This is a list of aviation-related events in 2024.
Events
January 2 January A runway collision at Haneda Airport in Tokyo occurred when Japan Airlines Flight 516, operated by an Airbus A350-900 arriving from Sapporo, collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft and both aircraft caught on fire. This resulted in the complete destruction of both aircraft. All 367 passengers and 12 crew members of the Airbus were evacuated. There were six occupants on board the Coast Guard aircraft, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8; the captain escaped with serious injuries whilst the remaining five crew members were killed. This was the first hull loss of an A350. The Coast Guard aircraft was scheduled to provide relief to Niigata in response to the previous day's Noto Peninsula earthquake.
5 January Shortly after departing Portland International Airport in Oregon, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 operating as Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 suffered an explosive decompression when a plug covering an unused exit door blew out. The aircraft made a safe return to Portland with all 177 occupants alive. The FAA subsequently ordered all 737 MAX 9 planes fitted with door plugs to be grounded for inspection. It was subsequently reported that Alaska Airlines and United Airlines both discovered faults on other 737s.
12 January An autonomous underwater vehicle – developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology and launched with the aim of finding the wreckage of an Indian Air Force Antonov An-26 that disappeared over the Bay of Bengal on 22 July 2016 – located the wreckage of the aircraft off the Chennai coast.
Following airstrikes conducted by the United States and the United Kingdom against Houthi-held Yemen, the Federal Air Transport Agency banned Russian airlines from flying through Yemeni airspace until further notice.
16 January The United States Department of Justice blocked the proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines by JetBlue, citing that it would create a lack of competition in low-cost carriers. The stock price of Spirit Airlines dropped by 47% after the decision was made.
18 January At the WINGS India 2024 event in Hyderabad, Akasa Air placed an order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, including both the MAX 10 and MAX 200 variants.
23 January A BAe Jetstream 32 operating as Northwestern Air Flight 738 crashed shortly after takeoff from Fort Smith Airport, Northwest Territories, Canada, when at 500 m (1,600 ft), killing six out of the seven on board.
24 January A Russian Ilyushin Il-76M transport aircraft, reportedly carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war along with three other passengers and six crew from Chkalovsky air base near Moscow to Belgorod, crashed in the Belgorod region of Russia.
February 6 February A Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter piloted by former Chilean president Sebastián Piñera lost control and crashed into Lake Ranco in Chile. Piñera was killed and the other three people on board survived.
9 February A Bombardier Challenger 600 operating as Hop-A-Jet Flight 823 crashed into a vehicle on Interstate 75 in Collier County, Florida while attempting to make an emergency landing. Two of the five on board were killed in the crash.
A Eurocopter EC130 crashed, killing all six occupants, including Nigerian banker Herbert Wigwe.
11 February The United States Department of Justice seized a Boeing 747-300 registered as YV3531 belonging to Venezuelan state-owned airline Emtrasur Cargo. The DOJ said that the aircraft was sold to Emtrasur Cargo by Mahan Air, a sanctioned Iranian airline due to its affiliation with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was in violation of American export control laws. The aircraft was initially detained by Argentina on 6 June 2022, shortly after the United States had issued a seizure warrant. The aircraft was subsequently scrapped at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.
18 February Air Serbia Flight 324, an Embraer 195 operated by Marathon Airlines, struck landing lights on takeoff at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. The aircraft flew for another hour before making an emergency landing at the same airport with a gaping hole in the fuselage. All 111 occupants were reported safe.
20–25 February The Singapore Airshow was held. Highlights included orders for Airbus from Vietjet (20 A330neos) and Starlux Airlines (three A330neos and five A350Fs), Boeing from Thai Airways (45 787-9s) and Royal Brunei Airlines (four 787-9s), and Comac from Tibet Airlines (40 C919s and 10 ARJ21s).
21 February The TAI TF Kaan, a fifth-gen stealth fighter being developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries, performed its maiden flight.
26 February Canadian Budget airline Lynx Air ceased operations due to financial issues.
March 5 March A Dash 8-300 operating as Safarilink Aviation Flight 53 from Wilson Airport, Nairobi to Diani near Mombasa was involved in a mid-air collision with a Cessna 172 operated by a local flying school. The Dash returned to Wilson and landed safely with no injuries among the 39 passengers and 5 crew. The Cessna crashed in Nairobi National Park killing the two occupants.
8 March David E. Harris, the first African American pilot who flew for a major airline, died at the age of 89.
10 March A Boeing 787-9 operating as LATAM Airlines Flight 800 experienced an in-flight upset, injuring 50 of the 272 occupants on board the aircraft. The plane made an emergency landing at Auckland Airport.
12 March A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft crashed near Belgorod after suffering an engine fire. All 15 on board were killed.
In response to Argentina's role in the seizure of a Venezuelan state-owned Emtrasur Cargo Boeing 747-300 registered as YV3531 by the DOJ, Venezuela closed its airspace to Argentine aircraft. The Venezuelan Government stated that the airspace would remain blocked until Argentina compensated the country.
22 March The Boom XB-1, a prototype/technology demonstrator supersonic aircraft developed by Boom Supersonic, conducts its first flight from Mojave Air and Space Port. The flight reaches a maximum altitude of and a top speed of during its 12-minute flight. The company aims to use the XB-1 to develop its Overture supersonic airliner, of which the XB-1 is a roughly 1/3rd scale model.
29 March In response to Venezuela's airspace closure to Argentina, the Argentine Government and United States Government lodges a complaint to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to protest the closure, requesting that the airspace be reopened as a violation of the Chicago Convention.
April 4 April US company Skydweller Aero completes the world's first unmanned flight of a large solar-powered aircraft.
13 April Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait and Israel all close their airspaces in response to the Iranian strikes in Israel.
17 April The FAA implements a ground stop for Alaska Airlines and its subsidiary Horizon Air (meaning planes are not permitted to take off) after a notification by the airline. Alaska Airlines makes the request after an issue surfaced during a routine system upgrade essential for ensuring aircraft weight and balance, although the exact nature of the issue is not disclosed. The airline states that it acted "out of an abundance of caution".
18 April Kenya's highest ranking military officer, General Francis Ogolla, and nine other members of the Kenya Defence Forces are killed in the crash of a UH-1 Huey in western Kenya.
23 April Two Royal Malaysian Navy helicopters collide over Lumut, Perak in Malaysia during a formation flight as part of a rehearsal for the upcoming Navy day parade. All 10 people on board the Leonardo AW139 and Eurocopter Fennec are killed.
An Alaska Air Fuel Douglas C-54D crashed shortly after takeoff from Fairbanks International Airport. Both pilots, the only people on board, are killed.
25 April Southwest Airlines and American Airlines report large first-quarter economic losses, with Southwest losing US$231 million and American expecting to lay off over 2,000 employees during the remainder of the year. In addition, Southwest is to stop flying to Cozumel, Syracuse and Bellingham airports. These declines have limited the airlines' abilities to order more aircraft in the near future, with Southwest cancelling some of its Boeing 737 orders for the year.
30 April Australian low-cost airline Bonza which launched operations in January 2023, enters voluntary administration with all services suspended.
May 3 May Dick Rutan, older brother of Burt Rutan, dies at the age of 85 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He was the pilot of the first non-stop round-the-world flight on board the Voyager aircraft in 1986.
17 May Bette Nash, the world's longest-serving flight attendant, dies at the age of 88, after working for Eastern Air Lines and then American Airlines for a total of 67 years.
19 May A Bell 212 helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Governor of East Azerbaijan Malek Rahmati, and the Supreme Leader's representative in East Azerbaijan Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, crashes near the Iranian city of Varzaqan, East Azerbaijan. There are no survivors.
21 May A Boeing 777-300ER, operating as Singapore Airlines Flight 321 flying from London to Singapore, encounters severe turbulence, killing 1 passenger and injuring 104 other passengers and crew members. The aircraft is diverted to Bangkok, Thailand.
27 May Following the closure of Porto Alegre Airport on 3 May for an undetermined time, due to flooding in the Rio Grande do Sul region, Brazilian airlines announces that limited services will be operated from Canoas Air Force Base. A nearby shopping centre hosts check-in and other terminal facilities. A number of aircraft are also damaged. All airport operations will resume on 19 December 2024.
June 7 June A Beechcraft T-34 aircraft piloted by former NASA astronaut and United States Air Force pilot, Bill Anders, author of the iconic Earthrise photograph, crashes near the US-Canada border. Anders does not survive the crash.
10 June A Malawi Air Force Dornier 228, carrying Vice-President of Malawi Saulos Chilima, former First Lady Patricia Shanil Muluzi, and seven other occupants, crashes in Chikangawa Forest Reserve in Mzimba District, killing all nine occupants on board.
26 June Lufthansa City Airlines begins operations as a subsidiary of Lufthansa Group.
30 June Boeing announces the acquisition of key supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion, with Airbus set to acquire the Spirit programmes producing major components for Airbus aircraft.
July 12 July A Sukhoi Superjet 100-95LR on a ferry flight from Lukhovitsy to Moscow, operating as Gazpromavia Flight 9608, crashes whilst attempting an emergency landing. All three occupants on board are killed.
18 July Saudia signs a binding sales agreement with Lilium GmbH to purchase 50 electric Lilium Jets, with the option to purchase 50 more.
19 July During the CrowdStrike incident, 5,078 air flights around the world, amounting to 4.6% of those scheduled that day, are cancelled.
22–26 July The Farnborough International Airshow is held.
22–28 July The EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is held at Wittman Regional Airport, located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States.
24 July A Bombardier CRJ200ER, operated by Saurya Airlines, crashes shortly after takeoff from Kathmandu, Nepal, on a test flight to Pokhara. The pilot is the sole survivor of the crash, which killed 18 people.
30 July Rex Airlines, Australia's third largest airline, ceases all domestic Boeing 737 jet services and goes into administration.
August 9 August An ATR 72-500 operating as Voepass Linhas Aéreas Flight 2283 from Cascavel to São Paulo, crashes in a residential area near Vinhedo, São Paulo killing all 58 passengers and 4 crew members on board.
15 August