This is a list of aviation-related events from 2008.
Deadliest crash
The deadliest crash of this year was Spanair Flight 5022, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 which crashed on takeoff in Madrid, Spain on 20 August, killing 154 of the 172 people on board.
Events
January
4 January – A Transaven Let L-410 Turbolet crashes near the Los Roques archipelago off Venezuela, killing all 14 on board. 12 January – A Macedonian Army Mil Mi-17 helicopter crashes in thick fog southeast of Skopje, killing all 11 military personnel on board. 13 January – Suspended under 600 brightly colored helium-filled party balloons, Brazilian priest Adelir Antonio de Carli lifts off from Ampere, Brazil, and reaches an altitude of before landing safely at San Antonio, Argentina, after a four-hour flight. 16 January – The Government of Serbia unsuccessfully attempts to privatize Jat Airways by offering 51% of its stock for sale. The offer later is cancelled due a lack of interested buyers. 17 January – British Airways Flight 38, a Boeing 777-236ER with 152 people on board, lands short of the runway at London Heathrow Airport. Forty-seven people – of which nine receive medical treatment – suffer minor injuries, but there are no fatalities. The aircraft becomes the first Boeing 777 to be written off. 19 January – A Gira Globo Aeronáutica Beechcraft B200 Super King Air on approach to Huambo Airport in Huambo, Angola, in rainy, foggy conditions crashes into a mountain near Bailundo, killing all 13 people on board. 23 January – A Polish Air Force EADS CASA C-295M crashes near Mirosławiec, killing 20 Polish Air Force officers aboard, including Brigadier General Andrzej Andrzejewski. 29 January – A missile strike by an American unmanned aerial vehicle in North Waziristan, Pakistan, kills 13 people. Al-Qaeda senior leader Abu Laith al-Libi is among the dead.
February
1 February – Mauricio Delfabro wins the 1st FAI South American Gliding Championships and 55th National Gliding Championships of Argentina in Adolfo Gonzales Chaves in the mixed Open, 18m, 15m, and Standard Class, and Carlos Adrover becomes South American Club Class Champion. 3 February – Silver State Helicopters ceases operations and enters bankruptcy. At the time of closing Silver State operated 194 helicopters from its 34 flight schools. 8 February – Eagle Airways Flight 2279, a BAe Jetstream 32 is hijacked ten minutes after taking off from Blenheim, New Zealand by a passenger who attacked both pilots. The hijacker is eventually restrained by the co-pilot and the flight lands safely at Christchurch. All nine people on board survive the incident. 14 February – Belavia Flight 1834, a Bombardier CRJ200, hits its left wing on the runway while taking off from Yerevan, Armenia. All 21 people on board escape the aircraft before it erupts into flames. 21 February – Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518, an ATR 42-300, crashes shortly after taking off from Mérida, Venezuela, killing all 46 people on board. 23 February – A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes shortly after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. Both pilots eject from the plane before it crashes. 27 February – A missile hits a house near Kaloosha in South Waziristan, Pakistan, killing 12 people, many of them Islamic militants, and injuring several others. A Pakistani security official claims an American unmanned aerial vehicle operating over Afghanistan fired the missile. 28 February – Boston-Maine Airways, operating as Pan Am Clipper Connection, ceases operations.