  this is a list of aviation-related events from 1972: == events == * early in the year, the united states introduces the walleye ii optically guided glide bomb into service, employing it in the vietnam war. it becomes known as the "fat albert."nichols, cdr john b., and barret tillman, on yankee station: the naval air war over vietnam, annapolis, maryland: united states naval institute, 1987, isbn 0-87021-559-0, p. 159. ===january=== * the last elements of the u.s. armys 101st airborne division (airmobile) are withdrawn from vietnam.chinnery, philip d., vietnam: the helicopter war, annapolis, maryland: naval institute press, 1991, isbn 1-55750-875-5, p. 157. * the aeritalia company, formed in november 1969, becomes fully operational.mondey, david, ed., the complete illustrated history of the worlds aircraft, secaucus, new jersey: chartwell books, inc., 1978, isbn 0-89009-771-2, p. 65. * january 5 &ndash; president richard m. nixon announces $us 5.5 billion in funding for the space shuttle program. * january 12 &ndash; billy gene hurst, jr., hijacks braniff flight 38, a boeing 727 with 102 other people on board, during a flight from houston to dallas. after arrival at love field in dallas, he releases the other 94 passengers but holds all seven crew members hostage, demanding to be flown to south america during a standoff with police. eventually, the entire crew escapes, and police storm the airliner and arrest him. * january 19 &ndash; flying a united states navy f-4j phantom ii fighter of fighter squadron 96 (vf-96) off of , lieutenants randy "duke" cunningham (pilot) and william "irish" driscoll (radar intercept officer) shoot down a north vietnamese mig fighter. it is the first air-to-air victory by an american aircraft over vietnam since march 1970. * january 20 &ndash; two months after the celebrated hijacking by d.b. cooper of northwest orient flight 305, hughes airwest flight 800 was the target of a copycat hijacker. after boarding at mccarran airport in las vegas, 23-year old richard char
Years_in_aviation