1953 in aviation

style="background:#d6e6f6;border-bottom:solid 2px #87CEEB;"\|Years in aviation
lign=center\|1948
lign=center\|1949
lign=center\|1950
lign=center\|1951
lign=center\|1952
lign=center style="background:#87CEEB"\|1953
lign=center\|1954
lign=center\|1955
lign=center\|1956
lign=center\|1957
lign=center\|1958

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1953:

Events

The first year in which the world's airlines carried more than 50 million people (ICAO statement, 29 December) January

January 26 - The first meeting of the Experimental Aircraft Association takes place at Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Curtis-Wright Field.

February

No. 194 Squadron is commissioned as the Royal Air Force's first helicopter squadron

March

April

April 1 - BEA and Air France introduce "tourist class" fares
April 3 - BOAC introduces a weekly service to Tokyo by de Havilland Comet jet airliner

May

June

June 18 - a USAF C-124 Globemaster crashes near Tokyo, killing 129 people in the worst air crash to date. It is the first crash in which over 100 people were killed.

June 30 - A SNCASO S.O. 4000 (prototype of the Sud Vautour fighter-bomber) becomes the first European aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in a shallow dive.

July

July 1 - air traffic control for West Germany is handed back to German authorities
July 3 - first tethered flight by the Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig VTOL aircraft
July 8 - Sabena begins the first international helicopter service, linking Belgium, the Netherlands and France
July 27 - end of the Korean War

September

September 1 - a B-47 Stratojet is refueled by a KB-47 in the first jet-to-jet aerial refueling
September 21 - North Korean pilot No Kum-Sok defects, bringing his MiG-15 with him to Seoul and collecting a $US 100,000 reward.

October

October 10 - an RAF English Electric Canberra wins the Christchurch Centenary air race, flying 11,792 miles (18,976 km) from England to New Zealand in 23 hours 50 minutes
October 20 - a TWA Lockheed Constellation makes the first non-stop, scheduled passenger flight across the United States

November

November 20 - Scott Crossfield flies the Douglas Skyrocket past Mach 2, the first flight to reach this speed. The world airspeed record is now set at 1,291 mph (2,078 km/h)