as ''Aske inferior'', there are traces of earlier, nearby settlements. Several, individual Halls ...

, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board. Among the dead are 43 people – one-fifth of the population – of the village of

Humlikon Humlikon is a former municipality in the district of Andelfingen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. On 1 January 2023 the former municipalities of Adlikon and Humlikon merged to form the municipality of Andelfingen. 43 residents were kille ...

, Switzerland, traveling together to visit a farm test site at

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. * September 14 – The

Tokyo Convention The Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, commonly called the Tokyo Convention, is an international treaty, concluded at Tokyo on 14 September 1963. It entered into force on 4 December 1969, and as of 2022 ha ...

– officially the "Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft" – is concluded in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. 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 The pilot in command (PIC) of an aircraft is the person aboard the aircraft who is ultimately responsible for its operation and safety during flight. This would be the captain in a typical two- or three-pilot aircrew, or "pilot" if there is only ...

, 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

* In an exercise name
Operation Big Lift
the

airlifts an entire armored division of 15,000 troops to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

within five days. * October 1 – The French airlines

Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux was a private French airline, based at Orly Airport, Paris. In 1963, it was merged with Union Aéromaritime de Transport on 1 October 1963 to form UTA French Airlines. Operations In the early 1950s its ro ...

(TAI) and

Union Aéromaritime de Transport ''Union Aéromaritime de Transport'' (UAT) was a French airline. It had its head office in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.Union de Transports Aériens Union de Transports Aériens (abbreviated as UTA and sometimes known as UTA French Airlines), was a French airline that was formed in 1963 as a result of a merger between Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT) and Transports Aériens Interconti ...

(UTA). * October 2 – Second British

Short SC.1 The Short SC.1 was the first British fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet aircraft. It was developed by Short Brothers. It was powered by an arrangement of five Rolls-Royce RB.108 turbojets, four of which were used for vertical ...

VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-win ...

research aircraft, ''XG905'', flying from Belfast Harbour Airport, crashes due to a control malfunction, killing the

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

, J. R. Green. * October 16 – In Operation Greased Lightning, an unmodified

B-58 Hustler The Convair B-58 Hustler, designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair, was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight. The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air ...

bomber of the U.S. Air Force's 305th Bombardment Wing named ''Greased Lightning'' sets a new speed record by flying nonstop from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

nonstop, passing over via

, and

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, and covering the 14,850-kilometer (9,222-mile; 8,028-

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...

) distance in 8 hours, 35 minutes, 20.4 seconds, at an average speed of 938 mph (1,510 km/hr), despite having to slow five times for

aerial refueling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...

. 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/hr (1,413 mph; 1,230

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

) at an altitude of 16,160 meters (53,000 feet) – throttling back to subsonic speeds only for the last hour after losing an

afterburner An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and comba ...

; 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 Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

, 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/hr), 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/hr). , the Tokyo-Anchorage leg of the flight remains the longest supersonic flight in history. 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. * October 22 – During its flight development program, the

BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

, ''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 In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a reference line on a body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is m ...

, and remedial measures will be of great use worldwide in designing aircraft that have a T-tail and rear-mounted engine configuration.Donald, David, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 91. * October 28 – Belfast Aldergrove opens as the principal airport for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, civilian facilities transferring from

Nutts Corner Royal Air Force Nutts Corner or more simply RAF Nutts Corner is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Crumlin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and north west of Belfast. It was originally a civil airfield, then it became a military ...

November

* November 8 –

Finnair Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and internationa ...

aircraft OH-LCA,

Aero Flight 217 Aero Flight 217 was a domestic passenger flight from Helsinki, Finland, to Mariehamn in the autonomous territory of Åland, operated by the Finnish flag carrier Aero O/Y (now Finnair). On 8 November 1963, the aircraft serving the flight crashed i ...

, crashes before landing at

Mariehamn Airport Mariehamn Airport ( sv, Mariehamns flygplats is located in Jomala, Åland (a territory of Finland). The airport is located some north-west of Mariehamn town centre. It served 61,568 passengers in 2017 and is operated by the state-owned Finavia ...

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

* November 22 – In the aftermath of the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

earlier in the day of

, the

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, is sworn in as his successor aboard the

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

aircraft ''SAM 26000'', a Boeing VC-137C Stratoliner, on the ground at

Dallas Love Field Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas., effective April 10, 2008 It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened. Love Field covers an area of a ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, the only U.S. president to be sworn in aboard an aircraft. As he is sworn in, the aircraft is starting its engines for a flight to carry Kennedy's body and Johnson to

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. * November 28 – Six

hijackers Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''like ...

armed with

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

s take over an

Avensa Avensa (''Aerovías Venezolanas Sociedad Anonima'') was a Venezuelan airline headquartered in Caracas. It was in the process of financial restructuring, after it went into bankruptcy due to poor management in 2002, with Santa Barbara Airlines t ...

airliner – either a Convair CV-340 or

Convair CV-440 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inr ...

– with 17 people on board during a domestic flight in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

from

Ciudad Bolívar Ciudad Bolívar (; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar, Venezuela, Bolívar State. It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about ...

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

and force it to circle over Ciudad Bolívar while they drop propaganda leaflets urging Venezuelans not to vote in the upcoming national elections. They then force the airliner's crew to fly them to

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, where they surrender to the authorities. * November 29 – Five minutes after takeoff from Montreal/Dorval Airport in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) Flight 831 was a flight from Montréal–Dorval International Airport to Toronto International Airport on November 29, 1963. About five minutes after takeoff in poor weather, the jet crashed about 32 kms (20 miles ...

, a Douglas DC-8-54CF, crashes near Ste-Thérèse-de-Blainville, Quebec, killing all 118 people on board. Among the dead is Donald Turnbull, the son of inventor

Wallace Rupert Turnbull Wallace Rupert Turnbull (October 16, 1870 – November 24, 1954) was a Canadian engineer and inventor. The Saint John Airport was briefly named after him. He was inducted in Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1977. Biography Born in Saint John, ...

. It is the deadliest aviation accident ever to occur in Canada at the time.

December

Aero Trasporti Italiani Aero Trasporti Italiani S.p.A (ATI) was an Italian airline headquartered in Naples, Italy. It was founded on 16 December 1963 as a subsidiary of Alitalia to take over secondary domestic routes in southern Italy operated by another Alitalia subsid ...

(ATI) is founded as a subsidiary of

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana Società per azioni, S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of ...

to take over secondary domestic routes in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

operated by the Alitalia subsidiary

Società Aerea Mediterranea Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM) was an Italian cargo and passenger airline based in Rome, Italy, which operated between 1928 and 1939 as subsidiary of Ala Littoria and between 1959 and 1981 as subsidiary of Alitalia. It was founded on 26 March 1 ...

(SAM). ATI will begin flight operations in June 1964. * December 8 –

Lightning strike A lightning strike or lightning bolt is an electric discharge between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning. A less common type of strike, ground- ...

s the

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

Boeing 707-121 ''Clipper Tradewind'', operating as Flight 214, igniting fuel vapor and causing an explosion which blows part of the left wing off the aircraft. The plane crashes near Elkton,

, killing all 81 people on board. As a result of the tragedy, the U.S.

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

orders the installation of lightning discharge wicks or

static discharger Static dischargers, also called static wicks or static discharge wicks, are devices used to remove static electricity from aircraft in flight. They take the form of small sticks pointing backwards from the wings, and are fitted on almost all civi ...

s on all commercial jets flying inside U.S. airspace. * December 9 – By royal decree of

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

, Alia – the future

Royal Jordanian Royal Jordanian Airlines ( ar, ; transliterated: ''Al-Malakiyyah al-'Urduniyyah''), formerly known as Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Jordan with its head office in the capital, Amman. The airline operates scheduled ...

– is established as the

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hist ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. * December 15 – Alia – the future Royal Jordanian – begins flight operations, offering service between

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

, Jordan, and

Kuwait City Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, using a fleet of two

Handley Page Dart Herald The Handley Page Dart Herald is a 1950s British turboprop passenger aircraft. Design and development In the mid-1950s Handley Page developed a new fast short-range regional airliner, intended to replace the older Douglas DC-3, particularly in ...

s and a

Douglas DC-7 The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the ear ...

First flights

January

* January 2 -

Aero Commander 1121 Jet Commander The IAI Westwind is a business jet initially produced by Aero Commander as the 1121 Jet Commander. Powered by twin GE CJ610 turbojets, it first flew on January 27, 1963, and received its type certification on November 4, 1964, before the first ...

* January 3 -

Ilyushin IL-62 The Ilyushin Il-62 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-62; NATO reporting name: Classic) is a Soviet long-range narrow-body jetliner conceived in 1960 by Ilyushin. As successor to the popular turboprop Il-18 and with capacity for almost 200 pa ...

* January 9 -

Yakovlev Yak-36 The Yakovlev Yak-36, also known as ''Izdeliye V'', (NATO reporting name "Freehand") is a Soviet technology demonstrator for a VTOL combat aircraft. Design and development From 1960, the Yakovlev Design Bureau began work on a VTOL system, using ...

* January 17 - Short SC.7 Skyvan * January 21 –

Fairchild Hiller FH-1100 The Fairchild Hiller FH-1100 is a single-engine, single two-bladed rotor, light helicopter which began as a design entry into the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program as the Hiller YOH-5. The Hiller Aircraft, Hiller Model 110 ...

* January 26 - Hiller OH-5

February

* February 9 -

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

* February 25 - Transall C.160

March

* March 26 -

Hunting H.126 The Hunting H.126 was an experimental aircraft designed and built by British aviation company Hunting Aircraft. The aircraft was developed in order to test the performance of blown flaps, which were commonly known in Britain as "jet flaps", At ...

April

* April 10 -

EWR VJ 101 The EWR VJ 101 was an experimental German jet fighter vertical takeoff/landing (VTOL) tiltjet aircraft. VJ stood for ''Versuchsjäger'', (German for "Experimental Fighter"). The VJ 101 was one of the first V/STOL designs to have the potential f ...

May

* May 27 –

McDonnell F-4C Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bowe ...

, first

version of the F-4 Phantom II

June

* June 29 -

Saab 105 The Saab 105 is a Swedish high-wing, twinjet trainer aircraft developed in the early 1960s as a private venture by Saab AB. The Swedish Air Force, which had opted to procure the type for various roles, issued the aircraft with the designation ...

July

* July 29 –

Tupolev Tu-134 The Tupolev Tu-134 (NATO reporting name: Crusty) is a twin-engined, narrow-body jet airliner built in the Soviet Union for short and medium-haul routes from 1966 to 1989. The original version featured a glazed-nose design and, like certain ot ...

(

"Crusty")

August

* August 1 –

PZL-104 Wilga PZL-104 Wilga (''golden oriole'') is a Polish short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) civil aviation utility aircraft designed and originally manufactured by PZL Warszawa-Okęcie, and later by European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), who ...

(Wilga 2 prototype) * August 7 –

Lockheed YF-12 The Lockheed YF-12 was an American Mach 3+ capable, high-altitude interceptor prototype, developed and manufactured by American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a potenti ...

* August 20 –

prototype ''G-ASHG''

September

* September 14 –

Mitsubishi MU-2 The Mitsubishi MU-2 is a Japanese high-wing, twin-engine turboprop aircraft with a pressurized cabin manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It made its maiden flight in September 1963 and was produced until 1986. It is one of postwar Japa ...

October

* October 7 -

Learjet 23 The Learjet 23 (originally Lear Jet 23) is an American six-to-eight-seat (two crew and four to six passengers) twinjet, high-speed business jet manufactured by Learjet. Introduced in 1964, it was Learjet's first model and created a new market f ...

prototype, the very first Learjet built.

December

* December 17 -

C-141 Starlifter The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a retired military strategic airlifter that served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), its successor organization the Military Airlift Command (MAC), and finally the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of th ...

* December 17 – Matra Jupiter * December 21 -

Hawker Siddeley Andover The Hawker Siddeley HS 780 Andover is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft produced by Hawker Siddeley for the Royal Air Force (RAF), developed from the Avro-designed HS 748 airliner. The Andover was named after the Avro And ...

Entered service

* Champion Lancer *

Lim-6 The Lim-6 (NATO reporting name Fresco) was a Polish attack aircraft used between 1961 and 1992 by the Polish Air Force. It was a variant of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, which was produced in Poland as the Lim-5. Development In 1955 Poland bough ...

bis in the Polish Air Force * Early 1963 –

Westland Scout The Westland Scout is a light helicopter developed by Westland Helicopters. Developed from the Saro P.531, it served as a land-based general purpose military helicopter, sharing a common ancestor and numerous components with the naval-orientat ...

with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

′s

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

February

* A-6A Intruder with VA-42 Green Pawns of

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

August

* Bell UH-1D Iroquois (Bell Model 205) with

11th Air Assault Division

September

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Irku ...

("Coke") with

(passenger service)Donald, David, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 56.

November

with the

Retirements

SUMPAC The Southampton University Man Powered Aircraft (or SUMPAC) on 9 November 1961 became the first human-powered aeroplane to make an officially authenticated take-off and flight. It was designed and built by Southampton university students betwe ...

(Southampton University Man-Powered Aircraft)

References

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