After a missed approach in thick fog while attempting to land at Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Turkish Airlines Flight 6491, a Boeing 747-412F cargo aircraft (registration TC-MCL) belonging to and crewed by MyCargo Airlines, crashes in the village of Dachi Suu while attempting a go-around, killing all four people on the plane and at least 37 on the ground, and injuring at least 15 people. The plane, breaking into pieces, plows through several hundred meters of the town, destroying at least 32 houses and damaging dozens of buildings.[citation needed]
17 January
Australia, China, and Malaysia announce that they have suspended indefinitely the underwater search they have led for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 that disappeared on 8 March 2014 with 239 people on board. The most complex and expensive search effort in aviation history, searchers using sonartowfish and unmanned submarines have covered 120,000 km (46,000 square miles) of the Indian Ocean about 1,100 miles (1,800 km) west of Australia over more than 34 months at a cost of between US$150 million and US$160 million without finding any trace of the airliner or its passengers or crew. Rejecting a December 2016 Australian Transport Safety Bureau suggestion that the search zone move 200 miles (320 km) farther north, the three countries announce that they do not plan to resume the search unless convincing new evidence surfaces that identifies the likely location of the aircraft.[3][4][5]
18 January
Two United States Air ForceB-2 Spirit bombers – named the Spirit of Pennsylvania and the Spirit of Georgia – conduct an evening strike against two Islamic State camps about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Sirte, Libya, where Islamic State personnel are actively plotting attacks in Europe. The B-2s drop 108 bombs and, making a nonstop flight to Libya and back from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, spend 34 hours continuously in the air; it is the first use of B-2s in combat since Operation Odyssey Dawn in March 2011. After the B-2 strike is completed, U.S. MQ-9 Reaperunmanned aerial vehicles follow up with Hellfireair-to-ground missile strikes against surviving targets.[6] Between them, the B-2s and MQ-9s kill an estimated 85 Islamic State personnel.[7][8] The United States has conducted 495 airstrikes in and around Sirte since August 2016, most of them by unmanned aerial vehicles.[7]
Airline passengers around the world face confusion as airlines issue contradictory and vague rules about who can and cannot travel to the United States in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States," signed on 27 January, which places a 90-day ban on entry to the United States of citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, an indefinite ban on entry by Syrian refugees, and a 120-day ban on entry by refugees from any other country.[10]
As part of a review of the U.S. strategy for defeating the Islamic State, the administration of PresidentDonald Trump issues a memorandum to U.S. military commanders directing them to look into loosening restrictions on U.S. airstrikes imposed by President Barack Obama to lessen the likelihood and frequency of civilian casualties in U.S. airstrikes.[11]
30 January
U.S. President Donald Trump says that he has been able to get Lockheed Martin to agree to reduce the total price of the next batch of 90 F-35A Lightning II aircraft it will manufacture by US$600 million. A U.S. Department of Defense spokesman says that the reduction will amount to a per-plane price reduction of 6 to 7 percent, translating to a reduction of between US$6.1 million and US$7.1 million per plane and of between US$549 million and US$630 million for the 90 planes combined.[12]
In Geneva, Switzerland, a United Nations special investigative commission issues a finding that the Syrian government committed a war crime by deliberately bombing a humanitarian ground convoy unloading aid packages at a warehouse operated by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent west of Aleppo, Syria, during a ceasefire on 19 September 2016, killing 10 aid workers. The commission finds that the Syrian Arab Air Force strike was "meticulously planned and ruthlessly carried out." Both Russia and the Syrian government have denied that their aircraft conducted the attack.[15][relevant?]
2 March
Manned and unmanned U.S. aircraft conduct 25 strikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) targets in Yemen's Abyan, Bayda, and Shabwah governorates. One strike, against a car in the Mowjan area of Bayda Governorate, reportedly kills five AQAP members including some senior leaders, and local media claim that the strikes combine to kill "hundreds" of AQAP personnel.[16][relevant?]
2-3 March (overnight)
U.S. manned and unmanned aircraft conduct at least five strikes against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) targets in Yemen. Among the targets is a house in the al-Saeed area of Shabwa Governorate believed to belong to senior AQAP area commander Saad Atef; his home is among several houses damaged by air-to-ground missiles, reportedly killing 12 AQAP personnel, although Atef's fate is unknown.[17][relevant?]
4 March
Families of the passengers of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 – a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board missing since 8 March 2014 – announce that they have begun a campaign to raise funds to pay for a private search for the plane, hoping to raise US$15 million for a search in a 25,000-square-kilometer (9,700-square-mile) area in the Indian Ocean to the north of previous search areas. Speaking at the remembrance event at a shopping mall near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at which the families announce the new effort, Malaysian Minister of TransportLiow Tiong Lai claims that there is an 85 percent chance that the missing plane will be found in the new search area. The governments of Australia, the People's Republic of China, and Malaysia had called off their two-year, US$160 million search for the airliner on 17 January.[18]
Angry with the Government of the Netherlands over its refusal to allow Turkish diplomats to engage in political campaigning in the Netherlands among Turkish citizens there in support of a referendum in Turkey scheduled for 16 April 2017 that would increase the powers of Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan, as well as the treatment Turkish diplomats received from Dutch authorities while attempting to engage in such campaigning, the Government of Turkey announces a number of sanctions against the Netherlands, including the closing of Turkish airspace to Dutch diplomats. Among other things, the closing of the airspace prevents the Dutch ambassador to Turkey from returning to Turkey after a trip to the Netherlands.[23][relevant?]
14 March
According to local residents, airstrikes against houses in Mosul, Iraq, targeting Islamic State snipers and other forces kill 27 civilians in one house and 19 in another.[24]
According to local residents, an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition against two Islamic State snipers in a building in Mosul, Iraq, kills a reported 137 people sheltering in one building. The coalition will later respond that it is investigating conflicting allegations of an airstrike in the area between 17 and 23 March that inflicted civilian casualties. The Iraqi armed forces neither confirm nor deny conducting a strike in the area, but say that the Islamic State is forcing civilians to remain in buildings while they fight coalition forces from the rooftops, hoping to turn world opinion against the coalition when airstrikes and other military operations targeting the Islamic State forces kill the civilians.[24] A United States Department of Defense study of the incident released on 25 May 2017 will conclude that a 500-pound (227-kg) GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) that struck the building detonated explosives stored there by the Islamic State, causing the building to collapse and killing the two snipers and 105 civilians, and that an additional 36 alleged civilian deaths in the explosion and collapse could not be confirmed;[26] local residents will respond by disputing that explosives were stored in the building.[27][relevant?]
Syria fires surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at Israeli Air Force jets returning to Israel from an overnight strike against what Israel's Channel 10 says was a ground convoy in central Syria carrying weapons destined for Hezbollah. The Government of Syria claims that the Israelis targeted several sites in central Syria near Palmyra and that Syrian antiaircraft batteries shot down one Israeli plane, damaged another, and forced the rest to flee, but Israel says that the Syrian claims are false and that all its aircraft returned safely. Israel uses its Arrow missile in combat for the first time, shooting down one of the Syrian SAMs.[28][relevant?]
An attack helicopter fires on a boat with 140 people on board carrying Yemeni refugees from Yemen to Sudan at the mouth of the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, reportedly killing at least 40 people and injuring about 80 others. Houthi rebels in Yemen claim that an AH-64 Apache helicopter operated by the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebel forces in Yemen conducted the attack. The coalition has claimed that the Houthis smuggle weapons into Yemen via the Red Sea.[29][relevant?]
A 39-year-old man assaults a police officer during a traffic stop for speeding in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, hijacks a woman's car at gunpoint, and drives to Paris Orly Airport, where he confronts a team of three soldiers of France's Sentinel anti-terrorism force. After he tackles a female member of the Sentinel team, seizes her assault rifle, and points it at the other two soldiers, the other two soldiers shoot and kill him. About 3,000 passengers are evacuated from Orly's south terminal, while those in the airport's west terminal are confined temporarily. All air traffic into Orly also is suspended temporarily.[30][relevant?]
19 March
A U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle carries out an air-to-ground missile strike in Afghanistan's Paktika Province that kills al-Qaeda leader Qari Yasin and three of his companions. The U.S. Department of Defense will announce the strike and its results on 25 March.[31][relevant?]
The U.S.-led coalition conducts 19 airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria's Raqqa Governorate near Ar-Raqqa. Local residents, activists, and Syrian state television report that one of the strikes hit a school in Mansoura where hundreds of civilians had taken shelter, killing at least 30 civilians. The coalition responds that it has no reports of civilian casualties resulting from its strikes.[32][relevant?]
A spokesman for Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently says that airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition targeting the Islamic State have killed 101 civilians since 1 March, a record death toll for a single month.[33][relevant?]
Unidentified aircraft, either of the Syrian Arab Air Force or Russian Federation Air Force, strike Idlib, Syria, in response to an unexpected rebel offensive in the area. The offensive begins following days of strikes by Syrian Arab Air Force aircraft, supported by Russian planes, against rebel-held areas in Syria's Idlib Governorate that have killed dozens of civilians.[34][relevant?]
United States Marine Corps aircraft including helicopters airlift Syrian Democratic Forces troops, including Arab and Kurdish forces, to an area behind Islamic State lines in northern Syria to spearhead an offensive to capture Al-Thawrah, Syria, the Tabqa Dam, and a nearby airfield from the Islamic State, the first time the United States has provided airlift support to rebels in Syria. U.S. Marine Corps AH-64 Apacheattack helicopters are among other U.S. military forces also taking part in the offensive.[40][41][relevant?]
The United Kingdom-based group Airwars alleges that airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria have killed 1,000 civilians since 1 March.[24][relevant?]
24 March
A night airstrike probably conducted by Syrian Arab Air Force aircraft hits a rebel-operated women's prison in Idlib, Syria, killing at least 16 people, including prison staff and prisoners. Some of the imprisoned women reportedly survive the air raid and try to take advantage of the strike to escape from the prison but are shot to death by prison guards.[42][relevant?]
25 March
During an ongoing rebel offensive, Syrian Arab Air Force aircraft conduct airstrikes against rebel forces and rebel-held areas in the suburbs of Damascus, Idlib Governorate, and Hama Governorate. Some activists claim that Russian aircraft also take part in the strikes. One strike hits a main street in Hamouriyah, killing at least 16 people – one report puts the death toll at at least 18 – and wounding more than 50. In Idlib Governorate, strikes hit the provincial capital, Idlib, and several other towns and villages, reportedly killing and wounding dozens of people; one of the strikes hits a clinic in Kafr Nabl.[42][relevant?]
26 March
U.S.-backed Syrian rebel forces recapture al-Tabqa Air Base, 45 km (28 mi) west of ar-Raqqa, Syria, from the Islamic State. The Islamic State had held the strategically important air base since capturing it in August 2014.[43][relevant?]
A spokesman for United States Central Command announces that the U.S. military is not considering changes to its airstrike policies in combating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria despite reported increases in civilian deaths due to U.S. strikes.[11]United States Secretary of DefenseJames Mattis says that no country does more than the United States to avoid civilian casualties, adding, "We go out of our way to always do everything humanly possible to reduce the loss of life or injury among innocent people. The same cannot be said for our adversaries, and that is up to you [i.e., the press] to sort out."[11][relevant?]
28 March
The United Kingdom-based group AirWars announces that of 1,257 claimed civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria in airstrikes by the U.S. coalition since 1 March, it considers a record 337 of them to be "fair," which it defines as corroborated by at least two generally reliable sources and alleged to have taken place in areas where coalition airstrikes are known to have occurred at the time of the reported civilian deaths.[33][relevant?]
The largest variant of the Embraer E-Jet E2 family, the E195-E2, makes its first flight. The flight, previously scheduled for the second half of 2017, takes place ahead of schedule.[45]
The first successful launch and landing of a used orbital rocket takes place as the first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 space launch vehicle returns to a soft landing aboard a platform in the Atlantic Ocean after launching a communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX previously had used the rocket in an April 2016 launch.[47]
During a counteroffensive by Syrian government forces to retake areas lost to rebels in March, Syrian aircraft conduct airstrikes against rebel-held areas around Damascus and in Hama, Syria. A strike in Douma reportedly kills at least 16 people.[50]
Boeing announces a tentative agreement to sell 30 Boeing 737 MAX airliners to Iran's Iran Aseman Airlines for a total of US$3,000,000,000, with the airline also holding rights to purchase an additional 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for an additional US$3,000,000,000. Deliveries are to begin in 2022.[54]
5 April
Zunum Aero announces that it is working with Boeing HorizonX and JetBlue Technology Ventures to develop electric aircraft that could compete with private automobiles, trains, and buses on trips of up to 1,000 miles (1,600 km) in terms both of operating costs for airlines and the cost and time of travel for passengers. The company envisions electric aircraft capable of seating 10 to 50 passengers that would operate at lower speeds and altitudes than current commercial aircraft but allow airlines to operate profitably from local airports that had lost airline service as airlines consolidated passengers onto larger aircraft to save on operating costs. The company also envisions the new generation of aircraft drawing people away from cars, buses, and trains by allowing airlines to offer lower fares and by operating from general aviation airports with passengers loading their baggage into the planes directly from their cars without going through time-consuming security lines or having to change planes at airline hubs. Zunum Aero hopes its aircraft can begin service by the early 2020s, although some independent observers doubt that such service could begin before 2030 and perhaps not before 2050.[55]
6 April
During the evening, the United States Navyguided-missile destroyersUSS Porter (DDG-78) and USS Ross (DDG-71) fire 59 Tomahawkcruise missiles at the Syrian Arab Air Force's Shayrat Air Base, which the United States has identified as the source of 4 April poison gas attack on Khan Shaykhun, Syria. Reports of the number of Syrian aircraft destroyed in the strike range from "approximately 20 planes" according to initial U.S. assessments[56] to nine aircraft according to Russian state television.[57] The Syrian state media report that nine civilians die in the strike, but the United States replies that the strike did not target civilians, instead hitting "aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars."[53][58] According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strike kills four Syrian military personnel, including a general, and damages over a dozen hangars, a fuel depot, and an air defense base,[59][60] while Al-Masdar News reports that the strike kills six Syrian military personnel, damages or destroys 15 Syrian jet aircraft, and causes explosions and large fires when by destroying several fuel tankers.[61] It is the first time that U.S. forces have attacked Syrian forces deliberately since the Syrian Civil War began in March 2011.
7 April
Syrian Arab Air Force aircraft resume operations from Shayrat Air Base.[62]
In response to the U.S. cruise missile strike against Shayrat Air Base the previous day, Russia suspends its agreement to cooperate with the United States in avoiding hostile encounters with one another over Syria. It also claims that only 23 of the 59 missiles fired had hit their targets, and that they had destroyed only six Syrian aircraft – all MiG-23s (NATO reporting name "Flogger") undergoing repairs – a radar station, and a few buildings.[63]
The U.S.-led coalition has conducted at least 20 strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria over the previous 24 hours.[53]
8 April
Syrian Arab Air Force and Russian Federation Air Force aircraft strike targets in rebel-held areas in Syria's Aleppo, Damascus, Daraa, and Idlib governorates, killing civilians in all four governorates. During the day, Syrian aircraft again strike Khan Shaykhun, the site of 6 April chemical attack, using only conventional weapons, killing one woman and wounding several other people there.[62]
9 April
After no one volunteers to give up his or her seat to make room aboard overbookedUnited Express Flight 3411 – an Embraer 170 with 70 passengers aboard operated by Republic Airline boarding at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, for a flight to Louisville, Kentucky – to make room for four United Airlines employees requiring transportation to Louisville, United employees select four passengers to be involuntarily bumped from the flight. Three comply, but the fourth, David Dao, refuses. After United employees deem Dao "disruptive" and "belligerent," Chicago Department of Aviation security officers board the plane, slam a screaming Dao's head against an armrest, and drag him from his seat, apparently unconscious. After the United employees take the vacated seats, Dao reboards the airliner with a bloody face, collapses, and is removed on a stretcher. The incident is captured on video and causes outrage. Although United chief executive officerOscar Munoz initially defends his employees' actions, he apologizes two days later and promises such an incident will not occur again.
10 April
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) drops its 2013 proposal to allow passengers to use cellphones during the cruise portion of airline fights. Although then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had argued in 2013 that advances in flight communications had minimized the danger of cellphone signals interfering with pilot radios, making prohibitions on cellphone use at cruising altitude unnecessary, although cellphone use during takeoff, climb, descent, and landing would remain prohibited. Wheeler's proposal has never been instituted, and current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai withdraws it, arguing that noisy telephone calls aboard airliners would annoy passengers and cabin crews.[64]
Researchers at Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University release an annual report on the quality of the performance of airlines in the United States which finds – based on statistics compiled by the United States Department of Transportation regarding airline on-time performance, baggage-handling, involuntary bumping of passengers from oversold flights, and passenger complaints filed with the United States Government – that U.S. airlines improved their on-time performance (defined by the U.S. Government as arriving no more than 14 minutes late) in 2016 compared to 2015 and lost fewer pieces of luggage, and that customers filed fewer complaints in 2016 than in 2015, despite popular opinion that the quality of airline service is declining. On-time performance rose from 79.9 percent in 2015 to 81.4 percent in 2016 (with only American Airlines, JetBlue, and Virgin America seeing drops in performance among 12 leading U.S. airlines); lost, stolen, or delayed luggage dropped 17 percent; the bumping of passengers dropped 18 percent; and complaints to the U.S. Government dropped by about one-fifth (with only Hawaiian Airlines and Virgin America seeing increases in complaints). Overall, the researchers rank Alaska Airlines as the highest performer and Delta Air Lines second, and Frontier Airlines as the lowest performer, with Spirit Airlines second-lowest. The statistics do not include delayed flights that arrive within 14 minutes of their scheduled arrival time, passengers who voluntarily give up their seats on overbooked flights in exchange for compensation, or complaints filed directly with airlines.[65]
A Lesotho Defence Force Eurocopter EC135 T2+ carrying three soldiers and a Lesotho Ministry of Finance official delivering pensions to outlying districts strikes power lines and crashes in mountainous terrain near Thaba Putsoa, Lesotho. Two of those on board are killed; the other two are critically injured and die later in a hospital.
Flying in adverse weather, a Turkish police helicopter carrying seven police officers, a judge, a soldier, and three crew members crashes in mountainous terrain ten minutes after takeoff from Pulumur in eastern Turkey, killing all 12 people on board.[71]
20 April
Leased by GECAS, the first A321neo is delivered in Hamburg, Germany, to Virgin America, configured with 184 seats and LEAP engines. Virgin America expects to place it in service on 31 May.[72]
According to a Syrian Observatory for Human Rights report, airstrikes – presumably conducted by the Syrian Arab Air Force or Russian Federation Air Force – hit an underground medical center in Abdin, Idlib. The Observatory later also reports that land-based missiles hit the facility. The attacks kill at least three medical staff members.[75]
Uber announced plans to launch a flying taxi service called Elevate using extremely quiet, pilotless, autonomous, electric-powered VTOL vehicles capable of carrying four passengers, with takeoffs and landings to take place at "vertiports" located in large cities, perhaps on the tops of buildings. Uber hopes that Elevate will begin operations by 2023 and perhaps as soon as 2020, followed by a full-scale rollout by 2027. Dallas, Texas, has already committed to hosting the initial Elevate operations, and Uber hopes that Dubai also will participate when Elevate is introduced. Uber has approached Aurora Flight Sciences, Bell Helicopter, Embraer, the Mooney International Corporation, and Pipistrel for designs for the proposed VTOL vehicle.[77][78]
Israeli Air Force jets flying over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights fire several air-to-ground missiles at a Syrian military site used by Iranian militia forces just southwest of Damascus International Airport in Damascus, Syria. The strike, which apparently targets a shipment of arms that had arrived aboard at least three Iranian cargo aircraft earlier in the day, damages a warehouse and fuel depot results in a large explosion and fire.[80][81]
An Israeli Patriotsurface-to-air missile hits what Israel initially reports is a "projectile" inbound from Syria over the Golan Heights. An Israeli spokesman later identifies the "projectile" as an unmanned aerial vehicle, either Syrian or Russian.[81]
Syrian or Russian air raids against rebel-held areas of Syria's Idlib Governorate kill at least 19 people. The strikes, which appear to target ambulances and medical facilities, kill four medical staff at a university hospital in Deir Sharqi and four paramedics or ambulance operators in Maarzita.[81]
An airstrike by unidentified aircraft in rebel-held Kfar Zeita, Syria – an area where Syrian Arab Air Force and Russian Federation Air Force aircraft are operating against rebel forces – strikes an office of Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the "White Helmets" – killing eight members of the group. It is one of the deadliest strikes to dare against White Helmet personnel.[83]
Activists report heavy airstrikes by Syrian and/or Russian aircraft against the rebel-held Qaboun neighborhood in eastern Damascus, Syria.[83]
The United States Department of Defense releases a statement saying that airstrikes the U.S.-led coalition conducted against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria during March killed 45 civilians, mostly in and around Mosul, Iraq.[86]
Two days of French military operations against Islamic militants in the Foulsare forest in Mali's Gao Region as part of Operation Barkhane conclude. French airstrikes have supported the operations, in which French forces have killed or captured 20 militants.[84]
May
1 May
SpaceX uses its reusable Falcon 9 rocket to launch a U.S. national security payload for the first time, launching the National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-76 satellite into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Falcon 9's reusable first stage returns for a successful soft landing. The launch had originally been scheduled for 30 April, but had been postponed due to what SpaceX describes as a "sensor issue."[87]
Over Lindtorp Airfield west of Aarhus, Denmark, a skydiver becomes entangled in a cable under the plane he jumped from at an altitude of 2,500 feet (760 meters). After the pilot learns from ground control of the skydiver's entanglement, he circles over the airfield for nearly an hour to burn fuel, before landing on a grass runway covered with firefighting foam to lessen the impact of the landing on the skydiver. Although dragged along the ground for 200 meters (660 feet) when the plane lands, the skydiver suffers only minor injuries.[89]
After helicopters insert a force of Somali National Army troops and U.S. personnel accompanying the operation to advise and assist them in Somalia about 40 miles (64 km) west of Mogadishu, the force comes under fire by Al-Shabaab personnel. One United States Navy SEAL dies in the ensuring firefight.[92]
A renewable six-month agreement between Iran, Russia, and Turkey establishing "de-escalation zones" in four rebel-held areas of Syria – a "Zone 1" consisting of Idlib Governorate and portions of northeastern Latakia Governorate, western Aleppo Governorate, and northern Hama Governorate; a "Zone 2" that covers an enclave in northern Homs Governorate; a "Zone 3" in eastern Ghouta north of Damascus; and a "Zone 4" in parts of Deraa Governorate and Quneitra Governorate along the border with Jordan – goes into effect, providing for the cessation of hostilities in the zones and the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in the zones. Under the agreement, the Syrian Arab Air Force will refrain from flying over the zones. The Russian Federation Air Force will continue to fly over them, but will not conduct airstrikes in them except against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked groups. Russian officials indicate that at least another month will pass before maps detailing the boundaries of the de-escalation zones are issued and the de-escalation zones can come fully into force.[95] Russia orders U.S. aircraft to stay out of the de-escalation zones, but the United States replies that the zones will not hinder it from striking Islamic State targets, and the United States and Russia resume use of a hotline to deconflict their air operations over Syria.[citation needed]
Five days before it is scheduled to make its first delivery of its new Boeing 737 MAX airliner to a customer, Boeing halts test flights and grounds the aircraft due to quality problems in a large metal disc used in the low-pressure turbine at the rear of the aircraft's CFM International LEAP-1B engines.[97]
15 May
In a tandem skydive from an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,600 meters) over an airfield at Honiton, Devon, England, Bryson William Verdun Hayes becomes the oldest person to skydive, making the jump at the age of 101 years 38 days. His son, grandson, great-grandson, and great-granddaughter also jump. Making the jump to raise money to benefit The Royal British Legion, Hayes breaks the previous record set by Armand Gendreau, who made a skydiving jump on 27 June 2014 at the age of 101 three days.[98]
Canada's Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau, announces a new airline passenger "bill of rights" that includes new regulations prohibiting airlines from removing passengers involuntarily from overbooked flights, requiring them instead to offer a minimum level of compensation for voluntarily giving up their seats and then increasing that compensation until enough passengers accept it and leave their seats voluntarily. The new regulations, which also set minimum compensation levels for damaged baggage, will apply to all domestic flights in Canada and to international flights arriving in or departing from the country. The Canadian Parliament is expected to pass legislation approving the new regulations, which also include an increase in the cap on foreign ownership of Canadian airlines from 25 to 49 percent, and the Ministry of Transport plans to put them into effect in 2018.[100]
18 May
Two Chinese Sukhoi Su-30 (NATO reporting name "Flanker-C") aircraft intercept a United States Air ForceWC-135 Constant Phoenixradiation detection plane flying over the East China Sea. The U.S. military describes the interception as "unprofessional" because of the speed, maneuvers, and proximity to the WC-135 of the Chinese aircraft, while Chinese officials respond that the interception was safe and professional and that the United States should refrain from conducting intelligence and surveillance flights near China.[101]
U.S. aircraft make a rare deliberate attack on troops in Syria loyal to the Government of Syria, striking a convoy of several dozen ground vehicles, including a few tanks, in the Shahma area in southern Syria advancing into a restricted area the United States has declared around a U.S. garrison at al-Tanf, Syria, 40 miles (64 km) away on the Syrian-Iraqi border. At the time of the strike, the convoy, operated by Syrian and Iraqi militiamen, is advancing despite Russian efforts to dissuade them from coming closer to the U.S. ground forces. The strike destroys four or five construction vehicles and a tank, apparently killing the vehicles' occupants. One report places the number of dead militiamen at eight.[102][103][104]
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands reveals that he secretly has served as a copilot twice monthly aboard KLM CityHopper's Fokker 70 airliners for 21 years and that prior to that he had piloted airliners for Martinair. He also reveals that he is undergoing training to fly Boeing 737 aircraft, with which KLM CityHopper plans to replace its Fokker 70 fleet. Willem-Alexander, who has been a pilot for 30 years, says that the flights allow him to decompress from his royal duties.[105][106]
19 May
At Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, a Turkish man, 25-year-old Anil Uskanli, is arrested when he opens a door that leads to an airport ramp. He is charged with misdemeanor trespassing and allowed to board American Airlines Flight 31, an Airbus A321 with 187 people aboard bound for Honolulu, Hawaii. Halfway through the flight, he becomes disruptive, attempting to move from economy class to first class and pushing a drink cart when a flight attendant uses it to block him from entering the first-class cabin. Passengers and crew members overpower him and restrain him by taping him to his seat with duct tape. Two F-22 Raptor jet fighter aircraft escort the airliner to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, where Uskanli is arrested.[107]
Shortly after landing at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, after a flight from Mexico City, Mexico, Aeroméxico Flight 642, a Boeing 737-800 with 146 or 149 people (sources vary) on board, strikes a supply truck on a service road. The truck overturns, injuring all eight people in it, two of them seriously. The airliner suffers damage to its wing but no injuries to its passengers or crew.[110][111]
23 May
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit strikes down U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules issued in October 2015 and put into effect in January 2016 requiring the registration of all recreational unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly called "drones") in the United States that weigh more than one-half pound (0.23 kg). In an opinion dated 19 May 2017, the court finds that "The 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act provides that the FAA 'may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft,' yet the FAA's 2015 Registration Rule is a 'rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft'...Statutory interpretation does not get much simpler." The court adds that the United States Congress would have to change or repeal the 2012 law before the FAA could regulate recreational UAVs. The ruling does not change registration requirements for commercial operators of UAVs, who still must register their UAVs.[112] As of 23 May, there are 836,577 U.S. UAV registrations in the FAA's database, of which 764,830 are hobbyists given a single identification number to cover all the UAVs they own, the category of registrations affected by the court's decision; the remainder mostly are commercial UAVs that are registered individually and unaffected by the ruling.[113]
24 May
Two Chinese jet fighter aircraft intercept a United States NavyP-3 Orion surveillance plane as it flies over the South China Sea about 150 nautical miles (280 kilometres) southeast of Hong Kong. U.S. officials claim that the Chinese interception was unsafe, with the Chinese aircraft flying to within 200 yards (180 meters) of the P-3 and cutting in front of it in a manner that prevented it from maneuvering safely.[114]
25-26 May (overnight)
Aircraft the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights identifies as being from the U.S.-led coalition strike Mayadin in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The Observatory claims that the strikes hit a building housing the families of Islamic State personnel, the municipal building, the local power company, and a blood bank, killing 10 Islamic State personnel and dozens of civilians, including 42 children in the building housing Islamic State families. Rebel-linked local media claim that the strikes hit a market and that an air-to-ground missile landed between two hospitals. On 26 May, United States Central Command confirms that coalition aircraft conducted five strikes in Deir ez-Zor Governorate overnight, claiming that the strikes destroyed an Islamic State command and control node and an Islamic State headquarters.[115]
26 May
Iraqi military forces drop leaflets over Islamic State-held areas of Mosul, Iraq, warning residents to flee in advance of an offensive to retake the remainder of the city from the Islamic State.[116]
An airstrike in Mayadin, Syria, suspected of having been carried out by the U.S.-led coalition wounds the founder of the Islamic State's Amaq News Agency, Baraa Kadek, as well as his wife and daughter. Kadek will die of his wounds on 31 May.[117]
Since the U.S.-led coalition began its air campaign against the Islamic State in 2014, the United States has conducted 8,700 strikes in Iraq and more than 8,500 strikes in Syria.[115]
Summit Air Flight 409, a Let L-410 Turbolet, registration 9N-AKY, crashes when it lost altitude on final approach in poor visibility on final approach to runway 06 of Tenzing–Hillary Airport in Lukla, Nepal, about 14:04 Local Time (08:19Z) and contacted a tree short of the runway before impacting ground about 3 metres (10 ft) below runway threshold level. The captain was killed on impact and the first officer died in hospital almost eight hours later. The third crew member received injuries and was evacuated to Kathmandu the following day after the weather had cleared.[120][121][122]
Heavy airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition support the beginning of an Iraqi offensive to take control of the portions of Mosul, Iraq, still held by the Islamic State.[116]
Egyptian Air Force jets strike Islamic State targets in Derna, Libya, for a second day.[118]
A major computer outage blamed on a power failure forces British Airways to cancel all flights at Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport in the London area. The outage prevents departures from and transfer between flights at the airports, disrupting flights worldwide.[123] Although service will resume on 28 May, delays and cancellations will linger into 29 May.[124]
28 May
The U.S.-led coalition drops leaflets over ar-Raqqa, Syria, urging residents to leave the city before an offensive against the Islamic State there by the Syrian Democratic Forces.[125]
Aircraft of the U.S.-led coalition begin heavy airstrikes in ar-Raqqa, Syria, in support of an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces against Islamic State forces there. Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently claims that the coalition has conducted 30 airstrikes since 28 May, killing 35 people and destroying a school on the northern outskirts of ar-Raqqa.[125]
Egyptian Air Force jets again strike Islamic State targets in Derna, Libya.[118]
30 May
Part of Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida, is evacuated during an evening standoff between police and a mentally distressed man carrying a fake gun who demands to speak to PresidentDonald Trump. The incident ends after almost three hours when the man surrenders peacefully.[127]
Aircraft of the U.S.-led coalition bomb Iranian-backed militia forces that have entered a restricted zone in southeastern Syria the United States has declared around a U.S. garrison at al-Tanf, Syria.[104]
Aircraft of the U.S.-led coalition bomb two armed pickup trucks that have entered a restricted zone in southeastern Syria that the United States has declared around a U.S. garrison at al-Tanf, Syria.[104]
During a telephone call between Russian Minister of Foreign AffairsSergei Lavrov and United States Secretary of StateRex Tillerson, Lavrov tells Tillerson that Russia finds it unacceptable for aircraft of the U.S.-led coalition operating over Syria to strike Syrian government forces, as happened in May. Lavrov calls on Tillerson "to take concrete measures to prevent similar incidents in future."[133]
11 June
A U.S. airstrike on an al-Shabaab command and logistics camp near Sakow in Somalia's Middle Juba administrative region kills eight members of the group.[134]
Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition target Islamic State positions in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, as Iraqi forces begin an offensive to complete the recapture of Mosul from the Islamic State.[138]
After U.S. military jets fly low over Ja'Din, Syria, to deter fighting between forces loyal to the Syrian government and those of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Syrian Arab Air ForceSukhoi Su-22 (NATO reporting name "Fitter") arrives and bombs the SDF positions. U.S. military forces use a "deconfliction channel" to coordinate operations with Russian military forces in Syria to avoid further escalation, after which a U.S. F/A-18 Super Hornet shoots down the Su-22[139] when it fails to respond to hailing attempts by U.S. aircraft. The Syrian armed forces report that the Su-22's pilot was killed and claims the Su-22 was attacking Islamic State positions, but United States Central Command counters that the area has been devoid of Islamic State forces for an extended period of time. It is the first time the United States has shot down a Syrian Arab Air Force aircraft during the Syrian Civil War and the first time in more than a decade that a U.S. aircraft has shot down a manned hostile aircraft.[140][141]
Russia calls the U.S. downing of a Syrian Arab Air Force aircraft on 18 June a "flagrant violation of international law" and claims that it will view as targets any manned or unmanned aircraft of the U.S.-led coalition flying over Syria west of the Euphrates River while Russian Federation Air Force aircraft are operating over Syria. In addition, the Russian Ministry of Defence announces that Russia is suspending use of the communications channel between Russian and U.S.-led coalition forces intended to deconflict air operations between them.[141]
20 June
A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle intercepts an Iranian-made Shahed 129unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) over southeastern Syria as it approaches U.S.-backed Syrian rebels and their advisers northeast of al-Tanf, Syria. After attempts to get the UCAV to alter course fail, the F-15E shoots it down.[131]
Australia announces that it has suspended operations by its aircraft over Syria, moving its reconnaissance and tanker aircraft out of Syrian airspace, as the United States and other coalition members have done previously. Australian aircraft remain active over Iraq.[131]
At the Paris Air Show, Boom Technology announces plans to develop a 45-passenger supersonic airliner capable of flying from New York City to London in 2+1⁄2 hours, from San Francisco to Tokyo in 5+1⁄2 hours, and from Los Angeles to Sydney in just under seven hours, in all three cases cutting current flight times in half. Boom hopes to have the new airliner – which will offer only first- and business-class seating – in service by no later than 2023 if it receives all required certifications. Boom also announces that Virgin Atlantic has ordered 10 of the airliners, four other airlines have ordered another 66, and that it will announce orders by an additional four airlines in the next few months.[144]
After three Russian aircraft – a transport aircraft carrying Minister of DefenceSergei Shoigu escorted by two fighters – flying over the Baltic Sea fail to identify themselves or respond to air traffic control, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) F-16 Fighting Falcon intercepts them, making a close approach to the transport. One of the escorting fighters, a Sukhoi Su-27 (NATO reporting name "Flanker") approaches the F-16 from behind and rocks its wings to show that it is armed, and the F-16 breaks off and departs the area.[142]
At the Paris Air Show, Boeing has received orders for or expressions of interest in ordering 370 aircraft worth $52,000,000,000 since 19 June, including a boost in interest in its Boeing 737 MAX 10 airliner. Airbus has posted sales of 229 airliners worth $25,000,000,000 at the show over the same period. The combined total of $77,000,000,000 in airliner deals passes the $50,000,000,000 in deals at the 2016 Farnborough Airshow in England.[146]
After 10 projectiles from Syria go astray during fighting there and land in open areas of the Israeli-controlled portion of the Golan Heights, the Israeli Air Force responds with airstrikes that knock out two tanks and a heavy machine gun position in Syria. Syria reports that the strikes kill two people.[149]
25 June
Stray projectiles from Syria land in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights for the second straight day, and the Israeli Air Force again responds with airstrikes against Syrian government military positions in Syria, hitting two artillery positions and an ammunition truck.[150]
26 June
In response to an Islamic State counteroffensive against Iraqi forces attempting to retake Mosul, Iraq, from the Islamic State, the U.S.-led coalition conducts 12 airstrikes which kill 40 Islamic State personnel.[151]
27 June
An elderly woman boarding a China Southern Airlines plane at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in Shanghai for a domestic flight in China to Guangzhou throws coins at the airliner to "pray for a safe flight." One of them goes into one of the plane's engines. Police detain but do not charge her. The flight is delayed for over five hours while the coin is extracted from the engine.[152]
A police helicopter belonging to Venezuela's largest national police agency, the Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas ("Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation Service Corps") flies over the Venezuelan supreme court building in Caracas, Venezuela, carrying a sign reading "Libertad" ("Freedom") and "350," a reference to Article 350 of the Venezuelan constitution, which allows Venezuelans to disown their government if it behaves undemocratically. The Venezuelan minister of communications claims that the helicopter pilot drops four hand grenades, three of which explode, as it circles, prompting security forces of the government of Venezuelan PresidentNicolás Maduro to seal off government facilities.[153] Later reports that the helicopter pilot is an actor with military special forces experience leads some Venezuelans to suggest that the flight was staged by the Maduro government to justify further crackdowns on dissent.[154]
During the day, the U.S.-led coalition maintains an extremely high tempo of airstrikes in support of Iraqi ground forces fighting to complete the recapture of Mosul, Iraq, from the Islamic State.[162]
A masked man jumps a barbed-wire fence and attempts to hijack at gunpoint a Hillsboro Aero Academy helicopter at Hillsboro Airport in Hillsboro, Oregon, as it prepares for takeoff with an instructor and student on board. After firing a shot and ordering the pilot and student off the helicopter, the man is held at gunpoint by Hillsboro Aero Academy employees, then jumps from the helicopter without taking off when Hillboro police officers arrive. The police shoot and kill him in a field adjacent to the airport.[163]
4 July
A U.S. airstrike hits a concentration of Al-Shabaab personnel in Somalia about 300 miles (480 km) southwest of Mogadishu.[158]
Coalition airstrikes continue to hit Islamic State targets in Mosul, Iraq, where Iraqi ground forces have reduced the last Islamic State pocket of resistance to an areas no more than 200 yards (180 meters) long and 50 yards (46 meters) wide.[170]
Claiming that Kiev Airport has failed to honor an agreement with Ryanair to allow it to offer low-cost service there, Ryanair announces that it has cancelled plans to begin service to Ukraine.[173][174]
A 57-year-old woman visiting from New Zealand is fatally injured at Maho Beach on Sint Maarten when jet blast from a nearby airliner at Princess Juliana International Airport knocks her into a retaining wall. The beach is a popular tourist destination where visitors experience close-up views of takeoffs and landings from an adjacent runway and brave the effects of jet blast sweeping across the beach. The woman's death is the first fatality at the beach attributed to airliner operations.[179]
13 July
U.S. military forces in two helicopters assist Somali commandos in an attack on two al-Shabaab camps village of Kunya-Barrow in the Lower Shebelle administrative region of Somalia, one of them against a detention center. The raid kills several members of al-Shabaab.[180]
U.S. forces conduct an airstrike in Somalia targeting al-Shabaab regional commander Ahmed Osoble. Initial reports indicate that Osoble died in the strike.[185]
In a case brought by the advocacy group Flyers Rights, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issues an order for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to review shrinking airline seat sizes and legroom that Flyers Rights says have become too tight for the health and safety of airline passengers in the United States, exposing them to a greater likelihood of contracting dangerous ailments such as deep vein thrombosis and making emergency evacuations slower and more difficult. No aviation authority in the world has previously regulated airline seat size or legroom. Airlines argue that reducing seat size and legroom in economy class is necessary to ensure their profitability.[187]
For the second time in July, two U.S. Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers from Anderson Air Force Base on Guam, accompanied by Republic of Korea Air Force fighters, fly over South Korea in a show of force following a North Korean ballistic missile launch on 28 July. The B-1s make a low pass over Seoul before returning to Guam.[190]
The New England Patriots purchase two Boeing 767s at a cost of about US$10,000,000, reportedly becoming the first National Football League team to own its own aircraft. The Patriots make the purchase because American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are retiring aircraft capable of accommodating the entire team, and because the estimated annual cost of US$4,000,000 to fly the team to 10 road games makes owning jets an economically practical alternative.[194]
For the second time in six days, an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) approaches the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) while she conducts air operations in the Persian Gulf. The United States Fifth Fleet reports that the UAV "conducted an unsafe and unprofessional approach" to Nimitz and "created a dangerous situation with the potential for collision...not in keeping with international maritime customs and laws," making several passes in the evening darkness without navigation lights and coming to within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of U.S. Navy aircraft in flight.[198]
15 August
Air Berlin, Germany's second largest airline, with 85 destinations, 8,000 employees, and 72 aircraft, files for bankruptcy.[199]
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that it estimates that airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition in Syria against Islamic State targets in support of the coalition's offensive to drive the Islamic State out of ar-Raqqa have killed 168 civilians since 14 August. The Syrian Network for Human Rights previously had reported that it estimated that the airstrikes had killed 458 civilians since June. Islamic State forces reportedly have been using civilians as human shields to deter airstrikes and undermine popular support for them.[203]
23 August
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen conducts a series of predawn airstrikes around Sana'a. One of them hits a two-story motel 19 miles (31 km) north of Sana'a, killing at least 46 people. Yemen's Ministry of Health reports that most of the dead were khat farmers staying at the motel.[204]
The London-based monitoring group AirWars claims that at least 725 civilians have died since 6 June in airstrikes conducted by the U.S.-led coalition in Syria against Islamic State targets in support of the coalition's offensive to drive the Islamic State out of ar-Raqqa. Islamic State forces reportedly have been using civilians as human shields to deter airstrikes and undermine popular support for them.[203]
30 August
U.S. aircraft destroy a bridge and crater a road near Hamaymah, Syria, to prevent a convoy of buses carrying 310 Islamic State personnel from reaching Islamic State-controlled Bukamal, Syria; they do not strike the convoy itself because of the presence of noncombatant relatives of the Islamic State personnel aboard the buses, but as part of the strike do target several ground vehicles and individuals clearly identified as belonging to the Islamic State. The Islamic State personnel had been attempting to reach Bukamal under the terms of a Hezbollah-brokered agreement between the Islamic State and the Government of Syria for them to withdraw there from a besieged region along Syria's border with Lebanon. A U.S. military spokesman explains that the U.S.-led coalition will not allow the Islamic State personnel to reach Bukamal, both because that simply will reinforce Islamic State forces there and because "to relocate terrorists from one place to another for someone else to deal with is not acceptable to the coalition."[205]
Flying the modified P-51D-25BA MustangVoodoo over Clarks Ranch, Idaho, Steve Hinton Jr., sets a new world speed record for a piston-engine aircraft over a 3-km (1.863-mile) closed circuit, achieving an average speed over four laps of 531.53 mph (855.41 km/h), although the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale does not accept it as displacing the previous record because of a requirement that a new record exceed the previous one by at least one percent in order to displace it, which would have required an average speed of at least 533.6 mph (858.7 km/h). During one lap, Hinton sets an absolute world speed record for a C-1e-class piston-engine aircraft, reaching 554.69 mph (892.69 km/h).[207]
Syrian activists say that intense missile and Russian Federation Air Force strikes against three Islamic State-held towns in eastern Syria's Euphrates River valley during the day have killed at least 20 civilians.[216]
A baggage handler at Singapore's Changi Airport is charged in court with 286 counts of criminal mischief for deliberately misdirecting airline luggage by swapping luggage tags between bags. He allegedly began the practice on 8 November 2016 and continued almost every day for three months until February 2017, misdirecting hundreds of bags on Lufthansa, SilkAir, and Singapore Airlines bound for destinations such as Hong Kong, Manila, London, and Perth, Australia.[221]
U.S. airstrikes support the beginning of an Iraqi offensive against Islamic State forces in Iraq's Anbar Governorate.[222]
U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles conduct six strikes against Islamic State positions in Libya 150 miles (240 km) southeast of Sirte, killing 17 Islamic militants. United States Africa Command will announce the strikes on 24 September.[224]
To put pressure on the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan to call off a referendum on independence from Iraq scheduled for 25 September, the Government of Iraq orders it to – among other things – hand over control of all airports in Iraqi Kurdistan to Iraqi government authorities. In addition, Iran closes its airspace to flights to and from Iraqi Kurdistan, reportedly at the request of the Iraqi government.[226]
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Gulstream IV-SPGonzo (registration N49RF) – the only aircraft in the U.S. "hurricane hunter" fleet capable of high-altitude reconnaissance of hurricanes – is grounded for a 150-hour inspection after suffering a cabin door pressure seal failure while flying in Hurricane Maria. It is the aircraft's third aborted or scrubbed flight since 17 September, and the inspection may prevent it from flying again until 3 October. Its maintenance problems prompt concerns in the United States Congress that NOAA is failing to comply with an April 2017 law mandating that it acquire and maintain a second aircraft capable of high-altitude hurricane reconnaissance.[228]
26 September
Saying that the Kurdistan Region had made "a strategic and historic mistake" by holding a referendum on independence from Iraq on 25 September, Prime Minister of IraqHaider al-Abadi orders local authorities to hand over control of all airports and borders in northern Iraq by 29 September or face the suspension of all international flights to and from the area.[229]
The Boeing-funded group GoFly announces the GoFly Prize, a two-year, US$2,000,000 competition to develop a practical flying device for personal use. To win, the device must be simple to use, safe, able to take off and land vertically and fly 20 miles (32 km) without recharging or refueling, and transportable by a single person without using a motorized vehicle, although use of a non-motorized device that can be pulled or pushed by a single person is permitted. In addition, the flying device must not submit its operator to "extreme sustained g forces greater than 5 g or dangerous impulses from hard landings." The flying device also must have back-ups for key systems in case those systems fail and must comply will all U.S. Federal Aviation Administration rules. In addition to a US$1,000,000 grand prize, the competition will award $250,000 prizes for the quietest and smallest devices and US$25,000 awards for the best-written plans.[231]
27 September
Insurgents using civilians as human shields attack Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, with mortar fire and suicide vests, prompting Afghan authorities to cancel all flights at the airport. At least 12, and perhaps as many as 30, high-explosive rockets land in and near the airport during the course of over six hours, and one of them strikes a house, killing one civilian and injuring 11 others. A U.S. airstrike in support of Afghan forces responding to the attack inadvertently also inflicts civilian casualties when a U.S. air-to-ground missile malfunctions. United States Secretary of DefenseJames Mattis had landed at the airport hours before the attack in a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, but is not present during the attack.[232]
A week after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, thousands of travelers remain stranded at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, which has only limited flight operations due to damage to the air traffic control system, the power grid, and the airport itself. American Airlines, which normally carries 3,000 outbound passengers on 20 flights per day, managed only three outbound flights on 22 September, and one outbound flight with 300 seats each day on 26 and 27 September. JetBlue is making six relief flights a day to deliver supplies to San Juan, and is selling seats on its outbound aircraft. Some charter flights are leaving San Juan, but charge as much as $1,200 for a seat on a flight to Miami, Florida.[233]
29 September
During a speech to the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia, Elon Musk announces that he intends that his company SpaceX construct a fully reusable transportation system consisting of a large booster rocket and a spacecraft with more pressurized passenger space than an Airbus A380 capable of reaching low Earth orbit, the moon, and Mars and of transporting about 100 people anywhere on Earth within an hour, reaching speeds of almost, 17,000 miles per hour (27,000 kilometres per hour). Musk claims that the new transportation system could take passengers from New York City to Shanghai in 39 minutes and from New York City to London in 29 minutes.[234]
30 September
Airstrikes that begin on the evening of 29 September and continue into 30 September pound Islamic State-held areas in eastern Syria, including Boukamal, Bouleil, Bouomar, Mayadeen, and Mushassan, killing and injuring dozens of people. Estimates of the death toll range from at least 18 to at least 24. It is not immediately clear whether the Russian Federation Air Force or U.S.-led coalition is responsible for the strikes.[235]
Major GeneralIgor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, claims that during the 10-day period between 19 and 28 September Russian air strikes killed 2,359 Islamic militants, including 400 from the post-Soviet states, and wounded about 2,700 others, and that 16 field commanders were among the dead and wounded. He also claims that Russian airstrikes destroyed 27 tanks, 21 rocket launchers, and over 150 other ground vehicles.[235]
Syrian activists claims that Syrian government attacks on Mayadeen, Syria, and surrounding villages during the day have included dozens of artillery rockets and barrel bombs, killing between 15 and 20 people in one village north of Mayadeen. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that over 1,000 airstrikes have occurred in and around Mayadeen since 29 September in support of a Syrian Arab Army offensive to take Mayadeen from the Islamic State.[238]
6 October
Syrian Civil Defence reports that 80 percent of the hundreds of pro-government airstrikes in Syria since the end of a sixth round of peace talks between Iran, Russia, and Turkey in mid-September have targeted civilian areas. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that September was the deadliest month of 2017 in Syria, with almost a thousand civilians killed.[239]
The first scheduled commercial airline service in history to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean begins as an AirlinkEmbraer E190-100IGW with 78 passengers aboard arrives at Saint Helena Airport after a flight of about six hours from Johannesburg, South Africa, with a stop at Windhoek, Namibia. The flight inaugurates once-a-week scheduled service between Johannesburg and Saint Helena. Previously, with the exception of a single charter flight Airlink made in May, the island had relied for its connection with the outside world on visits once every three weeks by a British Royal Mail Ship, the cargo linerRMS St Helena, making a six-day voyage between South Africa and Saint Helena. Boosters hope the flights will establish Saint Helena as a tourist destination, but critics maintain that more extensive commercial service will be necessary to make the construction of the airport worthwhile.[91]
After arguing with a Spirit Airlines employee while trying to buy a ticket in a passenger terminal at New York City's LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, a man returns and places a package on the ticket counter, claiming it contains a bomb. He is arrested and the terminal is partially evacuated. The package does not contain a bomb, and activities in the terminal return to normal after about two hours.[243]
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 535, an Airbus A320 with 145 passengers on board bound from Perth, Australia, to Bali, Indonesia, suffers cabin depressurization at an altitude of 34,000 feet (10,000 meters). It makes an emergency descent of 23,800 feet (7,300 meters) in nine minutes and returns to Perth 78 minutes after takeoff.[245][246][247]
A Syrian surface-to-air missile (SAM) battery 50 km (31 mi) east of Damascus, Syria, fires at Israeli Air Force aircraft conducting reconnaissance flights over Lebanon. All the Israeli aircraft return safely to base. Syria claims that its SAM battery fired after the Israeli aircraft crossed into Syrian airspace and that it hit one Israeli plane. About two hours after the incident, Israeli Air Force aircraft strike the SAM site, knocking it out.[249]
Airbus and Bombardier Aerospace announce a partnership on the CSeries program, with Airbus acquiring a 50.01% majority stake, Bombardier keeping 31% and Investissement Québec 19%, to expand in an estimated market of more than 6,000 new 100-150 seat aircraft over 20 years. Airbus' supply chain expertise should save production costs but headquarters and assembly remain in Québec while U.S. customers would benefit from a second assembly line in Mobile, Alabama. This transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in 2018.[250] While assembling the aircraft in U.S. could circumvent the 300% duties proposed in the Cseries dumping petition by Boeing, Airbus CEO Tom Enders and Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare assured that this factor did not drive the partnership, but negotiations began in August after the April 2017 filing and the June decision to proceed and, as a result, Boeing was suspicious.[251]
17 October
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) claim that they have completed the capture ar-Raqqa, Syria, from the Islamic State. Since the offensive to retake the city – once the Islamic State's de facto capital – began in June, U.S. aircraft have pounded Islamic State positions in support of advancing SDF ground forces.[252]
After carrying only 13 percent of intra-Hawaii seats in the first three-quarters of 2017 – competing against Hawaiian Airlines, which carried 80 percent – and posting an operating loss of US$4.9 million and a net loss of US$8.2 million for the second quarter of 2017, Hawaii Island Air files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it fails to find new investors to satisfy lessors Wells Fargo Bank Northwest and Elix 8, who want to repossess its five Bombardier Q400s. It will cease operations on 11 November.[253]
At the end of a 120-day period devoted to developing new airline security requirements following the lifting of the March 2017ban on electronic devices aboard flights to the United States from ten major airports in the Middle East, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announces new pre-takeoff security screening procedures for all airline passengers bound for the United States. The new requirements are broader than the earlier electronics ban, and a TSA spokeswoman explains only that they "affect all individuals, international passengers, and U.S. citizens traveling to the United States from a last-point-of-departure international location,"[256] apply to "all flights from airports that serve as last-points-of-departure locations to the United States,"[256] and involve stricter security procedures in airport terminals and around airliners on the ground and "heightened screening of personal electronic devices."[256] Confusion over the new rules ensues, with airlines announcing different security procedures and different start dates for them. Cathay Pacific, EgyptAir, Emirates and Lufthansa announce that they will begin new screening procedures on 26 October, although their announced procedures differ. Air France says it will begin its new screening procedures at Paris Orly Airport on 26 October but not at Charles de Gaulle Airport until 2 November. Royal Jordanian announces that it will not begin its new procedures until mid-January 2018. Delta Air Lines simply advises passengers to arrive earlier at airports. Other airlines either make no announcement or say that their security procedures will not change under the new directive.[256]
In a move to slash regulations imposed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restricting the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), popularly referred to as "drones," in the United States, PresidentDonald Trump directs United States Secretary of TransportationElaine Chao to establish a pilot program creating "innovation zones" that permit far-reaching operation of UAVs in ways the FAA had prohibited, such as using UAVs for package delivery services, infrastructure inspection, and emergency management, and that streamline the process for permission to operate UAVs at night, over people, or out of sight of the UAV operator. The pilot program also will explore safety issues related to UAV flights and how technology can address the issues. United States Government officials say that the pilot program will allow the United States to keep pace with the development of UAV operations overseas and modernize the U.S. regulatory and air traffic management systems in an era when UAVs outnumber manned aircraft.[257]
27 October
After a final evening flight from Munich to Berlin, bankrupt Air Berlin ceases flight operations after 38 years in business.[258]
30 October
Jet aircraft bomb the eastern portion of Derna, Libya. A Libyan lawmaker reports that the evening airstrike hit a house, killing at least 12 people, and that another airstrike hit a shepherd and his family as they sat around a fire pit. The Shura Council of Darna Mujahedeen, which controls the city, blames the strikes on the Egyptian Air Force. On 1 November, Libyan officials will claim that the strikes killed dozens of people in Derna. Egypt condemns the strikes, but offers no further comment.[259]
31 October
Egyptian airstrikes hit targets in the Western Desert in Egypt 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Cairo. The Egyptian armed forces claim that the strikes killed "a large number" of Islamic militants that Egypt believes ambushed Egyptian police nearly two weeks earlier. An Egyptian military spokesman says the airstrikes destroyed three ground vehicles loaded with weapons, ammunition, and explosives.[259]
November
6 November
The Saudi-led coalition declares a blockade of Yemen that halts all air access to the country, as well as all land and sea access.[260]
At the Dubai Air Show, Emirates commits to purchase 40 Boeing 787-10s in two- and three-class cabins for 240 to 330 passengers, to be delivered from 2022 with conversion rights to the smaller Boeing 787-9, pushing orders for the 787-10 from 171 to over 200.[270]
At the same air show, Flydubai commits to ordering 175 Boeing 737 Max and 50 purchase rights for $27 billion at list prices: MAX 8s, MAX 9s and 50 Max 10s.[272]
Dassault abandons the Safran Silvercrest turbofan due to technical and schedule risks, ends the Falcon 5X development and will launch a new Falcon with the same cross section, Pratt & Whitney Canada engines and a 5,500 nmi (10,200 km) range for a 2022 introduction.[279]
The Bell V-280 Valor makes its first flight : it takes off vertically, hover momentarily then land, without forward flight, its General Electric T64 engines remaining upright.[283]
21 December
Boeing and Embraer confirmed to be discussing a potential combination with a transaction subject to Brazilian government regulators, the companies' boards and shareholders approvals.[284]
IAG announces it will buy assets of Niki, previously part of the Air Berlin group, for €20 million for up to 15 A320s and slots at Vienna, Düsseldorf, Munich, Palma and Zurich airports; providing up to €16.5 million in liquidity, 740 former NIKI employees will run an Austrian Vueling subsidiary.[290]
