This Day in FAA History: September 9th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19500909: Amendments to the Civil Aeronautics Act allowed the Secretary of Commerce and CAB, as directed by the President, to develop and implement a plan for security control of air traffic when U.S. security was endangered, while permitting the maximum flow of air traffic. The Secretary was authorized to establish security zones in the airspace and, in consultation with CAB and the Departments of Defense and State, prohibit or restrict flights which could not be effectively identified, located and controlled with available facilities. (See December 20, 1950.)
19600909: FAA permitted aviation medical examiners (AMEs) to deny, as well as issue, medical certificates to applicants that they examined. Previously, applicants whose fitness was questioned by the AME were automatically referred to the FAA Civil Air Surgeon in Washington. Under the new procedure, such referral ceased to be automatic, but the AME-denied airman could still appeal to the Civil Air Surgeon. Denial by the Civil Air Surgeon also remained appealable, to the Civil Aeronautics Board, as provided by the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. On December 14, FAA named nine members to a Medical Advisory Panel to assist the Administrator with the cases of applicants for airman certification who petitioned for exemption from medical standards.
On October 25, meanwhile, FAA had also announced the establishment of a Medical Advisory Council of 11 prominent doctors. The Council was appointed by the Civil Air Surgeon and assisted in developing and coordinating the aviation medicine program.
19630909: FAA issued interim policy and guidance to cover an expansion of air traffic control services to the peacetime activities of the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). Limited thus far to the Central Region (see October 15, 1962), these FAA services would become available to CONAD in all regions after necessary preparations. The agency would provide air traffic control for a large part of intercept operations, but leave the control of critical phases to military air defense facilities. On October 7, 1963, Administrator Halaby hailed this development as “a milestone in air traffic control and in FAACONAD relations,” and stated that the new procedures would become effective on February 1, 1964.
19660909: The Interagency Bird Hazard Committee, formed to exchange and consolidate data useful in developing methods for reducing the danger of collisions between birds and airplanes, held its first meeting. Represented on the committee were FAA, NASA, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Department of Interior, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the three armed services.
19690909: A midair collision near Fairland, Ind., killed all 83 people aboard the aircraft involved, an Allegheny Airlines DC-9 and a Piper PA-28. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) listed the probable cause as deficiencies of the air traffic control system in a terminal area with mixed instrument flight rules (IFR) and visual flight rules (VFR) traffic. The cited deficiencies included the inadequacy of the see-and-avoid concept under the circumstances, lack of regulations to provide an adequate separation system for mixed VFR/IFR traffic in terminal areas, and the technical limitations of radar in detecting all aircraft. In response to NTSB recommendations, FAA agreed to expedite research into enhancing radar detection through a passive device to be carried by smaller aircraft. Meanwhile, the agency moved toward greatly improved radar detection by requirements for radar beacons (transponders) aboard aircraft in designated terminal areas (see June 25, 1970).
19700909: Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked four airliners over Europe, blew them up, and held many passengers hostage. The hijackers originally planned to seize two Israeli, one Swiss, and one U.S. aircraft, and take the planes to a level stretch of Jordanian desert dubbed “Revolution Airstrip.” The plan failed insofar as the Israeli aircraft were concerned. Front members were refused admittance to one of them, whereupon they hijacked a U.S. flight. When they learned that the wide-body jet was too large to land at Revolution Airstrip, they ordered it to Cairo, where they blew it up after deplaning its occupants. Front members succeeded in boarding the other Israeli airliner, but their hijacking attempt was foiled in flight. One hijacker was killed and another arrested by British authorities when the plane landed in London.
The part of the original plan involving U.S. and Swiss airliners succeeded, and on September 6 these aircraft landed at Revolution Airstrip with all passengers. To gain bargaining power for the release of their member arrested in London, the Front hijacked a British airliner and forced it to land at Revolution Airstrip on September 9. The Front blew up the three empty airliners on September 12. All hostages except six were freed on September 27. Those six were freed two days later, in return for the release of the hijacker under arrest in London and six other Front members held by the Swiss and West Germans.
19770909: FAA abolished the Executive Secretariat in the Office of the Administrator and transferred all of its functions, except administrative support and correspondence control and review, to other national headquarters elements.
19870909: DOT announced that within the current week it would begin random urinalysis testing to detect drug abuse among departmental employees in jobs directly affecting safety and security. (FAA already had a drug testing program for such employees, but it did not involve random tests: see August 16, 1985.) DOT’s initiative was the first such program to be implemented department-wide under President Reagan’s Executive Order of September 15, 1986, calling for a drug-free Federal workplace. (See November 21, 1988.)
19920909: FAA published a rule establishing a “primary aircraft” category for aircraft of simple design intended for pleasure and personal use. Primary aircraft must: be unpowered or powered by a single engine meeting certain specifications; have an unpressurized cabin; carry no more than four persons; and weigh no more than 2,700 pounds. (Ultralight vehicles were not included, however.) The new classification was intended to simplify certification procedures and provide owners with aircraft less costly to buy and maintain. The addition of this category raised the number of such of type certificates to 8: normal, utility, acrobatic, transport, special class, commuter, restricted, and primary.
19960909: President Clinton called on Congress to appropriate more than $1 billion for a variety of antiterrorism measures. Proposed programs related to aviation included: improved airport bomb-detection equipment, more FAA research; more FAA security personnel; expanded Customs Service air security resources; a computerized passenger “profile” screening system; immediate criminal background checks for airport workers with access to secure areas; deployment of explosive-detection dog teams at airports; and a test of a system for matching luggage and passengers on all domestic flights. These measures were based on recommendations of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security (see July 17, 1996), whose initial report was also dated September 9, 1996. Many of these initiatives were funded by legislation enacted on September 30, 1996 (see that date).
20020909: FAA announced plans to develop, and implement within the next year, a plan to establish an air navigation concept called Required Navigation Performance (RNP). Under RNP, the national airspace system would evolve from a ground-based design to one where aircraft could take full advantage of advanced technologies for precision guidance in the en route (high-altitude) and terminal (about a 40-mile radius of the airport) areas. Potential benefits would include allowing more precision approach and departure paths at airports and keeping aircraft clear of obstacles and terrain. Using RNP, flight paths could be developed that met operators’ preferred routes and environmental requirements. Parallel paths also could be developed to increase airspace capacity, both in en route and terminal operations. (See October 8, 2002.)
20050909: FAA reissued a final rule, with a June 6, 2006 compliance date, creating a second-in-command (SIC) type rating. A requirement put forward by the International Civil Aviation Organization mandated the SIC rating for pilots engaged in international operations. When first released on August 4, 2005, this rule had carried an effective date of September 6, 2005.
20080909: FAA awarded a $437 million contract to Raytheon to support air traffic controller training. The 10-year award replaced separate contracts to support initial training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City and to support ongoing training in air traffic facilities nationwide. The consolidation into a single contract gave Raytheon the ability to support the entire lifecycle of controller training. This, in turn, would allow FAA to provide more integrated training activities throughout a controller’s career. (See February 15, 2008.)
20090909: The RTCA NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force submitted its final report to FAA. The Task Force developed a short list of actionable operational capability recommendations in five problem areas (Surface, Runway Access, Metroplex, Cruise, Access to NAS) and two cross-cutting areas (Data Communication Applications and Integrated ATM). The Task Force also made four overarching recommendations that were considered essential to the implementation of any of the prior recommendations. (February 2, 2009; January 31, 2010).
20180909: FAA issued a notice to airmen updating guidance advising U.S. aircraft operators to exercise caution when flying within or adjacent to the Tehran Flight Information Region (FIR) because of military activities in the Middle East region. Among the threats to civil aviation, FAA listed Russian air-launched cruise missile attacks overflying Iran toward targets in Syria and naval missiles launched from the Caspian Sea. The agency also warned of the potential of Iranian surface-to-surface missile launches from western Iran, targeting Islamic State positions in the region, as well as Iranian GPS jammers. (See June 21, 2019.)
20200909: FAA issued a notice in the Federal Register announcing the Aircraft Pilots Workforce Development Grant Program. The program was designed to help expand the pilot workforce and help high school students receive training to become aerospace engineers or unmanned aircraft systems operators. The program also would help prepare teachers to train students for jobs in the aviation industry. In fiscal year 2020, Congress appropriated $5 million to create and deliver a training curriculum to address the projected shortages of aircraft pilots. Eligible groups could apply for grants from $25,000 to $500,000. (See September 8, 2020.)
20220909: The FAA and NASA signed a new memorandum of agreement outlining their roles investigating commercial space accidents. Under the agreement, the NTSB will be the lead agency for investigating mishaps that involve a fatality or serious injury as well as those that involve damage to property outside the launch site from debris that could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious injury. The FAA will lead all other commercial spaceflight investigations.