1985 in aviation

Events

Ryanair founded initially as a full-service carrier.

February
TWA is the first airline to operate a twin-engine jet on scheduled trans-atlantic services, with the Boeing 767

February 19 - an Iberia Boeing 727 crashes in Bilbao, killing 148. The plane got tangled with some television equipment as it tried to land.

February 19 - China Airlines Flight 006, a Boeing 747, miraculously survives a 30,000-foot (9,146 m) plunge over the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco.

March
March 15 - American Eagle Airlines, a commuter subsidiary of American Airlines, begins service.
April
April 22 - Pan Am reaches a deal with United Airlines, which buys Pan Am's Pacific Ocean routes for $US 750 million.

April 24 - LOT Polish Airlines inaugurates flights to JFK International Airport in New York.

June
June 15 - Amal guerrilla gunmen hijack TWA Flight 847 en route from Rome to Athens. The plane, which includes some Jewish passengers, is then re-routed and taken to Algiers, Beirut, and Algiers again before setting in Beirut. The 39 passengers and crew are freed on July 1 after Israel agrees to free 700 Shiite prisoners. This event was the inspiration for The Delta Force.

June 23 - Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747, explodes off the Irish coast, killing all passengers. A terrorist bomb is suspected, but never confirmed.

August
August 2 - Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011, crashes within inches of the runway at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, exploding and killing 133 persons, including a motorist whose car had been struck by the plane just before it exploded.

August 12 - Japan Airlines Flight 123, from Tokyo to Osaka, crashes. The Boeing 747 had an explosion, then hit Mount Otsuka, killing 520 of 524 people on board. Rescuers are later shocked and saddened to find farewell notes that the passengers had written for their family and friends, next to the bodies. As of 2004[update] this is still the worst single-aircraft air disaster

August 21 - Sir Freddie Laker accepts a £UK 8 million in a settlement with British Airways. Laker had sued twelve airlines for conspiring to drive Laker Airways out of business

August 22 - a Boeing 737 of British Airtours explodes in Manchester before taking off, killing 54 of the 134 people on board and punctuating commercial aviation's worst month in history.

August 26 - TWA is purchased by Jordan Cahill and associates

November
November 18 - Cessna is purchased by General Dynamics

November 23 - EgyptAir Flight 648 is hijacked after take-off from Athens, and commandeered to Cairo. The next day, Egyptian forces storm the plane that was hijacked, starting a gun battle with the hijackers. 60 people die in the cross-fire

December
December 12 - a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 of charter airline Arrow Air crashes while taking 250 soldiers back to the United States for Christmas, killing everyone on board. See: Arrow Air Flight 1285

First flights

February
February 3 - Atlas Alpha XH-1
February 12 - Valmet L-90 Redigo prototype OH-VBB

March
March 11 - ARV Super 2

July
July 29 - Kawasaki T-4

August
August 30 - Bell D-292

October
October 15 - Fairchild Republic T-46

Entered service

December
December 3 - ATR-42 with Air Littoral