This is a list of aviation-related events from 1961.
Deadliest crash
Two crashes claim the joint title of 1961's deadliest plane crash. The first took place on 10 May, when Air France Flight 406, a Lockheed L-1649 Starliner was destroyed by a terrorist bomb over the Sahara desert in Algeria, killing all 78 people on board. The second, an accident, took place on 1 September when TWA Flight 529, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation, crashed shortly after taking off from Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., also killing all 78 people on board.
Events
During the year, Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela (LAV) introduces the Douglas DC-8 into service to replace its Lockheed Super Constellations.
January
January 1
East Germany establishes its national civil aviation authority, the Hauptverwaltung der Zivilen Luftfahrt (Central Administration for Civil Aviation). Two hijackers commandeer a Cubana de Aviación Bristol Britannia 318 after it departs Havana, Cuba, and force it to fly them to New York City. January 3 – Aero Flight 311, a Douglas DC-3C (registration OH-LCC) of the Finnish airline Aero, crashes near Kvevlax (Koivulahti) on approach to Vaasa Airport in Finland killing all 25 people on board. An investigation determines pilot error to be the cause of crash, finding that the captain and first officer were both exhausted for lack of sleep and were intoxicated at the time of the crash. It remains the deadliest air disaster to have occurred in Finland. January 12 – At the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, the crew of a United States Air Force Strategic Air Command B-58 Hustler led by Major E. J. Deutschendorf – the father of singer-songwriter John Denver – breaks six world records in a single flight, including five held by the Soviet Union. The B-58 sets a new world speed record for a flight carrying a 2,000-kilogram (4,409-pound) payload over a course, achieving an average speed of . The flight also breaks the world speed records for average speed over the same distance carrying a 1,000-kilogram (1,610-pound) payload and carrying no payload and smashes the previous records for the distance in all three payload categories, which had been held by Soviet Tupolev Tu-104s flying at about half the average speed the B-58 achieves. The flight also sets a new record for average speed over a 1,000-km (621 mph) course, averaging . January 14 – At the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, a U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command B-58 Hustler sets a new world speed record for a flight carrying a 2,000-kilogram (4,409-pound) payload over a course, averaging . The flight also breaks the world speed records for average speed over the same distance carrying a 1,000-kilogram (1,610-pound) payload and carrying no payload. On February 28, the crew will receive the Thompson Trophy for the flight. January 24 – A United States Air Force B-52G Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 nuclear bombs breaks up in mid-air over Faro, North Carolina, and crashes, killing three of its eight-man crew. The bombs do not arm themselves and one bomb is recovered. Travelling at over , the second bomb lands in a swamp and buries itself to a depth of over ; flooding prevents its recovery.
February
February 1 – Trans-Canada Air Lines becomes the first sustained operator of the Vickers Vanguard. February 3 – Operation Looking Glass commences, giving the United States Air Force′s Strategic Air Command a permanent, airborne command post. February 15 – Sabena Flight 548, a Boeing 707, crashes at Brussels, Belgium. All 72 aboard (including the entire 18-member United States Figure Skating team), as well as one person on the ground, are killed. It is the first fatal accident involving the Boeing 707 and the deadliest accident in the history of Sabena.
March
March 7 – Flying a North American X-15, U.S. Air Force Major Robert M. White becomes the first pilot to exceed Mach 4. March 14 – A U.S. Air Force B-52F Stratofortress carrying two nuclear weapons crashes in Sutter County, California, west of Yuba City. The weapons do not arm and the eight-man crew ejects safely, although a firefighter responding to the crash is killed and several people are injured in a road accident. March 28 Air Afrique is formed. President John F. Kennedy cancels the North American B-70 Valkyrie bomber program. The production order for B-70s is cut to three (later reduced to two) XB-70A aircraft for experimental use in studying sustained flight at speeds of greater than Mach 3 and in the advanced study of aerodynamics, propulsion, and other subjects related to large supersonic transports.