Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19290707: Transcontinental Air Transport inaugurated 48-hour coast-to-coast passenger transportation service, with air travel by day and rail travel by night. Charles A. Lindbergh flew the first plane over the route. (See May 16, 1928, and October 25, 1930.)
19380707: President Roosevelt named the five members of the Civil Aeronautics Authority (see June 29, 1938). The Chairman was to be Edward J. Noble, a Connecticut industrialist who had long had an interest in aviation and was one of the first private owners of an autogyro. The other members were Grant Mason, Harllee Branch, Oswald Ryan, and Robert H. Hinckley. (See April 12, 1939.)
On the same day, the President named Clinton M. Hester, of Montana, as the first Administrator of the Civil Aeronautics Authority. A veteran public servant, Hester was in his 20th year of Federal service in Washington. He had previously served in six different agencies and was, at the time of this appointment, assistant general counsel of the Department of the Treasury. He did not formally begin his new duties until August 22, 1938, the effective date of the Civil Aeronautics Act. (See July 11, 1940.)
19640707: President Johnson issued Executive Order 11161 directing FAA and the Department of Defense (DOD) to plan on the basis of the probability that in time of war FAA would become an adjunct of DOD. Under the guiding concept, FAA would remain organizationally intact and the Administrator would retain responsibility for his statutory functions, “subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense to the extent deemed by the Secretary to be necessary for the discharge of his responsibilities . . . .” The Secretary of Defense was explicitly authorized to direct the Administrator to place operational elements of FAA under the direct control of military commanders. The order also required the Secretary and the Administrator to assure that during any national emergency short of war the functions of FAA would be performed in a manner satisfying essential national defense requirements. As a step in executing the order, FAA and DOD agreed on a memorandum of understanding on April 13, 1966. The understanding covered the relationship between the two agencies in the event that FAA became an adjunct of DOD, and provided for planning for this eventuality and for lesser emergencies.
19670707: A Pan American World Airways Boeing 707 made the first fully automatic approach and landing by a four-engine jet aircraft with passengers on board. (See June 10, 1965.)
19830707: The Office of Personnel Management gave FAA final approval to proceed with its Airway Science Curriculum program on a five-year demonstration basis, effective after a 90-day congressional review period ending on October 10, 1983. FAA had first submitted a proposal for such a project in 1978. In early 1981, Administrator Helms began discussions with selected colleges to explore the possibility of their offering courses to help provide the agency with better-trained candidates for certain occupations. In 1982, he wrote to a list of colleges and universities asking them to consider such courses, and many of the schools expressed interest. The program established a curriculum, leading to a bachelor’s degree, that provided a broad foundation in mathematics, science, and management topics, as well as in aviation. Major areas of specialization included aviation management, computer science, aircraft operations and flight technology, and the installation and operation of aviation facilities. Institutions recognized as offering such a curriculum became eligible to apply for airway science grants.
20060707: Effective this date, Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta resigned his post. (See January 25, 2001; October 24, 2006.)
20130707: Asiana Flight 214 from Seoul, South Korea, crashed at San Francisco International Airport when the plane hit a seawall upon landing. The Boeing 777 had more than 300 people aboard and the accident caused 3 deaths and over 180 injuries.
20160707: Lockheed Martin announced a FAA contract award of $344 million to develop and deploy the terminal flight data manager (TFDM) system. The system would provide electronic flight strips as well as improved surface management tools that would allow streamlined operations in the air traffic control towers for busy airports. The TFDM contract period of performance had a five-year base with seven one-year options.
20200707: At an auction, RavnAir Group sold 15 of its Cessna planes for $10 million to Grant Aviation; four Cessnas to Fairbanks-based Wright Air Service, which also bought Ravn buildings and equipment in Fairbanks, the North Slope communities of Utqiagvik and Deadhorse, and the Yukon River village of Galena for a total of $12.8 million; 14 Cessna planes to Bethel-based Yute Commuter Service for $1.5 million as well as two of Ravn’s buildings, in Bethel and St. Mary’s; and 8 Beechcraft planes to Anchorage-based ACE Air Cargo for $5 million. A bankruptcy court approved the sales on July 8. On July 9, Ravn announced the sale of six Dash-8 planes and two of its Part 121 federal operating certificates to Float Shuttle, a California commuter flight service, for $8 million. Float Shuttle intended to take advantage of a $31.6 million payroll support loan the Trump administration offered to a Ravn successor. The $8 million sales price was far below the $19 million Ravn had originally asked for as a minimum bid at a failed auction for the certificates and nine Dash-8 planes. (See June 25, 2020; August 7, 2020.)
20220707: FAA announced it would award almost $1 billion in grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to 85 airports to improve terminals, promote competition, expand accessibility for disabled individuals, increase energy efficiency, and build air traffic control towers.
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This Day in FAA History: July 7th
