March 6 , 1990 – The final flight of the Lockheed SR- 71 Blackbird , marking its first retirement . During the Cold War , the United States was desperate to get timely , accurate intelligence on the Soviet Union . After years of flying the Lockheed U-2 , the Russians were catching up to the high-flying soarer , and the downing of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers in 1960 meant that the U-2 was vulnerable . A new aircraft was needed to continue the spying missions . But the search for a replacement had already begun in 1957 , as Lockheed and the Central Intelligence Agency began work on anaircraft that could fly higher and faster than the U-2 . Lockheed also experimented with technologies to reduce the aircraft ’ s radar signature , the precursor to what we know as Stealth technology today . The result of those studies led to the singleseat A-12 , which first flew in 1962 . The A-12 was followed by the SR-71 , which increased the fuel and sensors load and added a second crew member to handle the reconnaissance work . While the A-12 was lighter and faster , and could outperform the SR- 71 , the SR-71 was a more capable reconnaissance aircraft . Powered by 2 Pratt & Whitney J58-1 continuous bleed afterburning turbojets , the Blackbird was capable of Mach 3.3 at 80,000 feet .
It could not be shot down by the surface-to-air missiles of the day , and was faster than any Russian fighter at the time . As a result , no SR-71 was ever lost to enemy fire . In addition to its reconnaissance work , the Blackbird was also a record setter . It holds numerous world records over a recognized course ( such as a flight from New York to London ) and , in 1976 , the Blackbird set the records for altitude in horizontal flight and speed over a straight course by flying at 85,068.997 feet at an average of 2,193.167 mph . It also set the record for speed over a closed course ( departing and returning to the same location ), flying 1000 km at an average speed of 2,092.294 mph . Inevitably , government budget restraints forced the end of the Blackbird ’ s mission , even though it was continuing to provide excellent reconnaissance information . For the Blackbird ’ s final flight , pilot Lt . Col . Ed Yielding and reconnaissance systems officer Lt . Col . Joseph Vida flew from Palmdale , California to Washington Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia . Along the way , and true to form for the untouchable SR-71 , Yielding and Vida set a record time for the flight from Los Angeles to Washington , DC , making the trip in 1 hour , 4 minutes , 20 seconds , with an average speed of 2,124 mph . The SR-71A , serial number 61-17972 , was donated to the Smithsonian Institution and now resides in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum ’ s Steven F . Udvar-Hazy Center . On September 28 , 1994 , Congress voted to restart the Blackbird program , but its second life lasted only 5 brief years before it was retired for good in 1999 .
A plane crash claims the life of country music singer Patsy Cline . Following a benefit concert in Kansas City , Kansas , Cline was unable to leave following the show because the local airport was fogged in , and she passed on a an offer of a car ride to Nashville , opting to fly out the next day . On the day of the crash , she boarded a Piper PA- 24 Comanche ( N-7000P , not the aircraft illustrated ) for the flight to Nashville , and after stopping for fuel in Dyersburg , Tennessee , the pilot chose to continue