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The transatlantic flights of 1958 brought the successful application of jet technology to commercial aviation and became the visible symbol of vast changes in transportation. On the evening of October 26, 1958, 111 passengers and 12 crew members boarded a Boeing 707 in New York City. They arrived the next morning in Paris after an eight-hour flight, including a refueling stop. In comparison with piston-engine airliners of a few years earlier, the 707 had nearly twice the capacity and speed. It soon acquired the 3,500-mile range to bridge the Atlantic Ocean nonstop. Reporters and passengers marveled at its speed and noted its absence of noise and vibration as well as its size. It inspired confidence, because it was more like a large room than a vehicle.

For decades after her death, Amelia Earhart remained the most famous female American aviator. During her brief career in aviation, she set many aviation records, including being the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic. She actively promoted the growth of the air transportation industry and the role of women in aviation.

Summary: In August 2006 British police accused two dozen people of plotting to bomb trans-Atlantic aircraft by concocting liquid explosives while in flight. Eventually eight of those arrested were put on trial and seven were convicted, after two trials, of a variety of charges--but not of actually planning to carry out the alleged plot. One defendant was acquitted. The case aroused significant controversy, partly over criticism that police had moved in prematurely, before the plot had a chance to develop, either under political pressure from the Bush administration or because one of the alleged ringleaders had been arrested in Pakistan, raising the possibility that the other plotters might flee. The alleged plot was the original cause for barring airline passengers from carrying bottles of liquids aboard airliners.

Touching down at Dublin’s Baldonnel Airport, Corrigan approached Irish airport workers, asking where he had landed. With an understated admission of his confusion, Corrigan initiated an unlikely chain of events that culminated in his sudden, worldwide celebrity.

Between May 8 and May 27, 1919, three Curtiss flying boats set out to complete the first transatlantic flight in history. On May 8, the NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4 took off from Rockaway, Queens, New York, for Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the first leg of the transatlantic journey. The flight was under the command of John Towers, who was also the commanding officer and navigator of NC-3. NC-4 was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Albert C. Read, and NC-1 by Lieutenant Commander Patrick N. L. Bellinger, all of the U.S. Navy. En route, the NC-4 developed engine trouble off Cape Cod and was diverted to Chatham, Massachusetts. The NC-1 and NC-3 arrived at Halifax without incident and, on May 10, continued on to Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland. On May 14, NC-4 flew to Halifax and arrived at Trepassey Bay on the next day. On May 16, NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4 departed Trepassey Bay for Horta in the Azores. On May 17, NC-4 arrived at Horta. NC-1 landed at sea and sank three days later. Its crew was picked up by the Greek freighter Ionia. NC-3 was badly damaged after landing off Horta.

Charles A. Lindbergh, born in Michigan in 1902, was an adventurous child who did not like school. After barely graduating from high school, he made a failed attempt to study at the University of Wisconsin and ended up as a flying cadet in the U.S. Army. After completing the training and joining the Missouri National Guard instead of choosing active duty, Lindbergh was appointed chief pilot of a new airmail route linking the Midwest with New York City.

When the Wright brothers achieved the first engine-powered flight in 1903, their initial report was not accepted by their hometown newspaper because the editor thought it was a fraud. When leaked to other papers the next day, the story captured the public’s imagination. From that time forward, newspapers aggressively sought news about the latest achievements in aviation. The public expected their main source of news to carry stories about the conquest of the air. The more dangerous the challenge, the greater the public interest. Flying across the ocean, an emergency landing impossible, was seen as the ultimate challenge. When attempts were made to cross the Atlantic, people watched closely. This report on Lindbergh’s success, carried in the Augusta Chronicle, and other major papers, was widely read. It helped convey the excitement of the event experienced by the crowd in Paris, helping people around the world share in this jubilation and in Lindbergh’s success.