1987 in aviation

Partial list of events that marked aviation in 1987:

(See also List of years in aviation)

• January
  • 1, Puerto Rico: United States Coast Guard HH-65A Dolphin and Sikorsky Sea Kings flown by the Navy help rescue people trapped inside the Dupont Plaza hotel after a fire there on the night of December 31, 1986.
  • 7, Chad: French military jets attack the Libyan air base in Ouadi Doum to avenge a raid by Libya against French military 3 days before.
  • 20, Northern Ireland: The first Short Turcano T.1 plane rolls out.
• February
  • 19, France: The French Air Force receives its first Dassault-Breguet Mirage 2000N plane.
  • 22, France; The Airbus A320 flies for the first time.
• March
• April
• May
  • 9, Poland: An Il-62 of LOT Polish Airlines bound for New York, crashes on take-off, killing 183 persons.
  • 29, Soviet Union: Mathias Rust, 19 years old, a West German pilot, shocks people at the red square here, by landing his Cessna 172 plane.
• June
  • 21, Paris: Air France pilot Partick Fourticq and friend Henri Pescarolo once again walk into the record books, completing an around the world flight aboard a Lockheed 18 model, in 88 hours and 19 minutes.
• July
• August
  • 16, Detroit: A DC-9 MD-80 of Northwest Airlines crashes on take-off for a flight to Phoenix. 154 are killed.
• September
• October
  • 31, London: British Airways accepts the airline's first women pilots.
• November
  • 26, Denver: A DC-9 of Continental Airlines crashes on take-off during a snowstorm. 26 lose their lives and 56 are gravely injured.