This Day in FAA History: November 19th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19631119: Responding to requests from U.S. and foreign carriers for priority deliveries of the U.S. supersonic transport (SST) when it became available, FAA established a delivery priorities system for the first 70 airliners to come off the production line. The agency stated it was acting as intermediary for the airlines pending final selection of a manufacturer to make the SST available at an early time to the broadest possible market, while maintaining a reasonable balance of distribution been U.S. and foreign carriers. (See August 15, 1963, and January 15, 1964.)
20011119: President George W. Bush signed into law the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (Public Law 107-71), which, among other things, called for the establishment of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the Department of Transportation, to be responsible for security at airports. The act also broadened AIP eligibility to include costs for additional security-related activity required by law or the Secretary of Transportation. The period of eligibility for such projects was for FY 2002 and could include only those additional costs incurred from September 11, 2001, to September 30, 2002. February 13, 2002, TSA took over responsibility for aviation security from FAA. (See October 18, 2001; December 6, 2001.)
20131119: In an editorial published in FAA’s Federal Air Surgeon’s Medical Bulletin, Federal Air Surgeon Fred Tilton said the agency would soon implement a new policy on obstructive sleep apnea. In particular, airmen and air traffic controllers with a body mass index of 40 or more would have to be evaluated by a physician board certified as a sleep specialist. Anyone diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea would then have to undergo treatment before being medically certificated. The policy resulted in growing criticism from the aviation community, and a bill introduced in the House of Representatives to prevent FAA from implementing new rules pertaining to pilots with sleep apnea without adhering to the normal rulemaking process. On December 20, the Wall Street Journal reported FAA had put the policy on hold, while it worked with aviation stakeholder groups to provide clear guidance on the agency’s plan and FAA planned to pursue a new approach to help physicians diagnose sleep disorders. (See January 23, 2015.)
20201119: The FBI arrested a Hollywood, California, man on charges that he crashed a drone into a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) helicopter in September. According to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the collision took place during the early morning of September 18 as the helicopter crew responded to a report of a burglary at a pharmacy in Hollywood, which is part of Los Angeles. The impact caused the pilot to make an emergency landing at the LAPD’s rooftop Hooper Heliport. The helicopter sustained damage to its nose, antenna and bottom cowlings. After colliding with the helicopter, the drone fell to the ground and damaged a car parked near the pharmacy, according to the press release. Its operator, a 22-year-old man living across the street from the pharmacy, faced a misdemeanor charge of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft, which carried a maximum sentence of one year in federal prison. The case against the man “is believed to be the first criminal case in the nation alleging the unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.