This Day in FAA History: September 23rd

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19440923: Theodore P. Wright was sworn in as Administrator of Civil Aeronautics. Nominated on August 22, Wright succeeded Charles I. Stanton (see July 20, 1942), who submitted his resignation on August 18 and, on its acceptance, reverted to his former position of Deputy Administrator.
Wright was educated at Lombard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was commissioned in the Naval Reserve Flying Corps in 1918, and was superintendent of naval aircraft construction for the New York district during 1921, his last year of naval service. He then joined the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation (later renamed the Curtiss-Wright Corporation) as executive engineer. During his subsequent tenure as chief engineer, the firm produced a number of outstanding aircraft types. In World War II, Wright served with the Advisory Commission for the Council of National Defense as Assistant Chief of the Aircraft Branch of the Office of Production Management (later WPB), and as Director of the Aircraft Resources Control Office of the Aircraft Production Board. He published extensively on topics related to aircraft manufacturing. (See June 1, 1948.)
19490923: President Truman announced that within recent weeks the Soviet Union had succeeded in exploding a nuclear device.
19680923: Washington Airlines began the nation’s first regularly scheduled short takeoff and landing (STOL) service. The new air shuttle service, using 11-passenger, twin-engined Dornier Skyservants linked the Washington, D.C., area’s three major airports: Washington National, Dulles International, and Baltimore Friendship. (The service proved short-lived, however, since the airline ceased operations on September 26, 1969.)
Also on September 23, 1968, FAA issued design guidance for developing STOL airport facilities, recommending runways 1,500 feet long and 100 feet wide, taxiways 60 feet wide, and pavements strong enough to support 150,000-pound STOL transports. STOLports at close-in locations were expected to alleviate some of the air traffic congestion at large conventional airports. To further encourage their development, FAA on November 5, 1970, issued an advisory circular providing criteria and specific information for planning, designing, and constructing such facilities. (August 5, 1968, and April 29, 1971.)
19710923: The United States and 29 other nations signed the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation (known as the Sabotage or Montreal Convention) at a conference held under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (see September 11, 1970). This agreement was directed against offenders who commit acts of violence against persons aboard civil aircraft in flight, or who destroy or endanger such aircraft through means that include sabotage, interference with air navigation facilities, and communication of false information It placed an obligation on contracting states to extradite such offenders or submit their cases to prosecutorial authorities. The convention would go into force 30 days following deposit of instruments of ratification by 10 of the original signatory states. The U.S. deposited its instruments of ratification on November 1, 1972, and the treaty went into force on January 26, 1973.
19770923: At the end of the 16-month trial of the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic transport at Dulles International Airport (see February 4, 1976), Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams announced proposed permanent rules for civil supersonic transport (SST) operations in the United States. Most of these related to the new noise restrictions adopted in 1977. Secretary Adams proposed to exempt the 16 Concordes manufactured before January 1, 1980, from retrofit requirements for older jet transports (see December 23, 1976), while requiring future SST’s to meet all noise standards for newer subsonic aircraft (see March 3, 1977). In view of the exceptional loudness of the Concorde, however, the ban on Concorde operations between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. was retained, as was the absolute prohibition on supersonic flight over land. In addition, the Concorde was granted permission to land at Washington, New York, and 11 other American cities.
These proposed regulations became final on July 31, 1978, after several more public hearings on the subject. At that time, FAA justified its “grandfather clause” for the first 16 Concordes by noting that they constituted the entire production run of the aircraft. (Because of its high fuel costs and limited payload, the Concorde had been purchased only by the state airlines of France and Britain.) FAA felt that modifications that would bring these aircraft into compliance with subsonic noise standards were neither technologically practicable nor economically reasonable. On the other hand, some restrictions on the Concorde were justified by thorough analysis of FAA test results on the plane’s loudness, which showed that the perceived noise generated by a Concorde on its takeoff path was double that of a Boeing 707, four times that of a Boeing 747, and eight times that of a DC-10. FAA also reviewed a number of environmental concerns that had been expressed about SSTs, the most important of which was the fear that emission from SST engines might damage the ozone layer of the earth’s atmosphere (see May 5, 1976). Citing a number of recent research studies, including one submitted by the National Academy of Sciences, FAA concluded that the possibility of such damage from the Concordes was too small to be an immediate concern.
19770923: The Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) came into being as a new element of the Department of Transportation. RSPA received responsibility for many issues common to all transportation modes, and for a variety of special programs. Its responsibilities included: ensuring the safe movement of hazardous materials and the safe operation of pipelines; improving cargo security; facilitating cargo movement; and conducting research in support of a range of Departmental programs. Organizations placed under RSPA included: the Materials Transportation Bureau (see July 1, 1976); the Transportation Safety Institute (see February 23, 1971); and the Transportation Systems Center, which had conducted much of DOT’s multimodal research since its creation in 1970. (On September 18, 1990, the Transportation Systems Center was renamed the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center.) After 1984, RSPA assumed responsibility for collecting air carrier economic data (see December 31, 1984).
19970923: FAA sponsored a demonstration flight into Tijuana International Airport showing the benefits of the Wide Area Augmentation System. The agency called this the first big step toward establishing a seamless air navigation system across North America. (See August 14, 1997; October 1, 1997.)
19970923: FAA announced the selection of a team of universities to serve as the FAA Center of Excellence for Airworthiness Assurance. (See October 1992; January 28, 2004.)
20010923: As a result of national security concerns, FAA, in conjunction with other federal agencies, issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) banning Part 137 (agricultural/crop-duster flights) from operating. In addition, no aircraft capable of or equipped for agriculture operations could operate during the ban. (See September 14, 2001; September 27, 2001.)
20040923: FAA Administrator Marion Blakey hosted the first FAA international safety forum for government and industry leaders to improve communication and provide solutions to improving aviation safety worldwide. The program became the first in a series of annual meetings.
20110923: In a message to FAA employees, Administrator Babbitt announced Congress had approved FAA’s reprogramming request. The request, dated June 30, 2011, proposed to shift approximately $608 million in funding between budget accounts to execute a reorganization of the agency. With congressional approval, FAA moved the organization responsible for NextGen from the ATO to a new office reporting directly to the FAA deputy administrator. The ATO senior vice president for NextGen and operations planning became the assistant administrator for NextGen. The joint planning and development office also became a direct report to the deputy administrator. In addition, the agency created a senior vice president for program management within the ATO. Programs covering approximately 125 capital investment plan budget line items moved into the new organization. A new assistant administrator for finance and management, reporting to the administrator, took over the separate offices that managed acquisition and business services, financial services, and regions and center operations. All of FAA’s financial, information technology, non-ATO acquisition, property management, and related administrative functions now reported to this new organization. The assistant administrator had four deputies, once for each functional area. (See February 28, 2011; February 14, 2012; January 17, 2014.)
20160923: FAA dedicated the new air traffic control tower at Tucson International Airport. The new tower was 252 feet tall – about double the height of the old tower, which had served the airport for 58 years. It sat atop a 13,000 square-foot base building that housed computer equipment, administrative offices, and a backup power system designed to activate automatically in case of a commercial power outage. FAA expected a 1,600-panel solar farm adjacent to the base building to generate enough power to support all of the facility’s electrical needs for several hours a day on sunny days. The total project cost, including computer equipment, electronics, fire suppression systems, and heating and air conditioning, was approximately $40 million.