1991 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1991:

Years in aviation: 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Centuries: 19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades: 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
Years: 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

Events

  • OceanAir – the future Azores Airlines – begins operations as a non-scheduled carrier.

January

February

  • February 1
  • February 2 – Coalition aircraft attack Iraqi Navy vessels at the Al Kalia naval facility, hitting a missile boat with two laser-guided bombs and straddling another with twelve 500-pound (227-kg) bombs; helicopters from the American guided-missile frigate USS Nicholas (FFG-47) engage four Iraqi patrol boats near Maradim Island, destroying one and damaging two; and U.S. Navy A-6Es destroy an Iraqi patrol boat in Kuwait Harbor with two laser-guided bombs.[21] The Coalition claims to have sunk or damaged 83 Iraqi Navy vessels thus far in the Gulf War,[17] with Coalition aircraft inflicting most of the losses. Iraqi antiaircraft artillery shoots down a U.S. Navy A-6E Intruder near Kuwait City, Kuwait, an Iraqi short-range surface-to-air missile downs a U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II, and a U.S. Marine Corps AH-1J SeaCobra crashes due to non-combat causes while returning from an armed escort mission.[22]
  • February 3
  • February 5 – A U.S. Navy F/A-18C Hornet crashes in the northern Persian Gulf while returning to its aircraft carrier from a strike against Iraqi forces.[13]
  • February 6 – Two U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles of the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing use AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles to shoot down four Iraqi Air Force aircraft – two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s (NATO reporting name "Fishbed") and two Sukhoi Su-25s (NATO reporting name "Frogfoot") – fleeing to Iran at an altitude of about 100 feet (30 m).[23] A U.S. Navy Grumman F-14 Tomcat of Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-61) shoots down an Iraqi Mil Mi-8 (NATO reporting name "Hip") helicopter, the last of the five kills F-14s score during the Tomcat's career in U.S. Navy service.[24]
  • February 7
    • U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles use AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missiles to shoot down three Iraqi Air Force Sukhoi Su-22s (NATO reporting name "Fitter") flying to Iran, as well as an Iraqi Mil Mi-24 (NATO reporting name "Hind") helicopter in northern Iraq; a U.S. Navy F-14A Tomcat of Fighter Squadron 1 uses an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile to down an Iraqi Mil Mi-8 (NATO reporting name "Hip") helicopter; and a U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II of the 926th Tactical Fighter Group uses 30-mm cannon fire to shoot down an Iraqi Bo 105 helicopter.[23]
    • Unable to find investors in the unprofitable airline Interflug, formerly the national airline of East Germany, German officials announce that it will be dissolved.
  • February 8 – A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II uses 30-mm cannon fire to shoot down an Iraqi Alouette III helicopter.[23] U.S. Navy A-6E Intruders neutralize two Iraqi Navy vessels – a training ship and a TNC-45 fast attack craft – at Khor Al Zubair.[21]
  • February 9 – A U.S. Navy A-6E badly damages an Iraqi Zhuk-class patrol boat with a Rockeye cluster bomb.[21]
  • February 10 – U.S. Navy A-6Es sink two Iraqi Navy patrol boats in the northern Persian Gulf.[21] Iraqi antiaircraft artillery shoots down a U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II over southern Kuwait.[25]
  • February 11 – U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles of the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing use AIM-7 Sparrow missiles to shoot down two Iraqi helicopters.[23]
  • February 13 – Two U.S. Air Force F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters bomb a low structure in Baghdad which the Coalition believes houses an Iraqi military command-and-control facility. The attack destroys an air raid shelter, with Iraq claiming that over 400 civilians in it were killed, although the Coalition stands firm on its claim that the target was a military facility within which Iraq had illegally sheltered civilians to gain a propaganda advantage if they were killed.[26] Iraqi antiaircraft artillery downs a Royal Saudi Air Force F-5E Tiger II fighter over southwestern Iraq.[13]
  • February 14 – U.S. Navy A-6E Intruders sink an Iraqi Navy Osa-class missile boat in Kuwait Bay, the last Iraqi naval loss of the Gulf War.[21] Iraqi ground fire shoots down a Royal Air Force Tornado and a Royal Saudi Air Force F-5E Tiger II during strikes on Iraqi forces, and a U.S. Air Force EF-111A Raven electronic warfare aircraft crashes in Saudi Arabia due to battle damage.[27] The United States reports that Coalition airstrikes against Iraqi military forces in Kuwait have destroyed 1,300 of Iraq's 4,280 tanks, 850 of its 2,870 armored personnel carriers, and 1,100 of its 3,110 artillery pieces there.[12]
  • February 15 – Iraqi shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles shoot down two U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft while they are attacking Iraqi Republican Guard forces, and a U.S. Navy A-6E Intruder crashes in Saudi Arabia due to battle damage.[25] A U.S. Air Force F-15E strike Eagle on an anti-Scud ballistic missile mission destroys a hovering Iraqi helicopter with a laser-guided bomb; the helicopter is the last Iraqi aircraft destroyed in the air during the Gulf War.[23]
  • February 16 – A U.S. Air Force F-16C crashes while making an instrument landing approach in Saudi Arabia.[25]
  • February 18 – A U.S. Air Force F-16 goes down in Kuwait 40 miles (64 km) north of the Saudi border.[25]
  • February 19 – Iraqi antiaircraft artillery shoots down a U.S. Air Force OA-10A Thunderbolt II airborne forward air control aircraft over Kuwait.[25]
  • February 21 – Iraqi forces shoot down a U.S. Army Bell OH-58 Kiowa helicopter as it returns from a border reconnaissance mission, and U.S. military forces lose three other helicopters and an F-16 fighter in non-combat crashes.[25] In five weeks of air strikes against Iraq and Iraqi forces in Kuwait, Coalition aircraft have flown over 88,000 sorties, with the loss of 22 American and nine other aircraft, all to enemy ground fire.[28]
  • February 23 – Iraqi antiaircraft artillery downs a U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II near Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.[25]
  • February 24 – The U.S.-led Coalition's ground attack against Iraqi forces in Kuwait begins. In its first hours, 60 United States Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters carry the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) 75 miles (120 km) inside Iraq, where the brigade seizes a forward operating base. The brigade's sudden appearance unnerves Iraqi defenders so badly that they surrender quickly, with some surrendering to helicopters before American troops begin to land.[29]
  • February 25 – 63 U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters lift the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) 155 miles (250 km) behind Iraqi ground forces attempting to retreat from Kuwait, cutting them off. This will allow Coalition aircraft and ground forces to annihilate the trapped Iraqi units on Highway 8 between Basra and Baghdad.[29] Iraqi antiaircraft artillery shoots down a U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II southeast of Kuwait City, and also claims an American OV-10D Bronco and an American attack helicopter.[25]
  • February 27
    • Fearing that its arrival overhead presages a devastating Coalition airstrike against their positions, 40 Iraqi soldiers on Faylaka Island surrender to a U.S. Navy Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle flying a reconnaissance mission from the battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64). It is the first time in history that troops surrender to an unmanned vehicle.[30]
    • An American OV-10D Bronco becomes the last Coalition aircraft lost in combat during the Gulf War.[25]
  • February 28 – The U.S.-led Coalition calls a ceasefire with Iraq, with all Iraqi forces driven out of Kuwait and airpower having neutralized practically all of Iraq's ability to make war. Coalition aircraft have shot down 40 Iraqi aircraft while losing none of their own in air-to-air combat.[28]

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

First flights

January

February

March

April

May

June

  • June 18 – BAe RJ70[40]

August

September

October

November

December

Retirements

References

  1. Plume, Janet (January 10, 1991). "L'Express files for Chapter 11 protection". The New Orleans Times-Picayune. pp. D2.
  2. . Smothers, Ronald; Weather is linked to crash of plane; New York Times; july 12, 1991
  3. Friederich, Otto, Desert Storm: The War in the Persian Gulf, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991, ISBN 978-0-316-85100-8, pp. 35, 39, 44, 51.
  4. Crosby, Francis, The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World's Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day, London: Hermes House, 2006, ISBN 978-1-84681-000-8, p. 294.
  5. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 158, 162.
  6. Friederich, Otto, Desert Storm: The War in the Persian Gulf, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991, ISBN 978-0-316-85100-8, p. 40.
  7. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 354.
  8. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, pp. 357-358.
  9. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 358.
  10. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, pp. 354-355.
  11. Friederich, Otto, Desert Storm: The War in the Persian Gulf, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991, ISBN 978-0-316-85100-8, p. 100.
  12. Friederich, Otto, Desert Storm: The War in the Persian Gulf, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991, ISBN 978-0-316-85100-8, p. 102.
  13. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 355.
  14. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 363.
  15. Jan J. Safarik: Air Aces Home Page - Saudi Arabia Gulf War (1990)
  16. Friederich, Otto, Desert Storm: The War in the Persian Gulf, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991, ISBN 978-0-316-85100-8, p. 42.
  17. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 424.
  18. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, pp. 201, 363.
  19. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, pp. 201, 363–364.
  20. "www2.hurlburt.af.mil Factsheets: AC-130A Spectre". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
  21. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 364.
  22. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 355
  23. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 359.
  24. Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: A Premier Fighter," Naval History, April 2012, p. 14.
  25. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, p. 356.
  26. Friederich, Otto, Desert Storm: The War in the Persian Gulf, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991, ISBN 978-0-316-85100-8, pp. 55-56.
  27. Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory: The War For Kuwait, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-55750-254-4, pp. 355–356.
  28. Friederich, Otto, Desert Storm: The War in the Persian Gulf, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991, ISBN 978-0-316-85100-8, p. 57.
  29. [Birdwell, Glenn, "Hamilton Howze Devised the Army's Airmobile Concept to Deliver Troops Swiftly to the Battlefield. It is Still In Use Today," Military Herirtage, December 2011, Page 23.]
  30. Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Pioneering Pioneer," Naval History, October 2013, p. 15.
  31. GlobalSecurity.org Operation Southern Watch 1991 Events
  32. planecrashinfo.com Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents: 1990s
  33. "Operation Provide Comfort II". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
  34. Brinkley, Joel, "Ethiopian Jews and Israelis Exult as Airlift Is Completed," nytimes.com, May 26, 1991.
  35. Welch, Rosanne (1998). "Gibson, Julie Ann". Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space. Santa Barbara; Oxford: ABC-Clio. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-87436-958-8.
  36. TWA History Timeline Archived 2015-04-10 at the Wayback Machine
  37. "Arthur Brooks, Last American World War I Fighter-Pilot Ace". The Seattle Times. 1991-07-20. Retrieved 2011-02-20 via Associated Press. SUMMIT, N.J. - Arthur Raymond Brooks, a World War I ace who shot down six planes and whose fighter is on display at the Smithsonian Institution, died this week at his home. He was 95.
  38. Brotak, Ed, "When Birds Strike," Aviation History, May 2016, p. 49.
  39. Lambert 1991, p. [35]
  40. Lambert 1992, p. [23].
  41. Bodie, Waren M., "Flashback," Aviation History, July 2008, p. 45.
  42. Lambert 1992, p. [24].
  43. Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 85.
  • Lambert, Mark (ed.) Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1991–92. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Defence Data, 1991. ISBN 0-7106-0965-5.
  • Lambert, Mark (ed.) Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1992–93. Coulsdon, Surry, UK: Jane's Data Division, 1992. ISBN 0-7106-0987-6.
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