Setting the scene for 1973:

• MUAC: The Maastricht Automatic Data Processing and Display System ( MADAP - 1 ) became operational, using inovative features such as multi-radar tracking and tabular executive controller messages for the first time anywhere.
• The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community;
• Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines;
• A Royal Jordanian Boeing 707 flight from Jeddah crashes in Kano, Nigeria; 176 people are killed.
• Pan American and Trans World Airlines cancelled their options to buy 13 Concorde airliners.
• Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 (Boeing 727) is shot down by Israeli fighter aircraft over the Sinai Desert, killing 108 people out of 113 on board;
• Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, one of rock's landmark albums, is released;
• The last United States soldier leaves Vietnam;
• The first handheld cellular phone call made by Martin Cooper, who conceived the phone, in New York City;
• Pioneer 11 is launched on a mission to study the solar system;
• Federal Express officially begins operations, with the launch of 14 small aircraft from Memphis International Airport. On that night, Federal Express delivers 186 packages to 25 U.S. cities;
• The Sears Tower in Chicago is finished, becoming the world's tallest building;
• Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched;
• The Greek military junta abolishes the monarchy and proclaims a republic;
• A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes at the Paris air show; 15 are killed;
• At Plesetsk Cosmodrome, 9 persons are killed in the explosion of a Cosmos 3-M rocket;
• Varig Flight 820 disaster near Orly, France - 123 killed;
• Delta Air Lines Flight 173 DC9-31 aircraft lands short of Boston's Logan Airport runway in poor visibility, striking a sea wall. All 6 crew members and 83 passengers are killed;
• Black September members open fire at the Athens airport; 3 are killed, 55 injured;
• The Norrmalmstorg robbery occurs, famous for the origin of the term Stockholm syndrome;
• West Germany and East Germany are both dmitted to the United Nations;
• Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights on Yom Kippur;
• The Arab Oil Embargo against several countries which support Israel triggers the 1973 energy crisis;
• The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction work;
• 104 people killed in a Taiyo department store fire in Kumamoto, Kyushu, Japan;
   

	1973 - Issue 1 (September) Introduction Forword by the president of EGATS Report on IFATCA Conference 1973 The Operations Committee Social and Cultural Committee Public Relations Committee Use of Standard Phraseology Miscellaneous
	1973- Issue 2 (November) Report on the dispute in Germany Letters to the Editor From the Board