This Day in FAA History: August 10th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19610810: For the first time the Federal government employed armed guards on civilian planes. (See May 1, 1961.) The first such guards were border patrolmen from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. In March 1962, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy swore in FAA’s first “peace officers,” as Special U.S. Deputy Marshals. Graduates of a special training course at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy, all of the men worked as safety inspectors for Flight Standards and only carried out their role as armed marshals on flights when specifically requested to do so by airline management or the FBI. (See February 21, 1968.)
19650810: San Francisco-Oakland Helicopter Airlines initiated the first scheduled air cushion vehicle (hovercraft) service in the United States between Oakland and San Francisco. The service began a year-long test authorized by the Civil Aeronautics Board to determine the feasibility of using air-cushion vehicles in ferrying passengers in metropolitan areas. (See November 1967.)
19710810: FAA abolished the Bureau of National Capital Airports as a bureau, renamed it National Capital Airports, and attached it to the Airports Service, which assumed responsibility for operating Washington National and Dulles International Airports. (See December 5, 1966 and June 11, 1974.)
19760810: FAA announced a contract for enhancement of its ARTS III automated terminal radar systems (see August 13, 1975). Of the 65 existing ARTS III systems, 29 would be upgraded to ARTS IIIA installations by the addition of certain capabilities. The ARTS IIIA would provide radar tracking of aircraft not equipped with transponders, and enable controllers to place alphanumeric data tags on the scope to allow automatic reporting of identity and altitude for these targets (whereas the basic ARTS III displayed data tags only for transponder-equipped aircraft). The ARTS IIIA would also possess improved computer efficiency, as well as capacity for additional radar displays and for continued operations with reduced capabilities in the event of component failure (see March 1978). In addition, the contractor agreed to upgrade all 65 existing ARTS installations to permit air traffic control operations to be continuously recorded on magnetic disks.
The contract also called for the installation of a special ARTS IIIA system at the new New York terminal radar control room (TRACON). Ground-breaking for the building to house the TRACON had taken place during July at Long Island’s Mitchel Field. The new facility would replace the Common Radar Room at Kennedy International, which controlled traffic approaching and departing New York’s three major airports and several smaller airports. (See January 10, 1981.)
Finally, the contract provided for installation of four en route automated radar tracking systems (EARTS) at air route traffic control centers in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, as well as at Nellis Air Force Base (see August 4, 1980).
19780810: A five-year, FAA-funded study of the health problems of air traffic controllers challenged the generally held view that unusually high incidences of ulcers, psychiatric problems, and other serious stress-related diseases were to be found among controllers. A team of researchers, led by Robert Rose from the University of Texas, did find higher-than-normal rates of hypertension, social drinking, and minor psychological problems among controllers. They concluded, however, that these did not lead to incapacitating conditions. The most common psychological problem they discovered was “impulse control difficulties”– i.e., dealing with sudden emotions like anger. The researchers found that a more serious mental problem, controller burnout, was mostly limited to those controllers who expected it to occur. Despite the abnormal rates of social drinking, controllers had lower rates of alcoholism than the national average. As for hypertension, researchers cautioned against the conclusion that it was directly related to the work of controlling air traffic, since other “risk factors” were also important. The findings of the Rose Report, or officially the Air Traffic Controller Health Change Study, confirmed similar ones in studies by the FAA’s Civil Aeromedical Institute. (See March 5, 1969.)
19930810: David R. Hinson became FAA’s thirteenth Administrator, succeeding Thomas C. Richards (see June 27, 1992). Hinson took the oath a second time in a public ceremony on August 24. The new Administrator’s nomination had been announced on May 13, made formal on June 30, and confirmed by the Senate on August 6.
A native of Oklahoma, Hinson held a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington. He served as a naval aviator and as a pilot for Northwest Airlines. In 1961, he became a flight instructor for United Airlines. Hinson later became a captain and director of flight training for West Coast Airlines, eventually becoming director of flight standards and engineering for West Coast’s successor, Air West. In 1973, he founded Hinson-Mennella, Inc., a partnership whose acquisitions included Flightcraft, Inc., the Beech aircraft distributor in the Pacific Northwest. He was one of four founders of Midway Airlines in 1978, and served as chairman and chief executive officer from 1985 until the airline ceased operations in 1991. When selected to head FAA, Hinson was executive vice president for marketing and business development with Douglas Aircraft, a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas. (See November 9, 1996.)
20180810: A suicidal employee of Horizon Air stole an Air Bombardier Q400 turboprop at Seattle’s SeaTac International airport and crashed it on Ketron Island.
20220810: American Airlines formally accepted a 787-8 from Boeing’s Charleston, South Carolina, production site, officially marking the resumption of deliveries of the aircraft following a 14-month suspension because of production-quality issues. The resumption of deliveries followed FAA’s July 29 approval of Boeing’s plan to correct the issues and inspect the 118 undelivered aircraft. The plan, which addressed inspection and repair procedures, provided airframe-specific compliance processes that Boeing would use to show each aircraft conformed to specifications.
20230810: Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists. The space plane glided back to a runway, landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness.