This Day in FAA History: November 7th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19851107: DOT announced final approval for United Airlines acquisition of Pan American’s Pacific Division. The transaction meant the end of Pan Am’s far-flung Pacific operations, except for service between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. (See November 14, 1990.)
19881107: FAA announced award of a contract for five operational models of a new Thermal Neutron Activation (TNA) explosives detection system. The TNA device measured the gamma rays produced by energy neutrons passed through luggage and cargo and triggered an alarm when components of explosives were detected. FAA had first become involved in TNA research in 1976 in the wake of the La Guardia bombing (see December 29, 1975). After testing a “breadboard” TNA device at several airports, the agency awarded competitive design contracts in September 1985 and began testing a prototype system at San Francisco airport in June 1987. (See December 29, 1988.)
20111107: United Airlines flew the first-ever commercial domestic flight using a blend of 40 percent biofuel mix created from algae by Solazyme, a San Francisco based company, and traditional jet fuel. (See September 13, 2011; December 1, 2011.)
20131107: FAA released its first annual roadmap outlining efforts needed to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the nation’s airspace. The plan outlined FAA’s approach to ensuring widespread UAS use was safe, from the perspective of accommodation, integration, and evolution. FAA planned to establish requirements that UAS operators would have to meet to increase access to airspace over the next five to 10 years. The roadmap discussed items such as new or revised regulations, policies, procedures, guidance material, training and understanding of systems, and operations to support routine UAS operations. (See October 15, 2013; December 30, 2013.)
20181107: Bombardier Business Aircraft announced its Global 7500 aircraft had received FAA type certification.