Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19281130: Fred E. Weick, an aerodynamicist at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, described in National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Technical Note No. 301 the testing of long-chord cowling that significantly reduced drag, the retarding force acting on an airplane moving in air. Unlike conventional cowlings of that period, which covered the crankcase and the lower portion of the cylinders, the NACA cowl totally enclosed the engine. In actual flight tests, a Curtiss AT-5A trainer equipped with NACA’s cowling increased its maximum speed from 118 to 137 mph–the equivalent of providing the aircraft with 83 additional horsepower without an added expenditure in fuel. The NACA cowl had a very positive effect on airline economics when its appeared on the modern transports of the early 1930s.
19291130: As a result of increased activities, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics Clarence Young reorganized the Aeronautics Branch. He abolished the position of Director of Aeronautics and divided the principal functions of the Branch among three executives who reported directly to the Assistant Secretary and, under his chairmanship, constituted the executive board of the Branch. These three officials were: the Director of Air Regulation, whose responsibilities included the Inspection Service and the Licensing Division, as well as the Engine Testing Section; the Chief Engineer of the Airways Division; and the Director Aeronautic Development, whose responsibilities included the Aeronautic Information Division and the Aeronautics Research Division. The Director of Aeronautic Development also gave direction to special research committees, the Airways Mapping Section, and the Airport Section, which on December 2, 1929, took over the duties of the Field Service Section established ten months earlier. (See February 4, 1929.)
19311130: The Aeronautics Branch established a branch office of its medical section at Kansas City, Mo., to keep medical examiners of the Middle Western states in close touch with Commerce Department policies on medical requirements and examinations.
19391130: CAA issued Private Pilot’s License No. 93258 to Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. Army (Infantry), at Fort Lewis, Wash. He had begun his flight training while on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines. Although he let his license expire, Eisenhower became the first Chief Executive to have held an airplane pilot’s license.
19461130: CAA activated air traffic control over the North Atlantic in conjunction with the establishment of the North Atlantic Region of ICAO. The agency’s New York oceanic air traffic control center assumed control of that portion of the North Atlantic Region assigned to the United States, assisted by oceanic ARTCC sectors established in Boston, Washington, and Jacksonville. During the previous fiscal year, CAA had already assumed responsibility for certain Atlantic and Pacific oceanic air traffic control services formerly provided at the request of the Army.
19481130: The Curtiss-Wright Corporation demonstrated its new reversible-pitch propellers, which permitted a DC-4 transport to make a controlled descent from 15,000 to 1,000 feet in 1 minute 22 seconds.
19621130: FAA Administrator Halaby invited the civil aviation heads of 93 friendly foreign countries to meet individually with him in Washington during 1963. The aim was to discuss developments in aeronautical matters and stimulate thinking on measures to advance world progress in civil aviation. By the end of 1963, 25 such officials had visited FAA or were planning visits.
19641130: FAA commissioned the first distance-measuring equipment (DME) combined with an instrument landing system (ILS) at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The ILS-DME combination provided the pilot of an appropriately equipped aircraft with continuous information on his distance from the runway.
19671130: The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) revised its definition of aircraft to exclude air cushion vehicles, or hovercraft. ICAO had previously defined aircraft as “any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reactions of the air,” but amended this by adding “other than reactions of the earth’s surface.” This change meant that hovercraft were not subject to international standards and regulations governing aircraft. (See October 16, 1964.)
19701130: FAA inaugurated a general aviation accident prevention program on a national level after its effectiveness had been demonstrated in a two-year test in FAA’s Central and Southwest Regions (see July 1, 1968). The expansion of the program during fiscal 1971 involved placing accident prevention specialists in 83 general aviation and flight standards district offices, supplemented by one national and seven regional accident coordinators. The program’s premise was that the number of general aviation accidents could be reduced by improving the attitude, behavior, proficiency, and knowledge of airmen, as well as by reducing environmental hazards.
19811130: FAA “decombined” the last domestic combined station/tower (CS/T). Located at Valdez, Alaska, the CS/T had been the final survivor of a program begun by the Civil Aeronautics Administration under which air traffic control towers were consolidated with airway communication stations, the forerunners of flight service stations (see August 8, 1950). The number of CS/T’s had been declining since 1958.
19821130: FAA commissioned its first Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) building at Denver. Although the agency planned to link groups of AFSS sites into “family” units linked by an automated central data processing system, the Denver facility and other early AFSS buildings were commissioned individually without the new equipment. The Denver site was FAA-owned and not part of the lease program begun on May 28, 1981 (see that date). The first AFSS building commissioned under the lease program took place at Bridgeport, Conn., on March 3, 1984. (See October 2, 1981, and February 12, 1986.)
19921130: FAA gave a “cure notice” to IBM concerning its development of the Initial Sector Suite System (ISSS), a part of the Advanced Automation System (AAS). The agency stated that unless the company provided a plan to remedy deficiencies within 10 calendar days, the government would withhold progress payments under the contract. Earlier in November, IBM had stated that, because of software difficulties and other problems, the ISSS would not be ready for FAA acceptance until September 1994, thus adding another 14 months to an already delayed timetable. Following the cure notice, IBM submitted to FAA an initial and later a final cure plan. FAA’s own steps to remedy the situation included changes in the project’s management structure and an April 1 ban on further changes in user requirements for the ISSS. (See October 1, 1991, and December 13, 1993.)
19931130: FAA Administrator Hinson announced that Joseph Del Balzo had been named Executive Director for Strategic Initiatives, bringing to four the number of Executive Directors (see November 26, 1991, and November 30, 1994). The position was discontinued after February 28, 1994, the date of Del Balzo’s retirement.
19941130: Administrator Hinson announced a reorganization aimed at structuring FAA along its key lines of business, making better use of resources, consolidating functions, and increasing management accountability. As documented in a directive issued on May 15, 1995, the reorganization eliminated a layer of management by abolishing the three remaining Executive Director positions (see November 30, 1993). The positions reporting to the Administrator and Deputy Administrator were now the following
* Chief Counsel.
* Assistant Administrator for Civil Rights.
* Assistant Administrator for Government and Industry Affairs.
* Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs, to which the public affairs functions in regions and centers now reported directly.
* Assistant Administrator for System Safety, a new position charged with analyzing safety data and making recommendations for improvement. The position of Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, which had reported to an Executive Director, was abolished.
* Assistant Administrator for Policy, Planning, and International Aviation, which was modified to include six Offices: Aviation Policy and Plans; Environment and Energy; International Aviation; Asia-Pacific; Europe, Africa, and Middle East; and Latin America-Caribbean.
* Associate Administrator for Administration, a new position assuming the responsibilities of the abolished Assistant Administrators for Budget and Accounting and for Human Resource Management. Elements reporting to the new Associate Administrator included the Regional Administrators, the Director of the Aeronautical Center, and three Offices: Business Information and Consultation; Human Resource Management; and Financial Services, a new office established to consolidate the budget and accounting functions.
* Associate Administrator for Airports, formerly an Assistant Administrator, responsible for two Offices: Airport Planning and Programming; and Airport Safety and Standards.
* Associate Administrator for Civil Aviation Security, formerly an Assistant Administrator, responsible for three Offices: Civil Aviation Security Intelligence; Civil Aviation Security Operations; Civil Aviation Security Policy and Planning.
* Associate Administrator for Regulation and Certification, which continued to control the Office of Rulemaking, Aircraft Certification Service, and Flight Standards Service, with the added responsibility for the Offices of Accident Investigation and Aviation Medicine. The Associate Administrator for Aviation Standards was abolished.
* Associate Administrator for Air Traffic Services, a new position responsible for the Air Traffic Service, the Airway Facilities Service, the Office of Independent Operational Test and Evaluation, and the Office of System Capacity and Requirements.
* Associate Administrator for Research and Acquisitions, a new position responsible for the FAA Technical Center and six Offices: Acquisitions; Air Traffic Systems Development; Aviation Research; Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance Systems; Information Technology; and System Architecture and Program Evaluation. The Associate Administrators for NAS Development and for System Engineering and Development were abolished.
20021130: A high-profile government report called for FAA to offer incentives to airlines to introduce the onboard technology necessary to support a modernized air traffic management (ATM) system, and recommended changes to the modernization process itself. The final report of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry said airline reluctance to equip their fleets with new technology could hinder ATM modernization. It said mandatory rules and operational benefits were insufficient to motivate the aggressive operator investments needed for system-wide improvements. Onboard technology should be regarded as part of national aviation infrastructure, and therefore federally funded, the report said.
20071130: FAA completed tests of a new systems designed to improved the detection of microburst winds in dry climates at the Las Vegas airport. During the tests, the light detection and ranging, or LIDAR, detected more than half of all possible types of windshear. LIDAR uses pulses of infrared light in a narrow scanning beam, which bounces off dust particles in the air. The frequency of the pulse changes according to the speed of the particles. Microbursts are commonly associated with thunderstorms, and more than 40 airports in the U.S. have TDWR systems that detect most microbursts during rain. However, these systems do not pick up microbursts that occur when rain does not reach the ground, particularly in high, dry climates or between mountains. Four major airports have these conditions – Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City.
20071130: FAA and Japanese aviation officials signed a data exchange agreement to coordinate air traffic operations between the two countries. The agreement was the result of meetings by the Informal Pacific Air Traffic Control Coordination Group (of which Japan and the United States are members) that recommended improvements to air traffic flow management through data sharing. Japan was the first country to participate in the program. (See April 27, 2009.)
20111130: FAA granted United Continental Holdings a single operating certificate allowing Continental and United to operate as one airline. (See October 1, 2010.)
20111130: DOT hosted a forum on flight diversions to examine what happened on October 29 when the poor weather caused a massive diversion of flights from the New York area airports to other airports, including Bradley Airport in Hartford, CT. Flights sat on the tarmac for hours at Bradley as the aviation system broke down under the sheer volume and speed of an October snowfall, strong winds, long-scheduled runway maintenance, and equipment outages at the New York area airports. The baggage system also broke down at Bradley because of the volume of air traffic diverted there. In addition, there was insufficient Customs and Border Protection staff to handle diverted flights coming from international destinations. The forum’s 100 participants met in three breakout groups – airport operations, airline operations, and the customer experience – to discuss how the events of October 29 could have been prevented. They addressed five FAA proposed recommendations on how to improve procedures at airports to reduce the impact caused by inclement weather. The groups unanimously agreed that increased collaboration and real-time information sharing via an airport information portal managed by FAA would help alleviate prolonged tarmac delays. Other recommendations included coordinating contingency plans among all airports in a given region; clearly identifying diverted flights on the monitoring systems used by air traffic controllers and airport operators to delineate between them and regularly scheduled air traffic at a given airport; and, including smaller airports on FAA’s routine strategic planning teleconferences where information was routinely exchanged on diverting flights.
20121130: FAA, working with the Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a new policy for addressing flight attendant workplace safety. While FAA’s aviation safety regulations took precedence, the agency proposed OSHA enforce certain occupational safety and health standards currently not covered by FAA oversight. Under the proposal, flight attendants would, for the first time, be able to report workplace injury and illness complaints to OSHA for response and investigation. On December 7, FAA published the proposed policy in the Federal Register and requested comments on that policy by January 7, 2013. (See August 22, 2013.)
20141130: Midway Airport became the first airport to install a new type of arrestor bed to stop aircraft in the event of a runway overrun. Made by Runway Safe, the bed was made of recycled glass, formed into lightweight glass rocks. Until Runway Safe developed its product, Engineered Arresting Systems was the only FAA-approved manufacturer of arresting-bed technology. (See October 1, 2010.)
20181130: FAA announced the U.S. and Argentina signed a new bilateral aviation safety agreement during the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. The agreement replaced an accord the two countries signed in 1989, and allowed the FAA and Argentina’s National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) to increase collaboration on airworthiness certification of civil aviation products and in the areas of design, production, flight operations, environmental certification and aircraft maintenance. Paired with a new Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness understanding, the agreement permitted ANAC to work on behalf of the U.S. in Argentina, reducing duplication of certification activities for design approvals issued to operators and manufacturers, FAA said. FAA expected the new bilateral agreement to take effect in 2020.
20231130: FAA proposed to increase the cockpit voice-recording requirement from two to twenty-five days for all newly manufactured aircraft. The change would align the FAA regulations with the International Civil Aviation Organization and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency rules.
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This Day in FAA History: November 30th
