1983 in aviation

Partial list of events that marked aviation in 1983:

• January
  • 25, United States: The American-Swedish collaboration, the Saab-Fairchild 340 airplane, flies for the first time.
  • 31, United States: The Ayres Turbo Thrush NEEDS cropduster plane officially joins the war on drugs.
• February
  • 1, Renton, Washington: Boeing announces it will stop producing Boeing 727 airliners.
  • 1, France: The Dassault Mirage 2000N flies for the first time.
  • 9, London: British Airways begins Boeing 757 service.
• March
  • 4, United States: A Cubana de Aviacion Il-62M strays off course.
  • 5, United States: A Cubana de Aviacion Il-62M strays off course and overflies important American buildings for the second day in a row.
  • 16, Seattle, Washington: A Boeing 767 lands at Boeing field in Washington, after a record breaking non-stop flight from Lisbon, Portugal. The 5,499 miles flown non-stop constitute a record for twin engined airliners.
  • 25, United States: As a consequence of the March 4 and 5 incidents, the American government bans use of American airspace by Cubana de Aviacion for 14 days.
• April
  • 9, United States: The Piper PA-48 Enforcer military plane takes off for the first time.
• May
  • 5, Miami: Pilot Richard Boddy of an Eastern Airlines TriStar barely avoids disaster when he is able to land at Miami International Airport, after getting one engine back to life after both engines had stopped working during a flight to the Bahamas.
  • 10, Los Angeles: The westland 30 commercial airline helicopter sees its first service, with Airspur Helicopters.
  • 26, Chester, England: The British Aerospace 125 business jet makes its first flight.
• June
  • 1, Singapore: Singapore Airlines announces it has bought six Boeing 747s and four Boeing 757s, making it the first Asian airline to buy the 757 jet.
  • 27, Sao Paulo: The Embraer EMB-120 flies for the first time.
• July
  • 8, France: The Airbus A300-600, a larger version of the A300, flies for the first time.
• August
  • 1, Phoenix: Local carrier America West begins flying.
  • 24, London: A Canadair Challenger 601 business jet arrives at London from Calgary, setting a world record for miles flown by a business jet, at 4,364.2 miles.
• September
  • 1, U.S.S.R: A Korean Air Boeing 747, Korean Air flight 007, is downed by military soviet planes. According to investigations, the Korean Air plane had strayed off course and into Russian airspace near Sakhalin Island. Soviet pilots claimed the plane had ignored warnings, and the plane was shot down by a Sukhoi Su-15 military plane. All 269 on board died. This incident is similar, albeit much more tragic, to another incident that involved Soviet airplanes and a Korean Air Boeing 707 in 1978.
• October
  • 18, United States: Pan Am and American Airlines announce they will trade airplanes; Pan Am will send 15 McDonnell Douglas DC-10s to American in exchange for 8 Boeing 747's. Its the first time in history two airlines trade airplanes.
  • 26, New York; Pan Am celebrates the 25th anniversary of their first Boeing 707 with a 707 flight from JFK International Airport to Paris. This was, in 1958, also the first route flown by a Pan Am jet.
• November
• December
  • 4, Libya: In reprisal to an attack of American military bases in Beirut, 28 United States Navy Grumman A-6E intruders attack suspected terrorist bases in Libya.
  • 9, Renton, Washington: Delta Airlines receives the 1,000th production Boeing 737 at Boeing's headquarters.