When is Peruvian Air Force Day?
In June 2023, the Plenary session of the Congress of the Republic approved the modification of articles 3 and 4 of Law 16126 to declare the Day of the Air Force of Peru as a national holiday on July 23rd each year in commemoration of the heroic sacrifice of Captain FAP José Abelardo Quiñones Gonzáles.
History of Peruvian Air Force Day
Lieutenant José Quiñones Gonzales was a Peruvian pilot during the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War. On July 23rd 1941, his plane, a North American NA-50 fighter, was hit while performing a low-level attack on an Ecuadorian border post on the banks of the Zarumilla River.
According to Peruvian accounts, instead of parachuting to safety, Quiñones chose to make the supreme sacrifice by crashing his damaged aircraft onto the Ecuadorian position, rendering the battery out of action.
Quiñones was promoted posthumously to the rank of Air Force Captain and was declared a national hero by law on May 10th 1966.
