Dictionary entry overview: What does aviation mean? â¢ AVIATION (noun) The noun AVIATION has 4 senses: 1. the aggregation of a country's military aircraft 2. the operation of aircraft to provide transportation 3. the art of operating aircraft 4. travel via aircraft Familiarity information: AVIATION used as a noun is uncommon.
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there.
In the case of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the clamps were not only still on the ship, but they were in perfect condition, even though the hatch covers were gone. The obvious conclusion from this finding is that the clamps were not securing the hatch covers when the ship sank but were instead left unlocked.