Aviation portal

This is a list of aviation-related events from 2013:

Events[link]

January[link]

1 January

• The rebel Kachin Independence Army reports that Myanmar Air Force aircraft attacking its positions in northern Myanmar have overflown the People's Republic of China during the day, penetrating as far as one kilometer (0.6 mile) into Chinese airspace.^[1]

2 January

• The Government of Myanmar admits for the first time that Myanmar Air Force jets and attack helicopters conducted air strikes against rebel Kachin Independence Army forces in northern Myanmar on 30 December 2012, but claims that all of its other air operations in the area since late December 2012 have focused only on flying in supplies to Myanmar Army forces fighting Kachin rebels.^[2]
• The United States carries out two air-to-surface missile strikes by unmanned aerial vehicles in Pakistan. One hits a vehicle near Wana in South Waziristan, killing all six militants in it, including the Pakistani Taliban commanders Maulvi Nazir Wazir and Rapa Khan. The other strikes a car near Mir Ali in North Waziristan, killing two Uzbek militants and the Pakistani Taliban commander Faisal Khan.^[3]

3 January

• Press observers report that the Myanmar Air Force has conducted daily strikes against rebel Kachin Independence Army forces in northern Myanmar since 28 December 2012.^[4]
• An American unmanned aerial vehicle strike in Rada'a, Yemen, kills three al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula members, one of them a local commander.^[5]
• In the Syrian Civil War, the Syrian Air Force conducts two airstrikes on the rebel stronghold of Douma, Syria, killing 12 people.^[6] Syrian rebels claim to have killed the commander of the Syrian government air base at Taftanaz.^[6]

4 January

• Syrian Air Force aircraft strike various suburbs around Damascus, including Douma.^[6]
• Syrian rebel forces continue attacks on the Syrian government air base at Taftanaz and Aleppo International Airport in Aleppo as part of a campaign to reduce government air capabilities by capturing air bases. Syrian Air Force aircraft strike rebel forces at Taftanaz.^[6]
• A Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander carrying the head of the Missoni fashion house, Vittorio Missoni, and five other people on a domestic flight from Los Roques to Simón Bolívar International Airport outside Caracas, Venezuela, disappears over the Caribbean Sea 10 miles (16 km) south of Los Roques.^[7]

10 January

• After a Japan Air Self-Defense Force Mitsubishi F-15 fighter intercepts a People's Republic of China Shaanxi Y-8 patrol aircraft operating near the disputed Senkaku (known in China as Diaoyu) Islands, two Chinese Chengdu J-10 fighters arrive and monitor the F-15. Japanese officials state that Japan has scrambled fighters to protect the islands 150 times in the previous year.^[8]

11 January

• Helicopter-borne French commandos conduct a raid in Somalia to rescue the French intelligence agent Denis Allex from al-Shabaab, supported by U.S. Air Force combat aircraft. Allex was most likely excuted by his capturers, 1 French commando was killed in action, another went missing and 17 al-Shabaab members were killed.^[9][10]
• Syrian rebels capture the government air base at Taftanaz.^[11]
• France intervenes in the Northern Mali conflict to support the Government of Mali against Islamist rebels. Attacks by French Army Aérospatiale Gazelle attack helicopters and French Air Force Mirage 2000D fighter-bombers blunt a rebel offensive that threatens to take Mali's capital, Bamako; French bombing includes raids around Konna. One Gazelle is shot down by small arms fire and its pilot is killed.^[12][13]

12 January

• French Mirage 2000Ds strike Islamist positions around Konna, Mali.^[12]

13 January

• Syrian Air Force jets bomb the suburbs of Damascus and a marketplace in the town of Azaz, killing at least 20 people and injuring 99 in Azaz.^[14][15]
• French Mirage 2000D fighter-bombers hit Islamist targets in northern Mali, including attacks around Léré and Douentza and a strike on an Islamist rear headquarters in Gao, where they inflict dozens of casualties. French military transport aircraft bring several planeloads of French troops into Bamako.^[12][13]

14 January

• A Syrian government airstrike hits a house south of Damascus, killing at least five adults and eight children.^[15]
• Rafales join Mirage 200D jets and Gazelle attack helicopters as the French air campaign in Mali expands to strike Islamist forces in the central part of the country.^[13]

16 January

• During a domestic flight from Yamaguchi, Japan, to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, All Nippon Airways Flight 692, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, makes an emergency landing at Takamatsu Airport in Takamatsu after cockpit warning lights indicate a battery failure and the presence of smoke; one passenger is injured during the evacuation of the plane. Because of this incident and several others in recent days involving fuel leaks, a battery fire, a wiring problem, a glitch in the computer controlling the brakes, and a cracked cockpit window in various Boeing 787s around the world, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines both ground their Dreamliner fleets.^[16] Later in the day, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounds all Boeing 787s in the United States.^[17]
• An Agusta AW109 helicopter strikes the jib of a construction crane attached to St. George Wharf Tower in Vauxhall, London, England, and crashes in the street below, killing its pilot and one person on the ground and injuring 13 other people.^[18]

17 January

• Algerian attack helicopters open fire on vehicles carrying hostages and their captors during a hostage crisis at the Ain Amenas natural gas facility in Algeria, apparently killing dozens, although casualty estimates vary widely.^[19]
• The European Aviation Safety Agency endorses the Federal Aviation Administration's grounding of Boeing 787 Dreamliners.^[20] By the end of the day, Dreamliners have been grounded worldwide pending investigation of the possibility of a fire hazard posed by their lithium-ion batteries.^[21]

19 January

• The Syrian Air Force strikes a mosque and a school building sheltering Syrian refugees in Salqin, Syria, killing and wounding dozens.^[22]
• Two American unmanned aerial vehicle strikes during the evening kill a total of eight people in Yemen' Ma'rib province, including at least two members of al-Qaeda.^[23]

20 January

• A Syrian Air Force strike against rebel-held areas in al-Barika reportedly kllls seven people.^[24]
• Islamist rebel forces withdraw from Diabaly, Mali, to avoid further airstrikes after days of bombing by French aircraft. French aircraft have flown 140 bombing sorties since the French intervention in Mali began.^[25]

22 January

• An American unmanned aerial vehicle attacks a ground vehicle in Yemen's Al Jawf Governorate, killing three suspected al-Qaeda members.^[26]
• The United States announces that the United States Air Force has begun airlifting French military personnel and materiel into Mali, having made five flights thus far.^[27]

22–23 January (overnight)

• Two Russian Emergencies Ministry transport aircraft carry 77 Russian citizens fleeing the Syrian Civil War from Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, to Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow.^[28][29][30]

23 January

• An American unmanned aerial vehicle attacks a ground vehicle in Al-Masna`Ah, Yemen, killing six Islamic militants, including two senior al-Qaeda commanders.^[31]

24 January

• Syrian Air Force jets bomb rebel-held areas in Darayya and Moadamiya, Syria, and heavy fighting takes place near Damascus International Airport over control of the airport road.^[32]

25–26 January (overnight)

• Airborne French special forces join ground forces in capturing a key bridge and airport at Gao, Mali, from Islamist forces.^[33][34]

26 January

• The United States announces that U.S. Air Force tankers will provide aerial refueling support to French Air Force aircraft operating over Mali.^[35]

28 January

• Italy's highest criminal court rules that "ample and congruent" evidence exists to make it "abundantly" clear that a missile shot down Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 over the Mediterranean Sea in June 1980 and orders the Government of Italy to pay damages to the families of the victims.^[36][37]
• At the request of the United States, Niger agrees to allow the basing of American unmanned aerial vehicles on its territory, allowing the United States a greater surveillance capability over northern Mali and more broadly over the Sahara Desert.^[38]

29 January

• SCAT Airlines Flight 760, a Bombardier CRJ200, crashes in thick fog 5 km (3.1 miles) short of the runway at Almaty, Kazakhstan, near Kyzyltu, killing all 21 people on board.

First flights[link]

Entered service[link]

Retirements[link]

References[link]

• fr:2013 en aéronautique