8, Europe: The Airbus A300 is certified, becoming the first wide body airliner with cockpit accommodations for only two to be certified.
10, Teterboro, New Jersey: A Gulfstream III, Spirit of America, flies around the world in just 43 hours 39 minutes and 6 seconds, becoming the fastest business jet to fly around the world.
22, Germany: The NATO receives its first Boeing E-3A Sentry AWACS airplane.
9, Tokyo: A Japan AirlinesDC-8 crashes, killing 24 of the 174 passengers on board. The probable cause of the accident was cited as a possible breakdown by captain Seiji Katagiri, who had mental problems. Every airline pilot must now undergo mental testing as well as physical testing.
13, Washington D.C; An Air FloridaBoeing 737 crashes soon after take-off from Washington's National Airport, into the Potomac river, killing 78 passengers plus people on a bridge. Many of the passengers actually died frozen by the river's iced waters. The plane's anti-freeze solution was not the adequate for the weather that day, and the plane's engines had ice on them before taking off.
13, Dallas, Texas: Braniff International Airlines' president Howard D. Putnam announces the airline has filed for protection under bankruptcy laws, and the airline's fleet of 71 airplanes is grounded.
14, Falkland Islands: Argentinian forces surrender to English forces. During their war, the English had destroyed 109 Argentinian planes, compared to only 10 lost by the British.
30, Dallas, Texas: H Ross Perot Jr and J.W. Coburn make history by landing their Bell 2061 LongRanger II helicopter 29 days, 3 hours, and 8 minutes after taking off. Its the first time a trip around the world is completed by helicopter.
