Authored by Mark Peters in Transportation
Published on 01-18-2009
It is hard to imagine today’s world without the use of commercial airlines. From business travel to pleasure travel, not to mention freight services of all sorts, commercial aviation has arguably changed the world more than any other invention or development. While many today make use of commercial aviation on a sometimes daily basis, there is still a great deal about the modern means of travel that is not known by most travelers. Here then is a look at five things you don’t know about commercial airlines.
1. The first proven case of in-air sabotage in the history of commercial aviation was the United Airlines Chesterton Crash that occurred in 1933. The crash involved a Boeing 247 and was caused by a nitroglycerin bomb that had been placed in the airplane’s baggage hold. All seven people aboard the plane, including three crewmembers and four passengers, died when the bomb exploded in mid-air over Chesterton, Indiana. This incident has never been solved and no suspects have ever been found. This is also known as the first case of a flight attendant being killed in the crash of a plane.
2. Though America is home to some of the largest airline corporations in the world, Delta Airlines is the only major carrier based in the United States that flies to the continent of Africa.
3. When they put the DC-8 into use, Air Canada became the first airline to add a jet freighter into their service.
4. The national airline of Australia is Qantas Airways Limited. Though it no longer is used in such a way by the airlines, when first used Qantas was an acronym for the original name of the airlines: Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services.
5. The world’s first operational airline was DELAG of Germany. It was founded in 1909 and did not use what would become the modern airplane, instead DELAG operated dirigibles manufactured by the Zeppelin Corporation.
Commercial aviation, and the commercial airlines that operate today, have made the world a much smaller place. It is now possible to fly halfway or more around the world in a relatively easy manner. This has meant incredible things for the business world in that running multiple branches in far flung locations is now easier because both the management involved as well as the services or inventory can be flown from location to location without too much difficulty. New inventions are unleashed upon the world on a seemingly daily basis, but it is hard to imagine a new industry or development that will change the world the way that commercial aviation has.
