This is a list of aviation-related events from 1951:
Events Three aerial refueling points are installed on a modified United States Air Force B-29 Superfortress, making it the worlds first triple-point aerial tanker. During trials, it keeps six Royal Air Force Gloster Meteor F 8 fighters continuously aloft simultaneously for four hours at a time.Crosby, Francis, The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the Worlds Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day, London: Anness Publishing Ltd., 2006, , p. 47. President Harry S Truman presents the Collier Trophy to the United States Coast Guard for its development of the helicopter. With no aircraft left on order and no prospects for new orders, the Curtiss-Wright Corporation closes down its Aeroplane Division and sells all of its aircraft designs, projects, prototypes, and factories to North American Aviation.Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 108. During the year, Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela (LAV) begins service between Venezuela and Lima, Peru, and Bogotá, Colombia. Early 1951 – The Royal Navy embarks a helicopter unit on an aircraft carrier for the first time, aboard .Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, , p. 182.
January U.S. Navy aircraft from the aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 provide support to United Nations troops fighting on the front line in Korea, including long-range interdiction, emergency close air support, and air cover for landings and evacuations.Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, , p. 220. January 1 The United States Air Force reestablishes the Air Defense Command. It also returns the Air Defense Command to the status of a major command, a status it has not held since December 1948. The last remaining assets of Deutsche Luft Hansa are liquidated. The airline had been dissolved in 1945. The later German airline Lufthansa will have no legal connection to it. January 13 – An Air Carriers Douglas VC-47D-27-DK Skytrain (registration (VR-HEP) on a domestic flight in the Federation of Malaya crashes into the mountain Bukit Besar, killing all 10 people on board. January 14 – National Airlines Flight 83, a Douglas DC-4-1009 (registration N74685), overshoots the end of the runway and crashes in a ditch on landing at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, killing seven of the 28 people on board. Among the dead – five women and two infants – is the flight's only stewardess, Frankie Housley, who saves 10 passengers after the crash but then dies in the burning wreckage of the aircraft while trying to save an infant.time.com "HEROES: Take Your Time," Time, January 22, 1951. January 16 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 115, a Martin 2-0-2 flying from Geiger Field in Spokane, Washington, to Pangborn Field in Wenatchee, Washington, crashes west of Reardan, Washington, killing all 10 people on board. January 21 – The U.S. Air Force F-84 Thunderjet makes its first kill, when F-84 pilot Lieutenant Colonel William E. Bertram shoots down a MiG-15 during the Korean War.Crosby, Francis, The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the Worlds Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day, London: Anness Publishing Ltd., 2006, , p. 37. January 27 – Lightning strikes the Alitalia Savoia-Marchetti SM.95B Ugolino Vivaldi (registration I-DALO) during a flight from Paris-Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France, to Roma-Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy. The aircraft catches fire and crashes north of Civitavecchia, Italy, killing 14 of the 17 people on board. January 28 – Flying from Hong Kong to Japan in poor visibility, a Royal Air Force Short S.25 Sunderland GR.5 (registration PP107) crashes into Mount Yuli on Taiwan at an altitude of , killing all 14 people on board. January 31 On a flight in the privately owned P-51 Mustang Excalibur III to investigate the jet stream, U.S. Navy Captain Charles F. Blair, Jr., sets a record for a piston-engine aircraft by flying nonstop from New York City to London, England, in 7 hours 48 minutes at an average speed of . After aborting an attempted landing in heavy snowfall at Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, Iceland, an Icelandair Flugfélag Islands Douglas C-47A-10-DK Skytrain (registration TF-ISG) crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Hafnarfjördur, killing all 20 people on board. A Portuguese Army Aeronáutica Militar Douglas C-54D-1-DC Skymaster crashes into the Atlantic Ocean on approach to Lajes Field in the Azores, killing all 14 people on board. The month ends as the worst for the United Nations forces in Korea in terms of air losses, with 44 U.N. aircraft lost to enemy ground fire alone. More than 600 American aircraft have been lost in air-to-air combat or due to enemy ground fire since the Korean War began in June 1950.Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, , p. 268.
February The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee reports that the Soviet Air Force has 20,000 aircraft to devote to the support of Soviet Army ground forces in the event of a war with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and estimates that the Soviet Union will have 120 atomic bombs in 1952.Ross, Steven T., American War Plans 1945-1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union, Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, , p. 140. February 3 – The Air France Douglas DC-4-1009 Ciel de Savoie (registration F-BBDO) drifts off course during a flight from Douala Airport in Douala, French Cameroons, to Niamey Airport in Niamey, Niger, while approaching the mountains of British Cameroons. Flying into the sun, the crew fails to realize that they are on a collision course with Mount Cameroon (. In the final seconds before impact, the pilot sees the mountain ahead and makes a sharp left turn, but the DC-4's left wing strikes the rising terrain and the aircraft crashes into the mountain at an altitude of , killing all 29 people on board. February 21 – English Electric Canberra BMk2 WD932 becomes the first jet to make an unrefuelled transatlantic flight, flying from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to Gander in Newfoundland, Canada. The Canberra makes the fight in a record time of 4 hours 37 minutes.Gunston, Bill, and Peter Gilchrist, Jet Bombers: From the Messerschmitt Me 262 to the Stealth B-2, Osprey, 1993, , p. 150. February 26 – U.S. Navy carrier aircraft of Task Force 77 begin 38 consecutive days of attacks on enemy railroads and highways along the east coast of Korea.Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, , pp. 221, 222.
March The United States Navy tank landing ship , fitted with a miniature flight deck, begins operations off Wonsan, Korea, with a detachment of two HO3S helicopters from Utility Helicopter Squadron 1 (UH-1). She becomes the first U.S. Navy ship to operate in the role of a helicopter carrier.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, , pp. 47-48. The U.S. Air Forces Far East Air Forces establishes an air defense identification zone for South Korea, overlapping with North Korean airspace but primarily intended to protect South Korea from incursions by aircraft from the People's Republic of China.[Sang-hun, Choe, "South Korea Announces Expansion of Its Air Defense Zone," nytimes.com, December 8, 2013.] March 2 U.S. Navy AD Skyraiders of Attack Squadron 195 (VA-195) from the aircraft carrier begin a lengthy series of raids against a railroad bridge across a deep ravine south of Kilchu, Korea, discovered earlier that day by their commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Harold Carlson. They damage the southern approach to the bridge in their first strike.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, , pp. 42-43.Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, , p. 276. Mid-Continent Airlines Flight 16, a Douglas DC-3A (registration N19928) stalls during a left turn at low altitude on approach to Sioux City Municipal Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, and crashes, killing 16 of the 25 people on board. March 3 – The second strike by VA-195 against the Kilchu railroad bridge destroys one span, damages another span, and shifts two more spans out of line. Rear Admiral Ralph A. Ofstie, commanding Task Force 77, dubs the target "Carlson's Canyon."Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, , p. 272. March 6 – The Martin aircraft company gains production rights to the English Electric Canberra as the B-57. March 7 – VA-195 makes its third strike against the railroad bridge in "Carlson's Canyon," dropping the northernmost of the two spans it had shifted in its March 3 attack. March 11 – A Pacific Overseas Airlines Douglas R5D-1 Skymaster (registration HS-POS) crashes into hills on Hong Kong Island just after takeoff from Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, killing all 24 people on board. March 15 VA-195 makes its fourth strike against the railroad bridge in "Carlson's Canyon," destroying some wooden replacement spans, dropping a span at the southern end, and damaging the northern approach. Later in the month, U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortresses seed the valley floor with long-time-delay bombs.Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, , p. 272 A Qantas flying boat makes a survey flight from Sydney, Australia, to Valparaíso, Chile, via Easter Island, a first flight of this type across the South Pacific. March 21 Flying a U.S. Navy F9F Panther of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191) from the aircraft carrier , Ensign Floryan "Frank" Sobieski is blinded by enemy ground fire over Korea. Guided and encouraged by his wingman, Lieutenant, junior grade, Pat Murphy, and assisted by Princetons landing signal officer, Sobieski lands safely aboard Princeton without being able to see. He later recovers full vision.Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, , p. 40. During a domestic flight in Colombia from San Marcos Airport in San Marcos to Cartagena Airport in Cartagena, a LANSA Douglas R4D-1 Skytrain (registration HK-315), crashes near Hatonuevo, killing all 29 people on board. March 23 – A U.S. Air Force Douglas C-124A Globemaster II disappears over the North Atlantic Ocean during a flight from Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine, to RAF Lakenheath in England, with the loss of all 53 people on board. Searchers find only a few small pieces of wreckage in the water west of Shannon, Ireland. At the time, it is the deadliest accident involving a C-124 and the deadliest aviation accident to occur over the Atlantic Ocean.