1970 in aviation

yearbox
in?=in aviation
cp=19th Century
c=20th century
cf=21st century
yp1=1967
yp2=1968
yp3=1969
year=1970
ya1=1971
ya2=1972
ya3=1973
dp3=1940s
dp2=1950s
dp1=1960s
d=1970s
dn1=1980s
dn2=1990s
dn3=2000s

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1970:

Events

January

* January 31 - Mikhail Mil dies, aged 61

February

* February 17-18 - US Air Force B-52 Stratofortresses attack Laos.
* February 24 - HMS "Ark Royal" is recommissioned after a £UK 30 million refit.
* February 27 - Hawker Siddeley begins buying back surplus Hawker Hunters from the Royal Air Force to remanufacture for new customers.

March

* March 6 - BEA opens its charter service, BEA Airtours
* March 17 - an Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-9 is hijacked. The hijacker is overpowered and the aircraft lands safely in Boston, although the co-pilot is killed in the struggle.

May

* May 18 - National Airlines ends a 108-day strike by offering ground crews a 33% pay increase.
* May 26 - the Tupolev Tu-144 exceeds Mach 2 in level flight, the first commercial aircraft to do so.

July

* July 1 - Melbourne opens its new international airport
* July 5 - An Air Canada DC-8 crashes near Toronto International Airport killing 108
* July 17 - Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport commences passenger screening to help prevent hijackings; the first airport to do so.

August

* August 22 - Two Sikorsky HH-53C helicopters complete a non-stop transpacific flight of 9,000 miles (14,484 km) using in-flight refuelling.

eptember

* September 3 - Air France places the first orders for the Airbus A300

October

* October 19 - Hindustan Aeronautics completes its first licence-built MiG-21

November

* November 11 - the British government agrees to fund development of the Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofan, rescuing the project from Rolls-Royce's bankruptcy
* November 20 - the US Air Force and Army assault the Son Tay prison camp. No POWs are found.
* November 21 - US aircraft begin the first major bombing campaign of North Vietnam since 1968. 300 aircraft attack the Mu Gia and Ban Gari passes.

December

* December 15 - Artem Mikoyan dies, aged 65
* December 20 - with pre-tax losses of $US 130 million, the year ends as the worst ever for US airlines.
* December 31 - Jeanne Holm becomes the USAF's first female General.

First flights

January
* January 17 Sukhoi T-6-2IG (prototype of Sukhoi Su-24 'Fencer')

February
* February 19 - Canadair CL-84 "CX8401"

March
* Martin-Marietta X-24

May
* May 28 - Boeing Vertol Model 347

July
* July 16 - Aérospatiale Corvette
* July 18 - Alenia G.222

August
* August 20 - Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk
* August 29 - McDonnell Douglas DC-10

September
* September 1 - Dassault Falcon 10

November
* November 12 - Nihon XC-1
* November 14 - Aerosport Rail "N43344"
* November 16 - Lockheed L-1011

December
* December 21 - Grumman YF-14A

Entered service

* Nanchang Q-5 with Chinese People's Liberation Army

January
* January 22 - Boeing 747 with Pan Am and TWA