United States Airmail

First instrument landing on a scheduled airline

Airmail cover. First instrument landing in USA with scheduled airline. Washington Pittsburgh 1938. Front side.
Airmail cover. First instrument landing in USA with scheduled airline. Washington Pittsburgh 1938. Front side.

Tests of the ILS system started in 1929 in United States. The first landing of a scheduled U.S. passenger airliner using ILS was on January 26, 1938. A Pennsylvania Central Airlines Boeing 247D flew from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and landed in a snowstorm using only the Instrument Landing System.

Back of an airmail cover used on the first scheduled flight using an ILS for a landing in USA, 1938
Back of an airmail cover used on the first scheduled flight using an ILS for a landing in USA, 1938

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