1984 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1984.

Events Cirrus Aircraft founded

January Frontier Horizon, a low-cost subsidiary of Frontier Airlines operating Boeing 727-100s, begins flight operations. January 10 – A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 strikes a power line and crashes on approach to Sofia Airport in Sofia, Bulgaria, in heavy snow, killing all 50 people on board. January 24 – A United States Air Force F-15A Eagle performs the first of five test launches of the ASM-135 anti-satellite missile. In this first launch, the missile does not carry its third stage, the Miniature Homing Vehicle (MHV) interceptor.Dr. Raymond L. Puffer, The Death of a Satellite, , Retrieved on November 3, 2007.

February February 1 In the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq threatens air and missile strikes against Iranian cities, including Abadan, Ahwaz, Dezful, Ilam, and Kermanshah, and warns their residents to evacuate. Iraqi Air Force aircraft attack a convoy of four Cypriot cargo ships – Breeze, Neptune, Skaros, and City of Rio – in the Persian Gulf near the Iranian port of Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni. Missile hits set fire to Breeze and Skaros, and they are lost, and Neptune also catches fire but is not seriously damaged. City of Rio strikes a naval mine and runs aground.Cordesman and Wagner, p. 534 February 3 – Iran threatens air attacks against Basra, Kanaqin, and Mandali, Iraq. February 16 Iraqi Air Force aircraft raid the Iranian port of Bushehr, badly damaging the Liberian cargo ship Al Tariq with missile hits. Iran launches a major helicopter- and waterborne assault against Iraqi forces in the Hawizeh Marshes.Cordesman and Wagner, p. 180 February 21 – 14 hours and 2 minutes after taking off from New York, Air France pilot Patrick Fourticq and his companion, race driver Henry Pescarolo, land their Piper Malibu in Paris, setting a world record for a trans-Atlantic flight by a single engined light aircraft. February 27 – Iraqi aircraft raid the Iranian oil terminal at Kharg Island. February 29 Iraqi helicopters apparently join artillery in attacking Iranian forces in the Ghuzail area with mustard gas.Cordesman and Wagner, pp. 181–182 American Airlines sets an industry record by ordering 67 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 airliners, with options to order 100 more in the future. Late February – Iraq threatens to attack any ship putting into the Iranian ports of Bushehr and Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni.

March March 1 – Iraqi Air Force aircraft attack a convoy of 15 merchant ships in the Persian Gulf on a voyage between the Iranian ports of Bushehr and Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni. Missile hits sink the Indian bulk carrier Apj Ankiba and set fire to the British 19,000-gross-ton bulk carrier Charming – which suffers a hit in her superstructure – and the Turkish cargo ship Sema-G. Charming runs aground, and Sema-Gs crew abandons ship. Iraqi aircraft apparently have hit seven ships in the Persian Gulf since February 25. March 22 – A fire breaks out aboard Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501, a Boeing 737-235 with 119 people on board, during its takeoff roll at Calgary International Airport at Calgary, Alberta, Canada, after a faulty compressor disk breaks apart and pierces a fuel tank. Its pilot aborts the take off and all aboard evacuate the aircraft without fatalities, although 27 people are injured, five seriously. The airliner is badly damaged. March 27 – The Iraqi Air Force makes its first combat use of its newly acquired Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard strike fighters, when a Super Étendard fires an Exocet anti-ship missile at the 85,000-gross-ton Greek oil tanker Filikon L. – which the Super Étendards pilot apparently assumes is carrying Iranian oil but actually is carrying 80,000 tons of Kuwaiti oil – in the Persian Gulf south of Kharg Island. The missile strikes the ship but fails to detonate, and she suffers only minor damage. March 28 – Iraq formally announces that it has used the Exocet missile for the first time in its attack on Filikon L. Iraq has about 200 Exocet missiles. March 29 – The Iraqi Air Force conducts a missile strike against the 16,000-gross-ton Greek cargo ship Iapetos at the head of the Persian Gulf. She catches fire and her crew abandons ship.

April April 18 – An Iraqi Air Force missile strike slightly damages the empty 52,000-gross-ton Panamanian oil tanker Robert Star in the Persian Gulf while she is on her way to the Iranian oil terminal at Kharg Island. April 25 – The Iraqi Air Force conducts a missile attack against the 357,000-gross-ton Saudi oil tanker Safina-al-Arab, carrying 340,000 tons of Iranian crude oil in the Persian Gulf south of Kharg Island. A missile blows a large hole in the ships side and ignites a fire which burns for two days and consumes 10,000 tons of oil. The ship is declared a constructive total loss. April 27 – An Iraqi Air Force missile attack slightly damages the 179,000-gross-ton Liberian cargo ship Sea Eagle in the Persian Gulf near the Iranian port of Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni. April 29 – Trans World Airlines starts services to ten new cities in one day, the largest single-day expansion in its history.

May Due to the expiration of a bilateral air traffic agreement between Peru and the United States in November 1983 and disagreements between the two countries over "fifth freedom rights" – which allow an airline to carry revenue traffic between foreign countries as a part of services connecting the airline's own country – commercial air traffic between the two countries is suspended. It will not resume until mid-1985. May 7 – An Iraqi Air Force missile attack against the 118,000-gross-ton Saudi oil tanker Al-Ahood, carrying 114,000 tons of Iranian crude oil in the Persian Gulf near Kharg Island. The missile strikes the ships accommodation area near her engine room and starts a fire that consumes 35,000 tons of oil and burns for five days, extensively damaging the ship. One of her crewmen is killed. May 13 An Iraqi Air Force missile attack causes slight damage to the 69,000-gross-ton Iranian oil tanker Tabriz, carrying a full load of Iranian oil in the Persian Gulf south of Kharg Island. The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force makes its first reported attack against commercial shipping. After an Iranian reconnaissance aircraft sights the 80,000-gross-ton Kuwaiti oil tanker Umm al-Casbah, carrying 77,000 tons of Kuwaiti crude oil, in the Persian Gulf south of Kuwait, an F-4 Phantom II fires two rockets at the ship, both of which strike her deck. May 14 Two Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force F-4 Phantom II fighter-bombers attack the empty Kuwaiti oil tanker Bahrah, which is in the Persian Gulf on a voyage to Kuwait, firing five rockets at her. Three rockets hit, blowing a large hole in Bahrahs side and starting a fire that burns for eight hours. Two crewmen are injured. Bahrah proceeds to Kuwait under her own power. An Iraqi Air Force missile strike hits the empty 62,000-ton Panamanian oil tanker Esperanza II while she is in the Persian Gulf on a voyage to Kharg Island. A fire burns out her engine room and accommodation section. May 16 – Two Iranian F-4 Phantom II fighter-bombers circle the 215,000-gross-ton Saudi oil tanker Yanbu Pride, carrying 120,000 tons of Saudi crude oil in the Persian Gulf within Saudi Arabias territorial waters near the port of Jubail, to identify her, then fire five rockets at her. Two rockets strike Yanbu Pride, causing explosions and starting a fire in one of her holds that is quickly extinguished. May 18 – An Iraqi Air Force missile attack sinks the 17,000-ton Panamanian bulk carrier Fidelity in the Persian Gulf near the Iranian port of Bushehr. May 19 – Iraq begins a five-day suspension of attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf as part of an effort to negotiate a peace settlement with Iran. After the effort fails, Iraqi strikes resume on May 24. May 24 The Iraqi Air Force conducts a missile strike against the fully loaded, 140,000-ton Panamanian oil tanker Arizona in the Persian Gulf south of Kharg Island, narrowly missing her. Two Iranian F-4 Phantom II fighter-bombers fire rockets at the empty 29,000-gross-ton Liberian tanker Chemical Venture in Saudi Arabias territorial waters near the port of Jubail, striking her superstructure and starting a fire which burns out her pilothouse before it is extinguished. Ten of Chemical Ventures crewmen are injured. May 25 – An Iraqi Air Force missile attack hits the 19,000-ton Liberian bulk carrier Savoy Dean in the Persian Gulf.

June June 3 The Iraqi Air Force attacks the empty 153,000-gross-ton Turkish oil tanker Buyuk Hun, bound for the Iranian oil terminal at Kharg Island, in the Persian Gulf south of the island. The missile strikes Buyuk Hun in her accommodation section, killing three of her crewmen, and she has to be taken under tow by an Iranian tugboat. In response, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force begins patrols over the southern Persian Gulf, and Saudi Arabia announces the "Fahd Line," a line well beyond Saudi territorial waters within which F-15 Eagles of the Royal Saudi Air Force, guided by United States Air Force E-3A Senry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft and refueled by U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender tankers, will intercept any aircraft threatening merchant ships. During an air show at Großostheim, West Germany, a Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR3 loses thrust at an altitude of after launching vertically for a demonstration flight, crashes next to the runway, and bursts into flames about away from the audience. Although the pilot ejects safely, the falling ejection seat kills a spectator. June 5 Saudi F-15s, guided by U.S. Air Force E-3A Sentry aircraft, shoot down an Iranian jet flying over Saudi territorial waters. Iran ceases air operations over Saudi waters and never again challenges Saudi air defenses. Iraqi aircraft strike Banneh, Iran. June 6 – Iraqi aircraft raid Dezful, Masjid-e Suleiman, and Nahavand, Iran. June 10 – An Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force F-4 Phantom II attacks the empty 295,000-ton Kuwaiti oil tanker Kazimah in the Persian Gulf east of Qatar, dropping bombs which all miss. The F-4 follows up with a rocket attack which hits Kazimah but inflicts only slight damage and injures none of her crew. June 16 – Frontier Airlines pilot Emily Warner and co-pilot Barbara Cook make history by directing the first all-female commercial airline crew, on a flight from Denver, Colorado, to Lexington, Kentucky]. June 22 Richard Bransons Virgin Atlantic, begins services from London, England, to Newark, using Boeing 747s.1984 Virgin Group The Rutan Voyager makes its first flight. June 24 – The Iraqi Air Force attacks Kharg Island, damaging oil facilities at Sea Island on the western side of the island. One missile strikes the 152,000-gross-ton Greek oil tanker Alexander the Great, which is fully loaded with Iranian oil, penetrating an oil tank but failing to explode. June 27 – The Iraqi Air Force attacks the 260,000-gross-ton Kuwaiti oil tanker Tiburon, carrying 250,000 tons of Iranian oil, in the Persian Gulf southeast of Kharg Island, hitting her in the engine room with a missile. A fire with 100-foot- (30-meter)-tall flames breaks out and spreads to Tiburons accommodation area and destroys the ships entire superstructure and funnel but does not burn any of her cargo. Eight crewmen die and three suffer serious injuries. The ship is towed to Bahrain.

July July 1 – An Iraqi Air Force missile attack damages the 6,200-gross-ton South Korean cargo ship Wonju-Ho in the Persian Gulf while she is on a voyage to the Iranian port of Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni and seriously damages the 13,000-gross-ton Greek cargo ship Alexander-Dyo. Two crewmen die and four suffer injuries. July 3 – Air Florida suspends all its flights after declaring bankruptcy.