1974 in aviation

March
March 3 - Turkish Airlines Flight 981, a DC-10, crashes into forest near Ermenonville, France, killing 346 people. At the time, it was the worst aviation disaster in history.

March 31 - British Airways commenced operations after BOAC and BEA merged to create the airline.

July
July 22 - the US Navy and Marine Corps evacuate 500 people from Cyprus, away from the conflict erupting between Greece and Turkey on the island

September
September 1 - a SR-71 Blackbird crosses the Atlantic Ocean in less than two hours.

November
November 20 - Lufthansa flight 540 crashes and burns moments after takeoff, killing 59 people. It was the first major accident involving the Boeing 747.

First flights

January
January 9 - WSK-Mielec M-15 SP-1974
January 20 - General Dynamics YF-16 72-01567

February
February 21 - HTM Skyrider D-HHTF

June
June 9 - Northrop YF-17 72-01569
June 24 - Aerospatiale AS 350 Ecureuil F-WVKH

August
August 14 - Panavia MRCA (later Tornado) D-9591
August 21 - Hawker-Siddeley Hawk XX154
August 22 - Shorts 360 G-BSBH

September
September 11 - Bell 206L LongRanger N206L
September 25 - Northrop F-5F Tiger II 73-0889

October
October 17 - Sikorsky YUH-60 73-21650
October 28 - Dassault Super Étendard
October 31 - IAR-93 RO-001 / J-22 Orao 25001

November
November 8 - IA 58 Pucará
November 29 - Boeing Vertol YUH-61 73-21656

December
December 23 - B-1 Lancer 74-0158

Entered service

Sukhoi Su-24 'Fencer' with VVS

February
February 20 - S-3 Viking with VS-41, NAS North Island

May
May 23 - Airbus A300 with Air France

September
September 17 - F-14 Tomcat with VF-1 and VF-2 aboard USS Enterprise

November
November 14 - F-15 Eagle with the 555th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron at Luke AFB