1987 in aviation
Partial list of events that marked aviation in 1987:
(See also List of years in aviation)- January
- 1, Puerto Rico: United States Coast Guard HH-65A Dolphin and Sikorsky Sea Kings flown by the Navy help rescue people trapped inside the Dupont Plaza hotel after a fire there on the night of December 31, 1986.
- 7, Chad: French military jets attack the Libyan air base in Ouadi Doum to avenge a raid by Libya against French military 3 days before.
- 20, Northern Ireland: The first Short Turcano T.1 plane rolls out.
- February
- March
- April
- May
- 9, Poland: An Il-62 of LOT Polish Airlines bound for New York, crashes on take-off, killing 183 persons.
- 29, Soviet Union: Mathias Rust, 19 years old, a West German pilot, shocks people at the red square here, by landing his Cessna 172 plane.
- June
- 21, Paris: Air France pilot Partick Fourticq and friend Henri Pescarolo once again walk into the record books, completing an around the world flight aboard a Lockheed 18 model, in 88 hours and 19 minutes.
- July
- August
- 16, Detroit: A DC-9 MD-80 of Northwest Airlines crashes on take-off for a flight to Phoenix. 154 are killed.
- September
- October
- 31, London: British Airways accepts the airline's first women pilots.
- November
- 26, Denver: A DC-9 of Continental Airlines crashes on take-off during a snowstorm. 26 lose their lives and 56 are gravely injured.