British Civil Aviation in 1975

12 January
British Airways inaugurates a shuttle service between London Heathrow and Glasgow. This is the first no-booking guaranteed-seat shuttle service in Europe.

30 January
A announcement states that Royal Air Force (RAF) Search and Rescue helicopters were called out 1,015 times and rescued 319 people in 1974.

6 February
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park dies in Auckland, New Zealand. As commander of No.11 Group during the Battle of Britain he masterminded the defence of London and the South East and later commanded Malta’s air defences.

1 September
The fourth production Concorde makes two return flights to Gander in Newfoundland, becoming the first aircraft to make four Atlantic crossings in one day.

17 November
The wreckage of the Avro Avian 5 ‘Southern Cross Minor’ is discovered in the Algerian desert. The aircraft crashed while piloted by Captain William N. Lancaster, who flew the aircraft from Lympne airfield on 11 April 1933 in an attempt to set a new London to Cape Town record.

29 November
British former world champion racing driver Graham Hill and five passengers are killed when his twin-engined plane crashes in fog near Elstree airport.

Also this year…
Yvonne Pope becomes the first woman jet airline captain in the United Kingdom when she pilots a British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) 111 for Dan Air.