Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19880405: FAA decommissioned the last radar bright display equipment being used at a domestic air route traffic control center when it shut down the unit at the Los Angeles Center. (See April 27, 1960.) On the same day, FAA terminated the last broadband radar service, when it stopped that service at the Paso Robles, Calif., long-range radar facility. FAA had gradually replaced the broadband with the Direct Access Radar Channel (see February 2, 1981).
19910405: An Embraer 120 commuter plane crashed on approach to Brunswick/Glynco Jetport, Ga. All 23 persons aboard the Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight died in the accident, including former Sen. John G. Tower (R-Tex.). Citing several incidents, FAA during May required inspections of certain Hamilton Standard propellers used on the Embraer 120 and other aircraft In April 1992, the National Transportation Safety Board cited the probable cause of the crash as malfunction of the left propeller control unit. As contributary factors, the Board listed deificencies in the design of the control unit and FAA’s approval of that design.
19970405: The new Washington National air traffic control tower began operating. Rising 201 feet, the state-of-the-art facility was 114 feet taller than the tower that had been in use since the airport’s opening in 1941. Department of Transportation Secretary Slater dedicated the new tower on May 12, 1997.
20000405: President Clinton signed into law the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, known more commonly as AIR-21. The bill contained new provisions to advance aviation safety and call for the appointment of a chief operating officer. The act also reauthorized the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) through FY 2003. AIR-21 instituted many changes to the AIP, including changed to funding levels, revised criteria for program eligibility, and expanded pilot programs. The authorized AIP funding level significantly increased in FY 2001 to a level of $3.2 billion, growing to $3.4 billion in FY 2003. This legislation also added two new PFC levels – $4 and $4.50, including new requirements. (See February 3, 1999; April 23, 2000; June 10, 2003.)
20100405: Based on industry comments, effective this date, FAA extended the compliance deadline mandating significant upgrades to aircraft cockpit voice and flight data recorders. As compared with the earlier rule adopted in March 2008, this final rule adopted the following flight recorder equipment compliance times
* For the ten-minute backup power source for cockpit voice recorders (CVR), the compliance date for newly manufactured aircraft operating under part 91 would be April 6, 2012.
* For increased digital flight data recorder (DFDR) sampling rates, the compliance date for newly manufactured aircraft operating under part 91 would be April 6, 2012.
* For increased DFDR sampling rates, the compliance date for newly manufactured aircraft operating under part 121, 125, or 135 was December 6, 2010.
* For recordation of datalink communications, the compliance date after which newly installed datalink systems must include recording capability for aircraft operating under part 91 would be April 6, 2012.
* For recordation of datalink communications, the compliance date after which newly installed datalink systems must include recording capability for aircraft operating under part 121, 125, or 135 was December 6, 2010. (See March 10, 2008.)
20100405: FAA began allowing, on a case-by-case basis, pilots who take one of four antidepressant medications — Fluoxetine (Prozac), Sertraline (Zoloft), Citalopram (Celexa), or Escitalopram (Lexapro) — to fly provided that they had been satisfactorily treated on the medication for at least 12 months.
20130405: FAA announced it would delay the closure of all 149 federal contract air traffic control towers until June 15. The previous month, FAA had announced it would eliminate funding for these towers as part of the agency’s required $637 million budget cuts under sequestration. This additional time would allow the agency to attempt to resolve multiple legal challenges to the closure decisions. As part of the tower closure implementation process, the agency continued to consult with airports and operators and reviewed appropriate risk mitigations. (See March 22, 2013; April 23, 2013.)
20200405: RavnAir announced that because of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented loss of 90% of passenger revenue at all three of its airlines (RavnAir Alaska, PenAir, and RavnAir Connect) it was
* Parking all seventy-two (72) of its aircraft;
* Stopping all operations; and
* Temporarily laying off all remaining staff until the company was in a position to cover the costs of rehiring, resuming flights, and operating to the many communities it served throughout Alaska.
Because of the company’s critical need for additional funding, Ravn also filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Ravn’s lenders agreed to provide financing during the pendency of the Chapter 11. The filing allowed the company to await word on its Federal CARES Act grant applications and other sources of financial assistance that would allow it to get through the Coronavirus crisis and successfully restart operations. The company also sought private investment. (See June 25, 2020.)
20220405: FAA dedicated the newly commissioned air traffic control tower at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The 370-foot-tall, 850-square-foot tower cab provides air traffic controllers with a clear view of the airfield. A 42,000-square-foot building houses an expanded terminal radar approach control (TRACON) that handles flights departing and arriving at the Charlotte airspace. The tower is the second tallest in the nation after the 398-foot-tall tower at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The existing tower was commissioned in 1979. (See June 6, 2016.)