Emirates flight training facility opens
2003 - The Dh367 million joint-venture flight simulation facility, owned by Emirates Group and CAE, opened at Dubai Airport Free Zone. “The facility is the first part of Emirates’ ambitious plans to develop our operations in this field, which will be achieved when we open our new aviation college at the end of the year,” said Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and chairman of Emirates Group. The Emirates-CAE Flight Training facility is owned and operated by Emirates and CAE on a 10-year agreement. Currently, the facility has two simulators — an Airbus A320 family full-flight simulator and a Boeing B737-NJ/BBJ. With the existing six simulators at the Emirates Aviation College, the total number of simulators has risen to eight.
February 18
1685 - La Salle, French explorer, establishes first settlement on American soil in Texas.
1861 - King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia becomes the first king of Italy.
1913 - Raymond Poincaré becomes President of France.
1927 - US and Canada begin diplomatic relations.
1930 - American astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
1952 - Greece and Turkey become members of Nato.
1955 - Baghdad Pact signed, making Turkey and Iraq part of a defensive alliance.
1965 - African nation of Gambia becomes independent within British Commonwealth.
1977 - Space shuttle Enterprise goes on its maiden flight above the Mojave Desert.
1979 - President Zia-ur-Rahman National Party wins elections in Bangladesh.
1980 - Israel opens its first embassy in Cairo after Egypt signs a peace treaty.
1988 - Boris Yeltsin is ousted from ruling Communist Party Politburo in Moscow.
1991 - Terrorist bombs explode at two major London rail terminals, killing one passenger and injuring 43.
1996 - A bomb explodes on a double decker bus in the heart of London, killing at least three people.
1997 - A massive Peruvian mudslide buries two villages in the Andes, killing 300 people.
1998 - Kenneth Kaunda, the former president of Zambia, is charged with concealing information about a failed coup.
2001 - Nascar motor racing legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. is killed in a dramatic crash in the final turn of the last lap of the 43rd Daytona 500.
2002 - EU imposes sanctions on Zimbabwe’s rulers.
2004 - Runaway train carriages hauling fuel and chemicals explode, killing 295 people in Iran.
2006 - Pakistan and India resume a train service across the Thar desert, 40 years after it was suspended.
2014 - India’s Lower House of parliament passes the historic Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Bill to create the 29th Indian state of Telangana.
