Great Moments in Travel History – September 2016

Page 2 of 2
  • Share

DSC_0420

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 727 crashed into a mountain in the Tongass National Forest near Juneau, Alaska on September 4, 1971. All 111 people onboard perished in the crash.

On September 26, 1981, the Boeing 767-200 made its first flight. The jet entered service with United Airlines in 1982, and was the first aircraft to be used on transatlantic extended range twin-engine flights.

The Douglas Aircraft division of McDonnell Douglas delivered on September 15, 1982, its 2,000th jet airliner, a DC-10 built for United Airlines. The aircraft is a three-engine wide-body jet, and can carry as many as 380 passengers, depending on the individual airline’s configuration.

On September 1, 1983, a Soviet fighter plane shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 after it crossed into Soviet airspace. All 269 souls onboard the Boeing 747-230B lost their lives.

On September 15, 1988, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 604 crashed on takeoff after suffering multiple bird strikes. Thirty-five of the ninety-eight passengers onboard the Boeing 737 died in the crash.

On September 10, 1993, Boeing rolled out its 1,000th 747. It was delivered to Singapore Airlines one month later.

On September 2, 1998, all 229 people onboard Swissair Flight 111 died when the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on its way from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to what was then known as Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. The crash has the highest death toll of any incident involving a McDonnell Douglass MD-11 aircraft.

The September 11 attacks took place on a Tuesday morning in 2001. American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were flown into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, City, while American Airlines Flight 77 was flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth flight, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Approximately 3,000 people died in the attacks and an additional 6,000 were injured, making it the deadliest aviation incident to take place on American soil.

On September 28, 2004, final assembly on the first Boeing 777-200LR began. The aircraft holds the record for longest non-stop flight by a commercial airliner.

Delta Air Lines filed for bankruptcy on September 14, 2007, hurt by a spike in jet fuel prices and competition from low-cost carriers. Less than half an hour later, Northwest Airlines also filed for protection from its creditors, citing the cost of fuel and an inability to gain wage concessions from its unions.

The Boeing 737-900ER made it first flight from the Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Washington on September 1, 2006. The aircraft can carry up to 180 passengers in a two-class layout, and is certified for upwards of 220 passengers in a one-class configuration.

United Airlines took delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner on September 22, 2012. The carrier became the first North American airline to place in service the high-tech but problem-plagued aircraft.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

Pages: 1 2

Accura News