November 17

What happened on November 17 in aviation and space history.

• November 17, 1956

  First flight of the Dassault Mirage III

  First flight — The Dassault Mirage III flew for the first time on 1956-11-17.

• November 17, 2021

  First British loss: an F-35B falls into the Mediterranean from HMS Queen Elizabeth

  Accident — A Royal Air Force F-35B plunged into the Mediterranean just after taking off from HMS Queen Elizabeth. The pilot ejected and was recovered aboard the carrier. The cause was a plastic air-intake cover that had not been removed before flight and starved the engine; the wreckage was salvaged from the seabed weeks later to keep it out of foreign hands.