Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19661104: The United States and the Soviet Union signed an agreement authorizing commercial airline service between New York and Moscow. (See April 1, 1960, and July 15, 1968.)
20131104: DOT fined US Airways $1.2 million for failing to provide adequate wheelchair assistance to passengers in Philadelphia, PA, and Charlotte, NC. The fine was one of the largest ever assessed by DOT in a disability case. Under DOT’s rules implementing the Air Carrier Access Act, airlines had to provide free, prompt wheelchair assistance upon request to passengers with disabilities. This included helping passengers to move between gates and make connections to other flights.
20131104: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced DOT, as part of its ongoing effort to ensure equal access to air transportation for all travelers, now required airline websites and automated airport kiosks to be accessible to passengers with disabilities. In addition, DOT allowed airlines to choose between stowing wheelchairs in a cabin compartment on new aircraft or strapping them to a row of seats, an option that would ensure two manual, folding wheelchairs could be transported at a time. The new rules were part of DOT’s continuing implementation of the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986. (See May 7, 2008.)
20151104: The Houston Airport System (HAS) and NASA entered into an agreement that allowed the new commercial spaceport developing at Ellington Airport to tap into the federal space agency’s assets and expertise, expanding the possibilities for the growing commercial spaceflight industry. Under the agreement, HAS and NASA would collaborate and NASA would provide access to a number of the unique capabilities at the Johnson Space Center (including safety-specific training, facilities, and technology capabilities) to support suborbital operations and commercial spaceflight endeavors.
20201104: FAA issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) to advise owners and operators of transport category airplanes of important airworthiness information and guidelines with respect to disinfecting airplane interiors. The information and guidelines might also apply to other categories of aircraft. FAA warned, although disinfection is not directly related to aircraft airworthiness, too frequent or improper application could result in negative impacts, which could include the following conditions
* Corrosion
* Embrittlement
* Increased flammability
* Electrical short circuit
Depending on the system or part affected, any of these conditions could create either an immediate or latent airworthiness issue, according to FAA.
20211104: FAA and the Federal Communications Commission issued a joint statement saying AT&T and Verizon would delay the launch of 5G on key frequencies amid concern that it might interfere with airplane safety systems. The companies planned to delay their rollouts until January 5, 2022. The announcement came after FAA issued a bulletin to aircraft manufacturers and pilots on November 2, warning them action might be needed to address potential interference from the 5G expansion. (See November 2, 2021; December 7, 2021.)
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This Day in FAA History: November 4th
