Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19660425: FAA established the National Airspace System Program Office, replacing the NAS Special Projects Office as a staff element under the Associate Administrator for Development. Headed by the Deputy Associate Administrator for Development, NASPO had responsibility for design, engineering, procurement, and installation–in addition to central programming, planning, and scheduling — of designated program elements of the air traffic control subsystem of the National Airspace System. (See May 18, 1970 and February 10, 1972.)
19690425: More than 800 aviation community representatives attended the first National Aviation System Planning Review Conference, held in Washington, D.C. The conference featured seminars covering subjects discussed in FAA’s first 10-year National Aviation System Plan (1970-79). In preparing the following year’s version of the Plan, FAA reviewed the views expressed at the seminars, together with documented proposals submitted by the aviation community. The conference was held on an annual basis as a forum for government/industry discussion of FAA’s long-range plans and policies.
20010425: FAA dedicated the first version of its Weather Systems Processor (WSP) at a ceremony held at Albuquerque International Sunport, a facility that had been closely tied to development of the system. The WSP was designed to provide information to controllers and pilots about potentially hazardous microburst and wind shear weather events. The system improved the management of air traffic in air space near the airport by forecasting gust front-induced wind shifts, detecting precipitation, and tracking storms. The new processor was deployed at airports that did not qualify for the more sophisticated Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) or as interim measures at airports where TDWR was scheduled for deployment later. WSP went on line at four other sites at the same time as the Albuquerque dedication: Austin, Texas; Norfolk, Virginia; the FAA Academy (training); and the Technical Center (testing and support). (See September 24, 1998.)
20130425: FAA published a rule lifting the grounding the Boeing 787s operated by carriers based in the U.S. once those carriers installed modified lithium-ion batteries. The following day, Japanese authorities formally approved Boeing’s proposed fixes to the batteries and declared the aircraft fit for use. On April 27, a Boeing 787 flew from Ethiopia to Kenya, the first Dreamliner flight since the plane’s grounding in January 2013. United Airlines restarted its Dreamliner flights within the U.S. on May 20. (See April 19, 2013; June 23, 2013; February 14, 2012.)
20140425: FAA issued a special federal aviation regulation (SAFR) prohibiting “certain flight operations” in a portion of the Simferopol Flight Information Region (FIR) by all U.S. airlines and commercial operators, and, with few exceptions, those with a U.S. airman certificate and operators of U.S.-registered civil aircraft. This prohibited area included sovereign Ukrainian airspace over the Crimean Peninsula and the associated Ukrainian territorial sea, as well as international airspace managed by Ukraine over the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The SFAR would remain in effect for one year. FAA said the rule was prompted by the Russian Federation’s issuance of a notice to airmen (NOTAM) on March 28 “purporting to establish unilaterally a new FIR, effective April 3, 2014, in a significant portion of the Simferopol (UKFV) FIR,” following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. (See July 17, 2014.)
20190425: Local and state officials officially opened the new Greensburg Municipal Airport in Greensburg, Kansas.