During the first week of an Iranian ground offensive against al-Faw, Iraq, Iraq claims to have flown up to 355 fighter and 134 attack helicopter sorties per day against Iranian forces, losing 15 to 30 aircraft. Bad weather and Iranian use of the cover of darkness have made the Iraqi air operations ineffective.[6]
Using thermals, American pilot Robert Harris sets a world altitude record for gliders, piloting a Burkhard Grob 102 to 49,000 feet (14,935 meters).[7] The record will stand until August 2006.
March 3 – An Iranian helicopter attacks a Turkishtanker in the Persian Gulf. It is the first of several Iranian helicopter attacks against ships in the Persian Gulf.[9]
Since fighting over al-Faw, Iraq, began on 9 February, Iran claims to have shot down an average of seven Iraqi fighters a day, while Iraq claims to have shot down several Iranian F-4 Phantom II fighters. The Iraqi Air Force has flown several hundred sorties per day during the fighting, and claims to have flown 18,648 sorties over al-Faw since 9 February.[12]
The center landing gear tire of the MexicanaBoeing 727-264Veracruz, operating as Flight 940, explodes in flight after being inappropriately filled with compressed air instead of nitrogen. Before the plane can reach an airport to make an emergency landing, it breaks in half, catches fire, and crashes on El Carbón mountain near Maravatío, Michoacán, Mexico, killing all 167 people on board.[13] It remains the deadliest aviation accident in Mexican history and the deadliest involving a Boeing 727.
April
April 2 – A bomb planted by the Arab Revolutionary Cells terrorist group explodes over Argos, Greece, aboard Trans World Airlines Flight 840, a Boeing 727-231 with 122 people on board on a flight from Rome, Italy, to Athens, Greece. The explosion blows four passengers, all Americans and one of them a nine-month-old baby, out of the plane and they fall to their deaths; the rapid decompression of the cabin that follows injures seven other passengers, and the aircraft makes an emergency landing.
China Airlines Flight 334, a Boeing 747-2R7F/SCD registered as B-198, was hijacked by the captain after subduing the first officer and the flight engineer. He diverted the aircraft to China to defect over there. A year later, in 1987, the other pilots were reunioned with their families.[17]
May 7
The Iraqi Air Force carries out a major air raid against Tehran, Iran, setting Iran's largest oil refinery ablaze and damaging one of its processing units. It is the last Iraqi air attack against Tehran until December 13.[18]
May 23 – The Iraqi Air Force raids Iran's Yarchin arms factory.[10]
May 24 – American astronautStephen Thorne is riding as a passenger in an Aerotec Pitts S-2aerobatic plane performing maneuvers near Santa Fe, Texas, when its pilot becomes distracted by a short circuit in the electrical system. The plane spins into the ground, killing both Thorne and the pilot.[19]
May 26 – Michel Vaujour escapes from a jail in Paris, France, in a helicopter flown by his wife, a newly graduated helicopter pilot.
May 29 – June 1 – The 5th FAI World Rally Flying Championship takes place in Castellón de la Plana, Spain. Individual winners are 1. Krzysztof Lenartowicz and Janusz Darocha (Poland), 2. Carlos Eugui Aguado and Jose Anizonda (Spain), 3. (tie) Wacław Nycz and Marian Wieczorek (Poland) and Witold Świadek and Andrzej Korzeniowski (Poland). Team winners are 1. Poland, 2. West Germany, 3. Spain.
June 4 – Los Angeles, California's KFI radio "Eye in the Sky" traffic reporter Bruce Wayne is killed when his Cessna 177B Cardinal suffers engine problems just after takeoff from Fullerton Municipal Airport in Fullerton, California, strikes the top of an unoccupied semi-trailer truck, and crashes and explodes in an industrial area one-half mile (0.8 km) from the runway. Two weeks later, he would have celebrated his 25th year as a Los Angeles-area flying traffic reporter.[19][21]
Royal Air Maroc's first Boeing 757 sets a new nonstop distance record for the type on its delivery flight, flying 9,103 km (5,653 miles) from Seattle, Washington, to Casablanca, Morocco, the longest Boeing 757 flight since a flight of 7,907 kkm (4,910 miles) from Tokyo to Seattle in November 1982. The plane carries 38 people and a payload of 10,645 kg (23,467 pounds) and uses 37,563 liters (9,923 U.S. gallons; 7,939 Imperial gallons) of fuel.[24]
Royal Air Maroc becomes the first African airline to introduce the Boeing 757 into service.
July 2
The Iraqi Air Force makes its second attack on the Iranian satellite dish at Assadabad. The 9 June and 2 July attacks destroy the dish, knocking out most of Iran's international telephone and telex links for nearly two weeks.[10]
July 3 – Iraq announces that Iran has captured Mehran, Iran, in an assault that began on 20 June. Command and control problems have prevented the Iraqi Air Force from making the maximum use of its aircraft in opposing the Iranians. During the critical phase of the battle, it flew only 33 helicopter sorties despite a maximum capacity of over 500 sorties, and only 100 air-support missions despite a maximum capacity of over 300.[26]
July 15 – Flying the Rutan Voyager in a circuit over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager complete a non-stop, unrefueled flight of 111 hours 44 minutes, covering 11,857 statute miles (19,093 km). The flight breaks the previous unrefueled endurance record of 84 hours 32 minutes set in May 1931 and the previous unrefueled non-stop distance record of 11,336 statute miles (18,254 km) set by a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress in January 1962.[27]
July 20 – After a three-month lull, the Iraqi Air Force resumes the bombing of area targets in Iran.[28]
July 27 – An Iraqi Air Force raid on Arak, Iran, kills at least 70 civilians.[28]
July 30 – Since July 20, Iraqi Air Force raids against Iran have struck a sugar factory, an oil refinery, military camps, and urban targets in Arak, Marivan, and Sanandaj.[28]
August 11 – A Westland Lynx fitted with special composite rotor blades sets a new helicopter world speed record of 249.09 mph (400.87 km/h) over a 15 km (9.3 mi) course.[32]
August 12 – Iraqi aircraft raid Iran's Sirri Island for the first time, hitting three tankers there.[28]
August 17 – First flight of Tsunami, an experimental purpose-built racing aircraft.
August 18 – Iranian aircraft attack the LiberiantankerAkarita off the United Arab Emirates'Fateh oil terminal, setting the ship afire. All 39 of Akarita's crew safely abandon the badly damaged ship.[34]
August 22 – A United States Air ForceF-15A Eagle performs the fourth of five test launches of the ASM-135anti-satellite missile. The missile's third stage, the Miniature Homing Vehicle (MHV) interceptor, is pointed at a star to simulate targeting a satellite, and the test is fully successful.[35]
August 24 – Frontier Airlines files for bankruptcy and ceases operations.
September 5 – Four armed men of the Abu Nidal Organization storm the Pan American World AirwaysBoeing 747-121 Clipper Empress of the Seas, operating as Flight 73 with 379 people on board, while it is on the ground at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan; the pilots, copilot, and flight engineer escape, grounding the plane. The hijackers soon murder one passenger; after power aboard the aircraft later shuts down, the hijackers open fire on the passengers and crew, prompting Pakistani ArmySpecial Services Group commandos to storm the plane immediately as the hostages evacuate the aircraft via emergency exits. Nineteen more of the hostages die and 120 are injured.
September 16 – Iraqi Air Force aircraft conduct a highly successful series of raids against Iran's Kharg Island, temporarily forcing Iran to reduce its oil exports.[31]
Iraqi Air Force aircraft conduct an exceptionally successful raid against the Iranian oil terminal at Kharg Island.[38]
A United States Air ForceF-15A Eagle performs the fifth and final test launch of the ASM-135anti-satellite missile. The missile's third stage, the Miniature Homing Vehicle (MHV) interceptor, is pointed at a star to simulate targeting a satellite, and the test is fully successful.[35]
October 6 – The Iraqi Air Force conducts another exceptionally successful raid against Iran's oil terminal on Kharg Island, temporarily closing out the last two operational terminals there. Iran's oil exports fall to half of normal levels.[38]
October 21 – British Airways is offered for public sale by the British government.
October 22 – While WNBC 660 AM flying traffic reporter Jane Dornacker – a former rock musician, actress, and comedian – makes a traffic report over Manhattan in New York City, her Enstrom F-28F Falcon helicopter suffers a mechanical failure at an altitude of 75 feet (23 meters) due to the installation of an improper clutch, strikes a fence, and crashes into the Hudson River. It was Dornacker's second helicopter crash of the year while reporting traffic, and the broadcast captures her saying "Hit the water! Hit the water! Hit the water!" as the helicopter goes down. The pilot William Pate survives with serious injuries, but Dornacker dies on the way to the hospital.[19][40]
Michael Sergio is arrested immediately after he parachutes onto the field at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York, displaying a "Let's Go Mets" banner during the first inning of the sixth game of the 1986 World Series between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox. He later is sentenced to six months in jail after refusing to reveal the identity of the pilot of the airplane from which he parachuted.[41]
November 25 – WKRC radio flying traffic reporter Nancy McCormick and her pilot are killed when their Bell 206B helicopter flies into fog and crashes into rising terrain in Cincinnati, Ohio.[19]
November 25–26 – The Iraqi Air Force conducts a two-day series of major air raids against Iran, employing 54 aircraft and striking a Hawksurface-to-air missile site near Dezful, Iran, an Islamic Republic of Iran Army base, an air base, the Andimeshk railroad station, and the oil transshipment site on Larak Island. The Larak Island strike on November 25 is Iraq's first there; the Iraqi Air Force uses Mirage F-1EQ-5 fighters flying 1,560 miles (2,512 km), demonstrating a new reach for Iraqi aircraft, and hits several ships – raising to 90 the number of tankers hit in the Persian Guklf during 1986 – although two Iraqi Mirages are forced to land in Saudi Arabia when they run low on fuel. On the day of the Larak Island strike, Iraqi Air Force aircraft fly a total of 164 combat sorties, many of them over the front lines with Iran.[44]
November 27 – Iraq conducts its 250th airstrike against Iran'Kharg Island and claims to have knocked out all oil loading capabilities there.[45]
December 14–23 – The Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, makes the first non-stop flight around the planet without refueling. The flight covers a distance of 42,432 km (26,366 statute miles), although the international governing body for aeronautic world records, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), accredits the distance as 40,212 km (24,972 statute miles). The flight nonetheless sets a new absolute word nonstop distance record.
December 16 – Shareholders approve the merger of Delta Air Lines and Western Airlines, making Western a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta as an intermediary step along the way to a complete merger, which will be completed in April 1987.
December 25 – Four men hijackIraqi Airways Flight 163, a Boeing 737-270C with 106 people on board, during a flight from Baghdad, Iraq, to Amman, Jordan. Airline security personnel try to stop the hijacking, and during the struggle two of the hijackers'hand grenades explode; one of them detonates in the cockpit, causing the plane to crash near Arar, Saudi Arabia, killing 63 of those on board and making it one of the deadliest hijackings in history at the time. A group calling itself "Islamic Jihad," a widely used name for Hezbollah, claims responsibility.
December 31 – During 1986, Iraq has made 57 air attacks against shipping in the Persian Gulf – one using bombs, four using rockets, and 52 using air-to-surface missiles – while Iran has conducted nine air attacks against Persian Gulf shipping. The total of Iraqi air attacks against Persian Gulf shipping since 1984 has reached 125 – two using bombs, four using rockets, and the rest using air-to-surface missiles – while Iran's total since 1984 has reached 37.[49]
^Brogan, Patrick, The Fighting Never Stopped: A Comprehensive Guide to Global Conflict Since 1945, New York: Vintage Books, 1990, ISBN0-679-72033-2, p. 23.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, pp. 220–221.
^Brogan, Patrick, The Fighting Never Stopped: A Comprehensive Guide to Global Conflict Since 1945, New York: Vintage Books, 1990, ISBN0-679-72033-2, p. 219.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 226.
^ abcdeCordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 227.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 223.
^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, ISBN9781846810008, p. 292-293.
^Brogan, Patrick, The Fighting Never Stopped: A Comprehensive Guide to Global Conflict Since 1945, New York: Vintage Books, 1990, ISBN0-679-72033-2, pp. 42–43.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, pp. 227, 244, 268n.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, pp. 230–231.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 175.
^ abCordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 231.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 265n.
^ abcCordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 235.
^Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN0-7607-0592-5, p. 5.
^Brogan, Patrick, The Fighting Never Stopped: A Comprehensive Guide to Global Conflict Since 1945, New York: Vintage Books, 1990, ISBN0-679-72033-2, p. 106.
^ abDr. Raymond L. Puffer, The Death of a Satellite, [1], Retrieved on November 3, 2007.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 230.
^ abCordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran–Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 234.
^ abCordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran–Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 236.
^Brogan, Patrick, The Fighting Never Stopped: A Comprehensive Guide to Global Conflict Since 1945, New York: Vintage Books, 1990, ISBN0-679-72033-2, p. 61.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, pp. 242–243.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, p. 242.
^ abPolmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Pioneering Pioneer," Naval History, October 2013, p. 15.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, pp. 244, 268n.
^Cordesman, Anthony H., and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Volume II: The Iran-Iraq War, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, ISBN0-8133-1330-9, pp. 339.
^Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN0-7607-0592-5, p. 58.
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