Category Archives: History

A nasty brawl broke out on a Spirit Airlines flight after two women decided to blast music from a boom box.

Al Blackman Celebrates 70 Years As An Aircraft Mechanic- And Still Going Strong

In July 1942, Hitler continued to gain ground against the Soviet Union. The United States was only seven months into its participation in World War II. The Manhattan Project had not yet even begun. And a 16 year old New Yorker named Azriel “Al” Blackman took a job as a mechanic for American Export Airlines.…

Remembering Pan Am

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Image by Telstar Logistics via Flickr"][/caption] On Sunday, September 26th, a new show begins, Pan Am, which will use the legendary airline as it was in the 60s as a backdrop. Pan Am, or Pan American World Airways, ceased to exist as an airline on December 4, 1991. The spirit of…

Fifty Years Ago â€“ Two Planes Collided Over Brooklyn

On December 16, 1960, United Airlines Flight 826 crashed into a church in Park Slope, Brooklyn. While no memorial marks the spot, it was, at the time, the worst aviation disaster in American history. The crippled plane set fire to ten apartment buildings, the ironically named Pillar of Fire church, a funeral home, a Chinese laundry, and a deli. Six persons on the ground died as a result.

TWA Gone, But Not Forgotten

Trans World Airlines was one of the great U.S. legacy airlines. In fact, until the 1970s, it and Pan Am(also now defunct), were the only U.S. airlines to serve Europe. For their flight attendants, however, the airline still lives, which prompted our reminiscence.

Renaming Boston’s Logan Airport after Ted Kennedy – Bad Idea

Image by nsub1 via Flickr The Boston Globe reports that a state representative has suggested renaming Logan Airport after the late Senator Ted Kennedy. It would be called Logan-Kennedy Airport. This is a bad idea. For one, there is already a Kennedy Airport in New York. Admittedly named after the late President, John F. Kennedy,…

LaGuardia’s Marine Air Terminal

[caption id="attachment_1663" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Marine Air Terminal, circa 1940 (Courtesy Library of Congress)"][/caption] The saga of LaGuardia Airport began when Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia struck a blow for all proud New Yorkers when he refused to call Newark Airport New York. LaGuardia was flying on a TWA flight which arrived into Newark, and pointing out…

History: People Express

We’ve been really enjoying this history kick we’ve been on of late. So, newsflash…July 31st, 1986….

The Associated Press reports that Newark-based People Express will eliminate service to eight cities and change its pricing structure and policies, as well as lese eight 727-200 aircraft to another airline. It was the largest reduction in service thus far for the then five-year old carrier.

History: Victory for Wright in Ten Mile Flight

Image via Wikipedia In today’s issue of the New York Times Traveler, the Wrights finally took their record-breaking flight. It met the extended deadline set for tests by the War Department, which will be paying the Wrights $25,000 for their plane. The Wright flyer hit an incredible speed of forty-two miles per hour, making the…

Wright Fails to Fly: Gets Three Days More

A followup to yesterday’s New York Times Traveler story on Orville Wright’s historic flight. Today’s paper reports, under the banner headline of Spain is Facing Outbreak of Civil War, it reports that Wright failed to fly, and got three days more, which explains the historical note that the flight took place July 30th. The entire…

Orville Wright Sets New World Mark for Airplane in Ft. Myer Test

We get a real kick out of the New York Times Traveler, which offers news from the paper from 100 years ago today. We’ve been reveling in the misadventures of that wacky President Taft. On July 28th, 1909, the top news story was, U.S. Senator Arrested in Racial Assault. But below that was an aviation…

60 Years Ago: First Flight of the Comet

Image via Wikipedia On July 27th, 1949, the first flight of the prototype De Havilland Comet ushered in a new era of commercial aviation. The Comet entered service with BOAC on May 2nd, 1952, when it launched the first commercial jet service with scheduled flights to South Africa. The Comet was about 50% faster than…

The Beginning of the End for the Concorde

On July 25th, 2000, a Concorde, operated as Air France flight 4590, en route from Paris to New York crashed after takeoff from Paris, killing all onboard. (NYCAviation keeps reminding us of things like this). The crash was caused by a strip of metal that fell from a Continental DC-10 heading to Houston, which punctured…

Twenty Years Ago – Remembering UA232

Image via Wikipedia Earlier, NYCAviation, who earlier in the week reminded us of other anniversaries, reminded us that on July 19th, 1989, United Flight 232 made a crash landing in Sioux City, Iowa, after a loss of all hydraulic controls. 296 Passengers were on board the flight from Denver to Chicago when one of the…

This Day in Aviation History

Image via Wikipedia The following appears courtesy of NYCAviation. Some days are just historically significant. 1933: Lithuanian research aircraft Lituanica disappears mysteriously after a successful crossing of the Atlantic. 1944: Napalm incendiary bombs are used for the first time in war, dropped by American P-38 fighters on a fuel depot in France. 1975: An American…

History of Ithaca Aviation – Robinson Airlines Photo Gallery

Here is a brief photo notation of our Multi-Part Series on the History of Aviation in Ithaca, NY. Part I can be found here, Part II here. After we finished that last entry, we did a google search for Robinson Airlines and discovered some interesting photos online. The images appear on the following site, assembled…

History of Ithaca Aviation – Part II

Here is Part Two of our Multi-Part Series on the History of Aviation in Ithaca, NY. Part I can be found here. Weâ€™ll see how it is received. It is exciting for us to use material we gathered years ago, when we used to spend a lot of time in Ithaca. Some of the material…