This Day in FAA History: August 25th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19410825: President Roosevelt signed the First Supplemental National Defense Appropriation Act carrying a budget item of $12,186,000 for CAA to construct, operate, and maintain airport traffic control towers. A procedure, worked out earlier in the year and incorporated into the Appropriation Bill, required the Secretaries of War and Navy to certify a list of airports as essential to national defense before CAA could assume control of the towers. According to a CAA-Army-Navy agreement, the CAA airport traffic controller had full charge of tower operations, except in event of military emergency. The initial appropriation provided funds for the control of 39 control towers, while additional congressional funding was required to cover any additional towers recommended by the Army and Navy for CAA control.
The following day, CAA released the list of 39 locations where CAA would assume jurisdiction over traffic activities. CAA anticipated that the transfer of operations would become effective January 1, 1942. (See November 1, 1941.)
19470825: CAA announced that survey flights would begin on September 8 for “Skyway One,” a pair of 40- mile-wide paths from Washington to Los Angeles that were to be dotted liberally with air markers to encourage cross-country contact flights by private pilots. Sponsored by a government and civic committee, the project was intended to serve as a model for other such skyways. During 1948, CAA designated a “Skyway No. 2” with terminals at Seattle, Wash., and Boston, Mass.
19600825: FAA commissioned the first ASR-4 airport surveillance radar at Newark. Scheduled for installation at 34 of the nation’s airports, the new radar system had a range of 60 miles, the capability of reaching an altitude of 25,000 feet, a 16-inch picture tube, and controller’s-option display of either fixed or moving objects. The Civil Aeronautics Administration, FAA’s predecessor agency, had commissioned the first ASRs during fiscal year 1951. (See June 1975.)
19650825: A Curtiss-Wright X-19, an experimental vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, one of two X-19 prototypes developed by Curtiss-Wright, crashed during its first extended test flight, at FAA’s National Aviation Facilities Experimental Center. It had first flown on June 26, 1964.
19750825: In Senate testimony, Lockheed’s chairman stated that his company paid “kickbacks” to officials of foreign governments to encourage purchase of L-1011 aircraft, an admission that was followed by a series of revelations about the questionable overseas sales practices of Lockheed, Boeing, and McDonnell Douglas.
19880825: FAA published a rule further upgrading fire safety standards for cabin interiors in transport aircraft by establishing refined fire test procedures and apparatus as well as a new requirement for smoke emmission testing. The agency expected that the new flammability standards would also lessen the problem of toxic gas release during fire. FAA prescribed a phased compliance schedule for new and existing aircraft. The rule was based on a continuing research program recommended by the SAFER committee. (See July 21, 1986.)
19880825: FAA announced changes to the Expanded East Coast Plan because of numerous complaints of increased noise by New Jersey residents. Changes to the EECP included rerouting Newark westbound departures from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. (See February 12, 1987, and March 11, 1991.)
19970825: FAA awarded Harris Corporation a contract to replace the current system by which flight service stations provide crucial information such as emergency assistance and weather briefings to pilots. Under the Operational and Supportability Implementation System (OASIS) program contract – valued at more than $110 million, including options – Harris would provide flight planning and weather information to general aviation pilots nationwide. FAA planned to modernize up to 61 flight service stations over the next ten years. (See July 1, 2002.)
20000825: FAA ordered an inspection of Boeing 767 aircraft to detect possible defects of the shear rivets on the elevator bellcrank assemblies attached to a hydraulic power control actuator at the rear of the plane. Failed shear rivets on two or more bellcrank assemblies could have produced abnormal elevator movements and affected control of the aircraft.
20050825: FAA announced that it would not mandate the use of child safety seats on airplanes. The agency explained that its analyses showed that, if forced to purchase an extra airline ticket, families might choose to drive to their destination, a statistically more dangerous way to travel. (See September 26, 2005.)
20060825: FAA and U.S. Air Force Space Command issued new, common federal launch safety standards designed to create consistent, integrated space launch rules for the nation. The rule strengthened public safety by harmonizing launch procedures that identified potential problems early and by implementing a formal system of safety checks and balances. The new FAA regulations governed commercial launch operations at federal and non-federal launch sites. (See December 29, 2005; December 15, 2006.)
20080825: The U.S. aviation system received a score of 91 out of 100 in a safety audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency that oversaw international civil aviation. The U.S. score, which was well above the global average of 56, reflected U.S. compliance with over 9,500 international safety standards. FAA led U.S. preparations for the audit, which also included the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The team of ICAO auditors conducted a comprehensive audit of all aspects of civil aviation in the United States, including aircraft operations and airworthiness, accident investigation, navigation services, airports, personnel licensing, and legislation and regulations. ICAO established the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program in 1995 at the urging of the United States. (See July 30, 2010.)
20170825: Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane, made landfall near Rockport, Texas. After striking land, the storm moved over the Copano Bay and made a second landfall in Texas just north of Holiday Beach as a Category 3 hurricane. It then weakened to a tropical storm and stalled just inland, dropping very heavy rainfall and causing widespread flash flooding. On August 29, Harvey made its third and final landfall just west of Cameron, Louisiana. During the storm, more than 800 Houston area flights were canceled, including 704 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and 123 at William P. Hobby Airport. Both airports eventually closed to traffic until storm damage had been assessed and repaired.
20170825: FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta and local and state officials dedicated a new, 8,600-foot runway at Taos Regional Airport, New Mexico. Federal grants totaling about $25 million paid for most of the project cost.
20200825: FAA awarded Leidos a prime contract to design and develop a system to provide real-time access to essential weather, aeronautical, and NAS information through a common, NAS-wide Enterprise-Information Display System (E-IDS). The new system replaced five legacy systems as part of FAA’s NextGen modernization program. The single award contract had an approximate value of $292 million. It included a four-year base period and 11 one-year options.