This is a list of aviation-related events from 1962.
Events The United States Navy develops vertical replenishment (VERTREP) techniques to supply ships at sea by helicopter, as Sikorsky HSS-2 Sea King (later redesignated SH-3A Sea King) antisubmarine helicopters from the general stores issue ship and fleet oiler resupply ships of the United States Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean.Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The King of the Sea", Naval History, February 2012, p. 13. On an unrecorded date probably sometime in 1962, scheduled commercial airline flights between the United States and Cuba come to an end. Although historians disagree on the exact date, it apparently occurs after Cuba bans incoming flights during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Scheduled commercial airline flights between the two countries will not resume until August 31, 2016. The Dominican Republic airline Aerovías Quisqueyana begins operations. Early 1962 – In Operation High Jump, the United States Navy McDonnell F4H-1 Phantom II fighter sets a number of world climb-to altitude records: 34.523 seconds to , 48.787 seconds to , 61.629 seconds to , 77.156 seconds to , 114.548 seconds to , 178.5 seconds to , 230.44 seconds to , and 371.43 seconds to .
January United States Army H-21C Shawnee transport helicopters deploy to Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam. They are the first American aircraft to operate from Da Nang. January 1 – Aden Airways and East African Airways enter into an agreement to pool services on the Aden-Nairobi route. January 2 – Piloting Pakistan International Airlines′ first Boeing 720B airliner – a Boeing 720-040B (registration AP-AMG) – on its delivery flight, Captain Abdullah Baig and his copilot, Captain Taimur Baig, set a world record for speed over a commercial air route, flying from London, England, to Karachi, Pakistan, in 6 hours 43 minutes 55 seconds at an average speed of .FAI Record ID #7679 fai.org via historyofpia.com "1962 - PIA Boeing 720B Record Flight Info on FAI Website" January 9 – The de Havilland DH121 Trident makes its maiden flight from Hatfield in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. January 10–11 – A United States Air Force B-52H Stratofortress flies from Okinawa to Madrid, establishing a new unrefueled world nonstop flight distance record of . January 15 – The U.S. Army suffers its first combat fatalities in an aircraft in Vietnam when an H-21C Shawnee transport helicopter is shot down by Viet Cong ground fire near Dak Roda, South Vietnam, with three killed. January 16 – A Republic of Vietnam Air Force C-47 Skytrain crashes at Pleiku, South Vietnam, killing 33. January 24 – Two United States Navy F4H Phantom IIs are seconded to the United States Air Force as the Air Force plans to adopt the type as the F-4 Phantom II. January 25 – Winds exceeding shear one of the wings off a Montana Air National Guard Douglas C-47 Skytrain flying in turbulent weather during a snowstorm. It crashes into a mountain canyon near Wolf Creek, Montana, killing all six people on board including Governor of Montana Donald Nutter.Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents: 1960s
February February 2 – A United States Air Force Fairchild C-123 Provider crashes while spraying defoliant near Biên Hòa, South Vietnam, with the loss of three crew members. It is the first U.S. Air Force aircraft lost in Vietnam. February 9 – A U.S. Military Air Transport Service Boeing 707 carrying 159 passengers flies from Hawaii to California in 3 hours 49 minutes, a record time for a commercial-type aircraft. February 10 – The Soviet Union exchanges captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers – shot down over Soviet territory in 1960 – for Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher, also known as Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States."Today in History", The Washington Post Express, February 10, 2012, p. 34. February 12 – French troops discover the mummified body of William N. "Bill" Lancaster and the wreckage of his Avro Mark VIA Avian Southern Cross in the Sahara Desert. Lancaster had disappeared on April 12, 1933, during an attempt to set a world speed record for a flight from England to South Africa. He is determined to have died on April 20, 1933, while awaiting rescue. The wreckage of the aircraft will be recovered in 1975 and placed on exhibit in 1979. February 20 – John Glenn becomes the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth in Mercury Atlas 6. February 25 – An Avensa Fairchild F27 Friendship crashes into San Juan mountain on Venezuelas Isla Margarita in the Caribbean, killing all 23 people on board.
March Tunisair discontinues its service between Tunis, Tunisia, and Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany, due to the route's poor economic performance.. March 1 Los Angeles Airways becomes the first civil operator of the Sikorsky S-61 helicopter. American Airlines Flight 1, a Boeing 707-123B, crashes into Jamaica Bay shortly after taking off from Idlewild Airport in New York City, killing all 95 people on board; it is the sixth fatal accident involving a Boeing 707 and the deadliest 707 accident thus far. Among the dead are John Dieckman, an international champion flyfisher and caster; retired Admiral Richard Lansing Conolly, USN, the president of Long Island University and a two-time Deputy Chief of Naval Operations; W. Alton Jones, a multi-millionaire former president and chairman of Cities Service Company and close personal friend of former General of the Army and President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower; Arnold Kirkeby, a millionaire realtor and former head of the Kirkeby chain of luxury hotels; Louise Lindner Eastman, whose daughter Linda Eastman would later marry Paul McCartney of The Beatles; Irving Rubine, producer of the film The Guns of Navarone; Emelyn Whiton, a 1952 Olympic sailing gold medalist; and the Broadway stage manager Bob Paschall. In addition, 15 abstract paintings by the artist Arshile Gorky in the planes cargo hold are destroyed. March 2 – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration forms its Peace Officers Program – a forerunner of the U.S. Federal Air Marshal Service – as the first class of 18 officers graduate from their training program. March 4 – Caledonian Airways Flight 153, the Douglas DC-7 Star of Robbie Burns, crashes in a swamp shortly after takeoff from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, killing all 111 people on board. March 5 – The 21st and last Bendix Trophy race across the contiguous United States takes place with two United States Air Force 43rd Bombardment Wing B-58A Hustlers as its only entrants in what the Air Force dubs Operation Heat Rise. The B-58s take off from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, fly out over the Pacific Ocean, refuel in the air, then pass over Los Angeles, California, to begin the race, with a finish line at New York City, slowing only to refuel from Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers over Kansas. Flying at altitudes between , the first B-58A sets a west-to-east transcontinental speed record, completing the flight in 2 hours 58.71 seconds at an average speed of , beating the second B-58A by one minute and winning the last Bendix Trophy ever awarded for speed. Without landing, the two B-58As then refuel over the Atlantic Ocean and passes over New York City to begin another record-setting transcontinental flight in the opposite direction. Although the second-place B-58A has to land due to mechanical trouble soon after passing New York City, the Bendix Trophy-winning B-58A returns to Los Angeles, setting an east-to-west transcontinental record time of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50.08 seconds, completing the round trip in 4 hours, 41 minutes, 15 seconds at an average speed of , another record. For the flight, the B-58A's will receive not only the Bendix Trophy, but also the MacKay Trophy. March 8 – A Turkish Airlines Fairchild F-27 crashes in the Bolkar Mountains of the Taurus mountain range in Adana Province, Turkey, killing all 11 people on board. March 16 – Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, a Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation chartered by the United States Military Air Transport Service and carrying 97 United States Army personnel, three South Vietnamese, and a crew of 11, vanishes over the western Pacific Ocean with the loss of all 107 people on board. No wreckage or bodies are ever found.
April April 12 – During a test flight in a P-51 Mustang to practice for an attempt to break the speed record for a flight from Sydney, Australia, to London, England, Scottish racing car driver Ron Flockhart is killed when he loses control of the plane and crashes near Kallista, Victoria, Australia. April 15 – The United States Marine Corps' involvement in the Vietnam War begins when Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 362 (HMM-362), equipped with HUS-1 Seahorse transport helicopters, arrives at Sóc Trăng, South Vietnam, to begin Operation Shufly. April 16 – A lone hijacker demands that a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Douglas DC-7C flying from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Lisbon, Portugal, with 52 passengers aboard divert to East Berlin, East Germany. The airliner instead returns to Schiphol Airport outside Amsterdam.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description April 21 – Flying at the Soviet Union′s Sternberg Point Observatory, the Tupolev Tu-114 (NATO reporting name "Cleat") airliner 76467, piloted by Ivan Sukhomlin and copiloted by Piotr Soldatov, sets a world speed record for a turboprop landplane over a closed circuit carrying a payload of between , averaging . April 22 – Flying an Antonov An-10A, Soviet pilot A. Mitronin sets a world speed record over a closed loop for aircraft in the An-10's class, averaging . April 25 – The United States Department of Defense announces its choice of the Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter for its Military Assistance Program. April 26 – Louis Schalk pilots the first unofficial flight of the A-12 Article 121. April 30 – Louis Schalk pilots the first official flight of the A-12 Article 121. Late April – The U.S. Armys 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) arrives at Nha Trang Air Base, South Vietnam, introducing the Bell HU-1 Iroquois helicopter into combat for the first time. Nicknamed the "Huey", the UH-1 (as the HU-1 will be redesignated in September 1962) will become iconic of the Vietnam War.
May Trans World Airlines opens the TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, at Idlewild Airport in Queens, New York.TWA History Timeline May 2 – Piloting the HMPAC Puffin – which is powered by the pilot pedaling to spin its propeller – John Wimpenny sets a world record for flight in a human-powered aircraft, flying at Hatfield Aerodrome in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The record will stand for ten years. May 4–5 – During the Carupanazo revolt against Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan Air Force aircraft attack rebel positions at Carúpano. May 22 – To kill himself and allow his family to collect his life insurance payment, passenger Thomas G. Doty detonates a dynamite bomb in a rear lavatory of Continental Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 707-124, near Centerville, Iowa, blowing off the tail section of the plane. The aircraft crashes near Unionville, Missouri, killing Doty and all of the other 44 people on board. United States Medal of Freedom recipient Fred P. Herman is among the dead.
June June 2 – During the Porteñazo revolt of the Venezuelan Marine Corps against Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan Air Force aircraft attack marine corps positions at Puerto Cabello. June 3 – The Boeing 707-328 Chateau de Sully, operating as Air France Flight 007, crashes shortly after take-off from Paris-Orly Airport in Paris, killing 130 of the 132 people on board in the deadliest single-aircraft disaster to date.