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The Polaris Award is the highest decoration associated with civil aviation, awarded by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) to airline crews in recognition for acts of exceptional airmanship, heroic action or a combination of these two attributes. In extraordinary cases, passengers may also obtain this award for their heroism. These awards are not made every year, but are presented at IFALPA's annual conference.
Year | Captain | First Officer | Other flight crew | Incident | Circumstances |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | Mr Donald W Usher | Mr Melvin E Windsor | Unknown | Air Florida Flight 90 | Rescue helicopter crew |
1984 | Captain Donald S Cameron | FO Claude Ouimet | Unknown | Air Canada Flight 797 | Cabin fire |
1985 | Captain J Gibson | FO G Lintner | FE G Laurin | Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8 | L188 Electra propeller loss, and flight controls jammed |
1986 | Captain Hani Galal | FO Imad Mounib | Unknown | EgyptAir Flight 648 | Hijack |
1987 | Captain M Takahama | FO Y Sasaki | FE H Fukuda | Japan Airlines Flight 123 | Decompression and loss of control |
1989 | Captain R L Schornstheimer | FO M L Tompkins | Unknown | Aloha Airlines Flight 243 | Explosive decompression |
1990 | Captain Alfred C Haynes | FO William Records | FE Dudley Dvorak, Captain Dennis E Fitch | United Airlines Flight 232 | Uncontained engine failure, total hydraulics and control failure |
1991 | Captain Anatoly Grischenko | Chernobyl disaster | Helicopter pilot who hovered over the reactor to allow cement to be dropped onto it | ||
1992 | Captain Stefan G. Rasmussen | FO Ulf Cedermark | Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751 | Dual engine failure after takeoff | |
FO Alastair Atchison | British Airways Flight 5390 | Windscreen failure | |||
Captain W C Query | FO Q E Haynes | Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2254 | Mid-air collision | ||
1993 | Captain C Justiniano | Hijack, two successful forced landings | |||
1996 | Captain A Faria e Mello | Paraplegic, wheelchair pilot | |||
Captain B Dhellemme | FO Jean-Paul Borderie | FE Alain Bossuat | Air France Flight 8969 | Hijack | |
1998 | Captain L Abate | Mr M Mekuria | Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 | Hijack, ditching | |
1999 | Captain U Khan | FO M F Querishi | Hijack | ||
2000 | Captain N Nagashima | FO Ka Koga | All Nippon Airways Flight 61 | Hijack | |
Captain J Yamauchi | |||||
Captain T Higuchi | |||||
Captain H Takagi | |||||
Captain H Nishikata | |||||
Captain Y Iwai | Mr D Sugama | ||||
2001 | Captain William Hagan | FO Richard Webb | FO Phil Watson | British Airways Flight 2069 | BA 2069, attempted hijack by a paranoia panic attacked person |
Captain Jason M Dahl | FO LeRoy Homer Jr. | United 93 | 9/11 attacks | ||
Captain Victor Saracini | FO Michael Horrocks | United 175 | |||
Captain John Ogonowski | FO Thomas McGuinness Jr. | American 11 | |||
Captain Charles Burlingame | FO David Charlesbois | American 77 | |||
2005 | Captain Eric Gennotte | FO Steeve Michielsen | FE Mario Rofail | 2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident | Loss of all hydraulics and controls |
Captain I Lyngmo | FO K M Andresen | Kato Air | Lightning strike, elevator control failure | ||
Captain S M Lian | FO K M Andresen | Mr Odd Eriksen, Mr T Frantzen | Kato Air | Attempted hijack | |
Captain J Kurka | FO M Turk | Austrian Airlines | Fokker 70 dual engine failure | ||
2008 | Captain T Arnold | Nationwide Airlines | Engine separated from aircraft | ||
2009 | Captain D McMillan | FO R Haverfield | Eagle Airways Flight 2279 | Attempted hijack | |
2010 | Captain J Bartels | FO B Werninghaus | SO P Tabac | Qantas Flight 30 | Oxygen bottle explosion, rapid depressurisation |
2011 | Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny | FO M Hicks | SO M Johnson, Captain H Wubben, Captain David Evans | Qantas Flight 32 | Uncontained engine failure |
2014 | Captain Malcolm Waters | FO David Hayhoe | Cathay Pacific Flight 780 | Contaminated fuel leading to engine stuck at high thrust setting [1] [2] | |
2017 [3] | Carlos Ferreira, Philip Andre | David Abad | Antonio López-Cerón, Brian Chouza, Daniel Fernández. | Rescues of crews of MV Modern Express and Gure Uxua | Helicopter rescues of shipwrecked crews. |
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are involved in operating the aircraft's navigation and engine systems. Other aircrew members, such as drone operators, flight attendants, mechanics and ground crew, are not classified as aviators.
The Mackay Trophy is awarded yearly by the United States Air Force for the "most meritorious flight of the year" by an Air Force person, persons, or organization. The trophy is housed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. The award is administered by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association.
The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) is the professional association and registered trade union for UK pilots. BALPA represents the views and interests of pilots, campaigning on contractual, legal and health issues affecting its members and the flying public.
The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 75,000 pilots from 43 U.S. and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress. Known internationally as U.S.-ALPA, ALPA is also a member of the IFALPA.
Odd Eriksen was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. In addition to his political career he gained national fame after stopping an Algerian hijacker from crashing a Kato Air-flight in 2004.
U.S. Air Force aeronautical ratings are military aviation skill standards established and awarded by the United States Air Force for commissioned officers participating in "regular and frequent flight", either aerially or in space, in performance of their duties. USAF aeronautical badges, commonly referred to as "wings" from their shape and their historical legacy, are awarded by the Air Force in recognition of degrees of achievement and experience. Officers earning these badges and maintaining their requirements are classified as rated officers and receive additional pay and allowances.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines is the civil aviation authority of the Philippines and is responsible for implementing policies on civil aviation to assure safe, economic and efficient air travel. The agency also investigates aviation accidents via its Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board. Formerly the Air Transportation Office, it is an independent regulatory body attached to the Department of Transportation for the purpose of policy coordination.
Stefan G. Rasmussen is a former Danish pilot who captained the crash-landing SAS flight 751 on 27 December 1991. There were no fatalities in the crash, and Rasmussen received much recognition for his handling of the incident. He entered politics, and served in the Danish Folketing parliament from 1994 to 1996.
Nancy A. Lynn was an aerobatic pilot, flight instructor, and air show performer. She owned and operated Lynn Aviation, an aerobatic flight school located at Bay Bridge Airport in Stevensville, Maryland, with her husband Scott Muntean and son Pete.
Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is a retired American fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline pilot best known for his actions as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 that he ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 after both engines were disabled by a bird strike. All 155 people aboard survived. Sullenberger became an outspoken advocate for aviation safety and has helped develop new protocols for airline safety. He served as the co-chairman, along with his co-pilot on Flight 1549, Jeffrey Skiles, of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles youth introduction-to-aviation program from 2009 to 2013.
Julie E. Clark is a retired American aerobatic air show aviator and commercial airline pilot. She started her commercial flying career with Golden West Airlines as a first officer and ended it in 2003 as a Northwest Airlines Airbus A320 Captain. She was one of the first female pilots to work for a major airline, and has been voted as "Performer of the Year" several times for her air show performances.
Draken International, LLC is an American provider of tactical fighter aircraft for contract air services including military and defense industry customers. The firm is based at the Lakeland Linder International Airport in Lakeland, Florida and also has an operating base at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
Air Spray (1967) Ltd. trading as Air Spray Ltd. of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Air Spray USA Inc of Chico, California is a private company specializing in aerial wildfire suppression using air tanker or water bomber aircraft. Air Spray was owned and operated by Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame inductee, Donald T. Hamilton until his passing in 2011. The company continues to be owned and operated by his daughter, Lynn Hamilton, of Foothills, Alberta.
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The International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) is an international not-for-profit organization of national aircraft pilot trade unions, known as pilot associations. IFALPA was founded in April 1948 and is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The Austrian Cockpit Association (ACA) is a professional pilot organization. ACA is the national member of IFALPA and ECA representing Austrian professional pilots. Main objective is the continuous improvement of aviation safety and security.
Alwyn Gordon Vette ONZM was a New Zealand airline captain best known for his involvement in the Cessna 188 Pacific rescue and his research into the cause of the Air New Zealand Flight TE901 crash. He spent five years in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and 55 years as a commercial pilot. Vette was portrayed by Roy Billing in the 1988 miniseries Erebus: the Aftermath, which recounts Vette's research into the cause of the Mount Erebus Disaster; and by Robert Loggia in the 1993 TV movie Mercy Mission: the Rescue of Flight 771, which recounts Vette's experiences piloting Air New Zealand Flight 103.
Air India Express Flight 1344 was a scheduled international flight on 7 August 2020 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Kozhikode, India, landing at Calicut International Airport. The flight was part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indian nationals stranded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight crew aborted two landing attempts because of heavy rain and tailwind. On the third landing attempt, the aircraft touched down on runway 10, but skidded off the end of the tabletop runway and slid down a 9–10.5 m (30–35 ft) slope, killing 19 passengers and both pilots. The four cabin crew members and 165 passengers survived, of whom all but two were injured. This was the second fatal accident involving Air India Express, after the 2010 Mangalore crash.
LATAM Perú Flight 2213 (LP2213/LPE2213) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Peru from Lima to Juliaca. On 18 November 2022, the Airbus A320neo was taking off from Jorge Chávez International Airport when it collided with a fire engine that was crossing the runway, killing two firefighters and injuring a third, who died of his injuries seven months later. 40 passengers were injured.