The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial 707-120 first flew on December 20, 1957. Pan Am began regular 707 service on October 26, 1958. With versions produced until 1979, the 707 was a swept wing quadjet with podded engines. Its larger fuselage cross-section allowed six-abreast economy seating, retained in the later 720, 727, 737, and 757 models.
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 777 is the world's largest twinjet and the most-built wide-body airliner. The jetliner was designed to bridge the gap between Boeing's other wide body airplanes, the twin-engined 767 and quad-engined 747, and to replace aging DC-10 and L-1011 trijets. Developed in consultation with eight major airlines, the 777 program was launched in October 1990, with an order from United Airlines. The prototype was rolled out in April 1994, and first flew in June. The 777 entered service with the launch operator United Airlines in June 1995. Longer-range variants were launched in 2000, and first delivered in 2004.
The Douglas DC-8 is an early long-range narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USAF) requirement for a jet-powered aerial refueling tanker. After losing the USAF's tanker competition to the rival Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker in May 1954, Douglas announced in June 1955 its derived jetliner project marketed to civil operators. In October 1955, Pan Am made the first order along with the competing Boeing 707, and many other airlines soon followed. The first DC-8 was rolled out in Long Beach Airport on April 9, 1958, and flew for the first time on May 30. Following Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification in August 1959, the DC-8 entered service with Delta Air Lines on September 18.
The Convair 880 was an American narrow-body jet airliner produced by the Convair division of General Dynamics. It was designed to compete with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 by being smaller but faster, a niche that failed to create demand. When it was first introduced, some in aviation circles claimed that at 615 mph (990 km/h), it was the fastest jet transport in the world. Only 65 Convair 880s were produced over the lifetime of the production run from 1959 to 1962, and General Dynamics eventually withdrew from the airliner market after considering the 880 project a failure. The Convair 990 Coronado was a stretched and faster variant of the 880.
The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian airlines for several decades, it carried half of all passengers flown by Aeroflot and its subsidiaries, remaining the standard domestic-route airliner of Russia and former Soviet states until the mid-2000s. It was exported to 17 non-Russian airlines and used as a head-of-state transport by the air forces of several countries.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second generation of the DC-9 family, originally designated as the DC-9-80 and later stylized as the DC-9 Super 80 . Stretched, enlarged wing and powered by higher bypass Pratt & Whitney JT8D-200 engines, the aircraft program was launched in October 1977. The MD-80 made its first flight on October 18, 1979, and was certified on August 25, 1980. The first airliner was delivered to launch customer Swissair on September 13, 1980, which introduced it into service on October 10, 1980.
The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the earliest jet airliner—the de Havilland Comet—entered service and only a few years before the jet-powered Douglas DC-8 first flew in 1958. Unlike other aircraft in Douglas's line of propeller-driven aircraft, no examples remain in service in the present day, as compared to the far more successful DC-3 and DC-6.
Modern Air Transport, Inc. was a United States-based non-scheduled and supplemental carrier founded in 1946. At different stages in its history its operations were based in Newark and Trenton, New Jersey, Baltimore, and Miami. In addition to Miami, New York used to be a base for Modern Air. In 1968, the airline established an overseas base at Berlin Tegel Airport in what used to be West Berlin prior to German reunification. Between 1968 and 1974, operations increasingly focused on Berlin Tegel. Modern Air ceased trading in 1975.
Swissair Flight 330 (SR330/SWR330) was a regularly scheduled flight from Zurich Airport in Kloten, Switzerland, to Hong Kong with a planned stopover in Tel Aviv, Israel. A bomb planted by two members of the PLO exploded soon after takeoff, causing the plane to crash, killing all 47 passengers and crew.
The Shanghai Y-10 or Yun-10 is a four engined narrow-body jet airliner developed in the 1970s by the Shanghai Aircraft Research Institute. The plane used Boeing's 707-320C as reference, designed according to Federal Aviation Regulation.
Spantax S.A. was a Spanish leisure airline headquartered in Madrid that operated from 6 October 1959 to 29 March 1988. Spantax was one of the first Spanish airlines to operate tourist charter flights between European and North American cities and popular Spanish holiday destinations and was considered a major force in developing 20th-century mass tourism in Spain. Its popularity and image faded from the 1970s onward when a series of crashes and incidents revealed safety deficits, which, combined with rising fuel costs and increasing competition, resulted in the company facing severe financial difficulties that led to its demise in 1988.
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell Aircraft to become McDonnell Douglas. Following the introduction of its first jetliner, the high capacity DC-8, in 1959, Douglas was interested in producing an aircraft suited to smaller routes. As early as 1958, design studies were conducted; approval for the DC-9, a smaller all-new jetliner, came on April 8, 1963. The DC-9-10 first flew on February 25, 1965, and gained its type certificate on November 23, to enter service with Delta Air Lines on December 8.
The Short 360 is a commuter aircraft that was built by UK manufacturer Short Brothers during the 1980s. The Short 360 seats up to 39 passengers and was introduced into service in November 1982. It is a larger version of the Short 330.
The General Electric CJ805 is a jet engine which was developed by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the late 1950s. It was a civilian version of the J79 and differed only in detail. It was developed in two versions. The basic CJ805-3 was a turbojet and powered the Convair 880 airliner, while CJ805-23, a turbofan derivative, powered the Convair 990 Coronado variant.
Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A., usually shortened to Iberia, is the largest airline of Spain, based in Madrid.
The Martin 2-0-2 was an airliner introduced in 1947. The twin piston-engined fixed-wing aircraft was designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company.
The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident is a British airliner produced by Hawker Siddeley. In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design to a British European Airways (BEA) request. By 1960, de Havilland had been acquired by Hawker Siddeley. The Trident's maiden flight happened on 9 January 1962, and it was introduced on 1 April 1964, two months after its main competitor, the Boeing 727. By the end of the programme in 1978, 117 Tridents had been produced. The Trident was withdrawn from service in 1995.
The 1973 Nantes mid-air collision occurred when two airliners travelling to London Heathrow airport hit each other over Nantes, France, on 5 March 1973. They were an Iberia McDonnell Douglas DC-9 flying from Palma de Mallorca to London and a Spantax Convair 990 from Madrid to London. All 68 people on board the DC-9 were killed. The CV-990 was able to make a successful emergency landing at Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base.
Spantax Flight 275, registration number EC-BZR, was a Convair 990 Coronado charter flight operated by Spantax from Tenerife to Munich with 148 passengers and 7 crew. On December 3, 1972, the plane crashed while taking off from Tenerife-Norte Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, killing everyone aboard. Many of the passengers were West German tourists heading home.
Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892 was a scheduled international passenger flight of Garuda Indonesian Airways from Jakarta to Amsterdam with stopovers in Singapore, Bangkok, Bombay, Karachi, Cairo, and Rome. On 28 May 1968, the Convair 990A jet airliner operating the flight crashed on climb-out after take-off from Santacruz Airport for the flight's Bombay to Karachi segment. The aircraft crashed in Bilalpada village near Nala Sopara, killing all 29 people on board and one person on the ground. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is presumed to originate from misfuelling during the stopover in Bombay. It was the first fatal accident and the second hull loss of the Convair 990 aircraft.
