UAL Corporation,
United Airlines' parent company, emerges from bankruptcy for the first time since 9 December 2002, the longest such filing in history.
8–11 February – The American adventurer
Steve Fossett breaks the record for the absolute longest-distance flight without landing by taking off from the
Kennedy Space Center at
Cape Canaveral,
Florida, on 8 February, circumnavigating the world eastbound, and, after passing over Florida, continuing across the
Atlantic Ocean for a second time to land in
Bournemouth,
England, after a flight of 76 hours 43 minutes, covering 42,469.46 km (26,389.30 mi).
16 February –
Kobe Airport, a controversial offshore airport in
Kobe,
Japan, opens for airline service.
16 March –
New Kitakyushu Airport, a controversial offshore airport in
Kitakyūshū in northeastern
Kyūshū, Japan, opens for airline service. The Japanese discount airline
Star Flyer makes the first flight to the new airport, arriving from
Haneda, Japan.
During a mock
dogfight between a
Greek and a
Turkish fighter over the southeastern
Aegean Sea, the two aircraft collide, killing the Greek pilot.
Boeing delivers the last two
Boeing 717 airliners produced; the customers receiving them are
AirTran Airways and
Midwest Airlines. Boeing had manufactured 156 Boeing 717s before ceasing production in April 2006 due to slow sales.[2] The Boeing 717 is the last commercial airplane produced at Boeing's facility in
Long Beach,
California.[2]
7 July – An
Antonov An-12B operated by
Mango Airlines of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo suffers an engine failure after departure from
Goma for a domestic flight to
Kisangani. While attempting to return to Goma, it crashes into a hill and burns 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of
Sake, killing all six people aboard.
12 July – The
2006 Lebanon War begins when
Hezbollah attacks against northern
Israel prompt an Israeli response that includes air strikes against Hezbollah and transportation targets in
Lebanon.[9]
13 July – The Israeli Air Force bombs
Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport in Lebanon, forcing it to close and international flights bound for
Beirut to divert to
Cyprus; Israel claims that Hezbollah has used the airport to smuggle arms and declares an air
blockade of Lebanon.[10] Israeli aircraft also bomb the main highway between Beirut and
Damascus,
Syria,[10] as well as Hezbollah long-range missile launch sites and stockpiles, destroying 59 missile launchers in 34 minutes.[11]
14 July – Israeli aircraft bomb the offices of the Secretary General of Hezbollah,
Hassan Nasrallah.[12]
15 July – The Israeli Air Force destroys Hezbollah's headquarters in
Haret Hreik, Lebanon, and several offices and residences of senior Hezbollah officials, and Israeli
attack helicopters pound targets in central Beirut.[13]
19 July – Israeli warplanes carry out airstrikes against over 200 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including buildings and command posts, vehicles, and rocket launchers.[14]
20 July – Israel carries out 150 airstrikes on Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah structures, bases, headquarters, ammunition warehouses, vehicles, and rockets.[14]
21 July – Israel continues its airstrikes on Lebanon while massing troops on the border.[15] Two Israeli helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Israel, leaving one Israeli soldier dead and three injured.[16]
22 July – Israeli aircraft conduct over 90 airstrikes against targets in Lebanon, hitting Hezbollah headquarters and buildings, media facilities, rocket launching sites, and major roads.[17]
24 July – An Israeli
Apache attack helicopter on its way to support ground forces in Lebanon crashes in northern Israel, killing its two-man crew. Hezbollah claims to have shot it down, while Israel says that the helicopter may have been hit by
friendly fire.[18][19]
25 July – The Israeli Air Force conducts 100 airstrikes on southern Lebanon and Beirut.[20]
26 July
Israeli warplanes and artillery attack and destroy a
United Nations observer post in Lebanon, killing all four United Nations observers inside. Israel claims that it had been trying to hit Hezbollah fighters in the vicinity, and did not target United Nations personnel deliberately.[21][22]
An Israeli airstrike scores a direct hit on Hezbollah's missile command center in
Tyre, Lebanon.[23]
26–31 July – The
15th FAI World Rally Flying Championship takes place in Troyes, France. Individual winners are Wacław Wieczorek/Michał Wieczorek (Poland), Jiří Filip/Michal Filip (Czech Republic), and Petr Opat/Tomas Rajdl (Czech Republic). Team winners are 1. Czech Republic, 2. Poland, and 3. France.
27 July – Israeli warplanes carry out 120 airstrikes in Lebanon, hitting suspected Hezbollah hideouts in hills and mountainous areas of the
Bekaa Valley and targets in Beirut.[24]
29 July – Israeli Air Force airstrikes in Lebanon hit targets in Beirut, destroy Hezbollah long-range rocket launchers which had been used to attack
Afula, destroy two bridges on the
Orontes River and a road on the Lebanon-Syria border, and destroy a house in the Old City of
Bint Jbeil, killing three Hezbollah fighters including commanders
Khalid Bazzi and
Sayiid Abu Tam. One Israeli airstrike wounds two
Indian peacekeepers in Lebanon.[25][26]
31 July – Israel announces a 48-hour halt to airstrikes depending on "operational developments" in Lebanon. However, Israeli airstrikes hit targets in southern Lebanon later in the day after Hezbollah attacks an Israeli
tank, wounding three Israeli soldiers.[14]
3 August – Hezbollah Secretary General
Hassan Nasrallah warns Israel against further strikes against targets in
Beirut and promises retaliation against
Tel Aviv if such strikes continue.[29] He also says that Hezbollah will stop its rocket campaign against Israel if Israel ceases aerial and artillery strikes against Lebanese towns and villages.[30]
4 August – Israel aircraft attack the southern outskirts of Beirut, and an Israeli
airstike against a building in the area of
al-Qaa in Lebanon's
Bekaa Valley kills 33 farm workers.[31] IDF aircraft also strike a number of Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon and hit the office of
Hamas in Beirut. Thirty of the airstrikes are meant to disrupt the firing of Hezbollah rockets into Israel.[14]
5 August – The Israeli Air Force attacks over 80 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.[14]
The Israeli Air Force attacks over 150 targets in Lebanon. During the strikes, Israeli aircraft
bomb the Shiyyah suburb in Beirut, destroying three apartment buildings and killing at least 50 people.[32]
10 August – British authorities announce that a
plot to simultaneously detonate bombs smuggled in hand luggage aboard ten
airliners bound for the United States over the Atlantic Ocean has been foiled.[33] Tightened security measures in the United Kingdom and United States and flight cancellations which happen afterwards cause severe chaos at several London airports.
11 August – Hezbollah shoots down an Israeli
CH-53 Yas'ur helicopter with an
anti-tank missile, killing five aircrew members.[34][35] Hezbollah claims it attacked the helicopter with a
Waad missile.[36]
13 August
The Israeli Air Force shoots down two Hezbollah unmanned aerial vehicles, one of which was carrying at least 30 kilograms (66 lb) of explosives.[37][38]
The Israeli Air Force claims to have killed the head of Hezbollah's special forces, identified as
Sajed Dewayer, in an airstrike. Hezbollah denies the claim.[39] \
A ceasefire brings the
2006 Lebanon War to a close. During the 34-day war, the Israeli Air Force has flown more than 12,000 sorties, and 165 Israelis and more than 1,000 Lebanese have died.[40][41]
18 August – Lebanese police sources report that Israeli Air Force planes had fired missiles at
Baalbek, Lebanon. Lebanese officials later contradict the claim.[42]
19 August – Airlifted by helicopters with two
Humvees to a location near Baalbek, Lebanon, Israeli
Sayeret Matkal commandos led by
Lieutenant ColonelEmmanuel Moreno launch a raid in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley to disrupt arms shipments to Hezbollah, attacking a Hezbollah base in the village of
Bodei being used for weapons smuggling. Strikes by Israeli Air Force jets and attack helicopters prevent Hezbollah reinforcements from reaching the battle or encircling the commandos, who are eventually extracted after a gunfight with Hezbollah forces in which Moreno dies.[43]
Comair Flight 5191, a
Bombardier CRJ100 ER carrying 47 passengers and three crew members, attempts to take off from
Blue Grass Airport in
Lexington,
Kentucky, using the wrong runway. The runway is too short, and the aircraft runs off the end of the runway and crashes without becoming airborne. The
first officer survives in critical condition; the other 49 people on board die.
3 September – South Ossetian forces fire at a
GeorgianMil Mi-8 (
NATO reporting name "Hip") helicopter carrying Georgian Minister of Defense
Irakli Okruashvili and the deputy chief of staff of the Georgian armed forces as it flies over the separatist-held territory of
South Ossetia. The helicopter is slightly damaged but lands safely in Georgian government-controlled territory.[47]
15 September – Mexican actor
Pablo Santos is killed[1] when he attempts an
emergency landing at
Toluca International Airport in
Toluca,
Mexico,[1] after the
Piper Malibu[1] he is piloting runs low on fuel and crashes over a mile (1.6 km) short of the runway.[1] One of his passengers is fatally injured and dies the following day, but his other five passengers survive. Also, on the same day, Easyjet Flight 6074 to the UK suffers serious problems in the air and is unable to contact ATC. It is very close to an America bound American Airlines plane and ATC is able to request the latter to descend, narrowly missing the other plane. Some things improve on the Easyjet plane and it is able to land safely.[49]
19 September – A
United States Air ForceB-52H Stratofortress makes the first flight of a U.S. Air Force aircraft powered partially by a
coal-based fuel, flying over
Edwards Air Force Base,
California, using a fuel made of a blend of conventional
JP-8jet fuel and
Fischer–Tropsch fuel made from coal in two of its engines and JP-8 in its other six engines. The flight begins the final phase of U.S. Air Force test flights to achieve the certification of its B-52 fleet to operate on coal-based fuels.[50]
24 October – Six
Israeli Air ForceF-16 Fighting Falcons fly over a
German Navy vessel patrolling in the Mediterranean Sea off Israel's coast just south of the Lebanese border as part of a
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) effort to enforce an arms embargo against
Hezbollah. The German Defense Ministry says that the planes launched
infrared decoy flares and that one of them had fired two shots into the air. The Israeli military says that a German helicopter took off from the vessel without having coordinated its flight with Israel, and denies that its planes fired any shots at the vessel or launched flares over it.[53][54][55]
25 October –
Oasis Hong Kong Airlines begins service with a departure for
London Gatwick Airport scheduled. Due to problems with rights to fly over Russia, the initial flight is delayed to 26 October.
26 October – The left wing of a
Swedish Coast GuardCASA C-212 Aviocar detaches in flight due to
metal fatigue while the plane is making a low-level pass over the Skanör-Falsterbo Coast Guard Station in
Sweden. The C-212
crashes in the
Falsterbo Canal, killing all four people on board. The crash prompts the Swedish Coast Guard to ground its two surviving C-212s, which it sells to
Uruguay.
30 October – An
airstrike kills 70 to 80 people in
Chenagai,
Pakistan. Eyewitnesses claim that American
unmanned aerial vehicles conducted the strikes, with three
Pakistani Armyhelicopter gunships arriving later to fire rockets into neighboring hillsides. The
United States denies involvement and Pakistan claims that it conducted the airstrike, but Pakistan later denies involvement, saying it was an American strike and that Pakistan had only claimed involvement to cover for the United States.
31 October – The Cypriot airline Ajet, formerly known as
Helios Airways, ceases operations.
10 December – A
Bell 412SP medevac helicopter
crashes in mountainous terrain near
Hesperia,
California, killing all three people – the pilot and two medical crew members – on board. A fire resulting from the crash burns two acres (8,100 square meters) of the mountainside.
29 December –
FlyersRights.org is founded as an American
not-for-profit organization that supports legislation protecting the rights of airline passengers, improving visibility in the reporting of
flight delays by commercial airlines, and increasing the distance between rows of airline seats.[56][57][58]