1972 in aviation
| Years in aviation |
|---|
| 1967 |
| 1968 |
| 1969 |
| 1970 |
| 1971 |
| 1972 |
| 1973 |
| 1974 |
| 1975 |
| 1976 |
| 1977 |
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1972:
Events
January
- January 5 - US President Richard Nixon announces $US 5.5 billion in funding for the Space Shuttle program
- January 27 - Civil aviation in Canada is halted by a stike by air traffic controllers
February
- February 5 - Aeroflot and Lufthansa jointly open services between Moscow and Frankfurt-am-Main
- February 5 - NASA and de Havilland Canada extensively modify a C-8 Buffalo for STOL experiments
April
- April 1 - BOAC and BEA are merged to creat British Airways
- April 25 - Hans-Werner Grosse sets a new sailplane distance record of 1,460 km (908 miles) in a Schleicher ASW.12
- April 27 - US Air Force F-4 Phantoms destroy the Thanh Hoa bridge with laser-guided bombs.
May
- May 10 - Lts Randy Cunningham and J G William become the first US Navy aces of the Vietnam War, adding three Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17s to their tally on this day alone.
- May 26 - the United States and Soviet Union sign the SALT-1 strategic arms limitation treaty
- May 26 - Cessna builds its 100,000th aircraft, the first company in the world to achieve this figure.
- May 30 - three Japanese terrorists attack passengers at Tel Aviv Airport
June
- June 20 - Airline pilots hold a world-wide strike, calling for tighter security
- June 21 - Jean Boulet pilots a Aérospatiale Lama to a new record altitude for helicopters, 12,441 m (40,820 ft)
July
- July 26 - NASA announces Rockwell International as prime contractor for the Space Shuttle Orbiter
August
- August 1 - Delta Air Lines absorbs Northeast Airlines
- August 11 - NATO signs a development contract for the MRCA (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) programme, which will eventually result in the Panavia Tornado
- August 28 - Cpt Richard Richie becomes the first US Air Force ace of the Vietnam War.
- August 28 - Prince William of Gloucester is killed in the crash of a Piper Cherokee Arrow during the Gordonwood Trophy race.
September
- September 22 - the 1,000th Boeing 727 is sold, a sales record for airliners
October
- October 10 - Competitive fly-off between the Northrop YA-9 and Fairchild YA-10 begins, continuing until December 9.
- October 13 - a Uruguayan Air Force Fairchild FH-227 crashes in the Andes. Survivors resort to eating dead passengers before their rescue two months later.
- October 26 - Igor Sikorsky dies
December
- December 23 - Andrei Tupolev dies, aged 86
- December 26 - 117 B-52 Stratofortresses attack Hanoi in Operation Linebacker II, the largest air assault in the Vietnam War to this time.
First flights
January
May
June
July
October
Entered service
April
| List of Aircraft | Aircraft Manufacturers | Aircraft Engines | Aircraft Engine Manufacturers Airlines | Air Forces | Aircraft Weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation |