This Day in FAA History: November 8th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19331108: Director of Aeronautics Vidal announced a plan to make low-priced aircraft available for widespread private ownership. Vidal followed his announcement with a survey that indicated strong consumer interest in a plane priced at about $700. On December 28, the Public Works Administration (PWA) announced that $500,000 had been set aside for the development of such an airplane. U.S. aircraft manufacturers denounced the plan as unrealistic, however, and the PWA funds never materialized. The “Poor Man’s Airplane” project collapsed, but the Department of Commerce continued to promote development of affordable aircraft. (See July 19, 1934.)
19611108: An Imperial Airlines L-049 Constellation crashed after stalling while attempting an unscheduled landing at Richmond, Va. The crash, which claimed 77 lives, was the latest in a series of accidents involving supplemental (“nonsked”) carriers. It triggered investigations by Congress, CAB, and FAA into the supplementals’ safety record, financial status, and business practices. (See July 9 and 10, 1962.)
19911108: FAA notified Congress of an Auxiliary Flight Service Station Plan adding 26 permanent and five seasonal auxiliary stations to supplement the 61 automated flight service stations already planned (see October 2, 1981). The Aviation Safety and Capacity Expansion Act (see November 5, 1990) had mandated the project. (See February 12, 1986, and February 15, 1995.)
19991108: President Clinton announced his intention to nominate Monte Belger to be FAA deputy administrator. He submitted Belger’s name to the Senate for confirmation on November 10. (See August 4, 2000; August 2, 2002.)
20041108: The Association for Strategic Planning, a California-based professional association dedicated to advancing strategic thought, development, and practice awarded the FAA Flight Plan 2004 2008 its 2004 Richard Goodman Strategic Planning Award for continuing excellence in stimulating innovation in the planning process. (See September 30, 2003.)
20071108: FAA issued a final rule amending regulations for the certification and operation of transport category airplanes to mitigate conditions that put airlines at risk for wire failures, smoke and fire. The new rule enhances the safety requirements for design, installation and maintenance of electrical wiring in new and existing airplane designs, including the following
* new maintenance, inspection, and design criteria for airplane wiring to address conditions that put transport airplanes at risk of wire failures, smoke and fire;
* requirements for those aerospace manufacturers holding type certificates, which indicate airworthiness, to analyze the zones of their airplanes for the presence of wire and for the likely accumulation of contaminant materials before 2010;
* requirements for those aerospace manufacturers holding type certificates to develop maintenance and inspection tasks to identify, correct, and prevent wiring conditions that introduce risks to continued safe flight, and that these tasks are included in new Instructions for Continued Airworthiness for wiring and compatible with Instructions for Continued Airworthiness for fuel tank systems while avoiding duplication or redundancy, by 2010; and
* requirements for operators of transport-category airplanes to incorporate maintenance and inspection tasks for wiring into their regular maintenance programs before 2012.
20121108: FAA, airlines, and aviation labor unions announced a partnership with NTSB to share summarized safety information that could help prevent accidents. The information, shared through an initiative called the aviation safety information analysis and sharing (ASIAS) executive board, would help NTSB determine if an accident was a unique event or an indication of systemic risks. The agreement outlined the procedures, guidelines, and roles and responsibilities for the executive board to address specific written NTSB requests for ASIAS information. ASIAS used aggregate, protected data from industry and government voluntary reporting programs, without identifying the source of the data, to find potential safety issues, identify safety enhancements, and measure the effectiveness of solutions.
20171108: FAA issued information in the Federal Register on the UAS integration pilot program and providing instructions on how to apply to participate in the program. Those interested had to submit to FAA a notice of intent by November 28. (See October 25, 2017.)