1953 in aviation

Events

The first year in which the world's airlines carried more than 50 million people (ICAO statement, 29 December)

January
January 26 - The first meeting of the Experimental Aircraft Association takes place at Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Curtis-Wright Field.

February
No. 194 Squadron is commissioned as the Royal Air Force's first helicopter squadron

March
March 10 - Czechoslovakian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s shoot down a USAF F-86 Sabre in Czech airspace.

March 12 - an RAF Avro Lincoln is shot down by Soviet fighters over East Germany

March 27 - the Royal Netherlands Air Force becomes a separate command

April
April 1 - BEA and Air France introduce "Tourist Class" fares

April 3 - BOAC introduces a weekly service to Tokyo (Japan) by the de Havilland Comet 1 jet airliner

April 24 - EB-29 and two EF-84B flying as part of Project Tom-Tom crash with no survivors.

May
May 11 - INS Garuda becomes the first carrier, serving as the base for the Indian Naval Air Arm
May 18 - Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier

June
June 1 - The USAF Thunderbirds are activated as the 3600th Air Demonstration Team at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

June 18 - A USAF C-124 Globemaster II crashes near Tokyo, Japan, killing 129 people in the worst air crash to date- the first with a confirmed death toll exceeding 100. The toll surpasses a 1952 crash in Moses Lake, WA, USA, also involving a USAF Globemaster II.

June 30 - A SNCASO S.O. 4000 (prototype of the Sud Vautour fighter-bomber) becomes the first European aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in a shallow dive.

July
July 1 - The responsibility for Air Traffic Control over the FRG West Germany is handed back by the Allies to German authorities

July 3 - first tethered flight by the Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig VTOL aircraft

July 8 - Sabena begins the first international helicopter services, linking Brussels (Belgium) with destinations in the Netherlands and France

July 27 - end of the Korean War

August
August exact date unknown - an RAF English Electric Canberra on an intelligence gathering flight overflies the secret Kapustin Yar rocket test site in the USSR.

September
September 1 - a B-47 Stratojet is refueled by a KB-47 in the first jet-to-jet aerial refueling

September 21 - North Korean pilot No Kum-Sok defects, bringing his MiG-15 with him to Seoul and collecting a $US 100,000 reward.

October
October - Chapter One of the Milwaukee-based Experimental Aircraft Association is formed in Riverside, California

October 10 - an RAF English Electric Canberra wins the Christchurch Centenary air race, flying 11,792 miles (18,976 km) from England to New Zealand in 23 hours 50 minutes

October 20 - a TWA Lockheed Constellation makes the first non-stop scheduled passenger flight across the United States

November
November 20 - Scott Crossfield flies the Douglas Skyrocket past Mach 2, the first flight to reach this speed. The world airspeed record is now set at 1,291 mph (2,078 km/h)

First flights

January
January 5 - Ambrosini Sagittario

March
March 2 - Sud-Ouest SO 9000 Trident

April
April 9 - Convair XF2Y-1

May
May 16 - Leduc O.21
May 25 - North American YF-100A

June
June 14 - Blackburn Beverley

September
Lualdi-Tassotti ES 53
Mooney M20
September 3 - Pilatus P-3

October
October 13 - North American X-10
October 13 - Short Seamew
October 24 - Convair YF-102

December
December 14 - Miles Sparrowjet

Entered service

January
January 13 - Vickers Viscount with BEA