Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19351201: A consortium of airline companies organized and manned the first airway traffic control center at Newark, N.J. It provided information to airline pilots on the whereabouts of planes other than their own in the Newark vicinity during weather conditions requiring instrument flying. Two additional centers, similarly organized and staffed, opened several months later: Chicago in April 1936, Cleveland in June 1936. (See July 6, 1936, and November 12-14, 1935.)
19411201: President Roosevelt ordered the creation of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) as a division of the Office of Civilian Defense. In 1943 the President transferred the CAP to the War Department as an auxiliary of the Army Air Forces.
19411201: Beginning on this date, all U.S. pilots and aircraft using the nation’s airspace were required to be Federally certificated. (Up to this time, lack of pertinent legislation in certain states had allowed uncertificated U.S. pilots and aircraft to operate so long as they stayed within state borders and did not enter a Federal civil airway.) Alien pilots could operate a foreign aircraft in U.S. airspace if they possessed a valid certificate issued by the country in which the aircraft was registered, if there was a reciprocity arrangement between the United States and that country, and if CAB had issued a permit for such operation.
19421201: CAA commissioned the airport traffic control tower at Anchorage, Alaska.
19431201: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics researcher John Stack conceived the rocket aircraft research program to investigate the flight characteristics of aircraft flying faster than the speed of sound. A NACA proposal to service representatives the following spring led ultimately to the X-1 research airplane project.
19481201: CAA commissioned the San Juan air route traffic control center.
19551201: Major changes in the structure of the U.S. air defense identification zones (ADIZs) became effective, superseding substantial changes already established on January 15, 1953. Increased military capability made it possible to revise the structure in such a way as to exempt a substantial volume of flying from ADIZ requirements. Rules governing the security of air traffic were eased further on January 1, 1957. (See June 1952 and April 1, 1959.)
19571201: After receiving authority from the Civil Aeronautics Board, CAA designated all the airspace in the continental United States at or above 24,000 feet (exclusive of prohibited and restricted areas) as the “continental control area” and planned twelve “superskyways” that would provide direct, controlled high-altitude routes for transcontinental commercial flights. Positive control on these routes, however, was mandatory only during instrument conditions; during visual flight rule conditions it was provided at the option of the pilot. This meant that CAA could guarantee separation only between aircraft that filed an IFR flight plan. But these aircraft would have no protection from military and private airplanes that could still choose to fly the same airspace under visual flight rules, so long as weather permitted such flight. In any event, genuine positive control could not be implemented without CAB first permitting it by amending Part 60 of the Civil Air Regulations. (See May 28, 1958.)
19611201: FAA began an operational evaluation of aircraft powerplant reliability in a program jointly developed with the airline industry. The new program was designed to substitute continuous records of operational reliability for the older system of establishing minimum overhaul times as a measure of safety for aircraft powerplants.
19631201: FAA’s air route traffic control center at Great Falls, Mont., began joint use with the Air Force of facilities originally installed to serve the latter’s SAGE direction center at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Great Falls. Under this arrangement the same facilities served the dual purpose of air traffic control and air defense. This marked the first use of SAGE data for air traffic control by an FAA facility. (See September 11, 1961.)
19641201: United States International Aviation Month began under a Presidential proclamation commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. (The proclamation, issued on July 28, 1964, came at the request of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization.) As part of the observance, the heads of aviation of 19 nations toured U.S. aviation facilities as guests of the FAA Administrator during December 14-16. (See November 1-December 1, 1944.)
19691201: Effective this date, FAA added a new Part 36 to the Federal Aviation Regulations that established allowable engine-noise levels as part of the criteria for transport aircraft type-certification. The new rule had been published on November 18, 1969, and was the first issued under Public Law 90-411 (see July 21, 1968). The rule applied to two classes of aircraft for which an application for a type certificate was made after January 1, 1967: all subsonic aircraft in the transport category, and all subsonic turbojets regardless of category. The allowable noise levels varied with aircraft size and type, ranging from 93 to 108 effective perceived noise decibels (EPNdB). The noise limits also varied according to the type of aircraft operation: between 102 and 108 EPNdB on approach, and between 93 and 108 EPNdB during takeoff. The agency further limited sideline noise–i.e., noise along the runway or taxiway during idling or taxiing–to a range between 102 and 108 EPNdB. (See October 26, 1973.)
19741201: A Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 crashed near Thiells, N.Y., killing all three persons aboard. Icing had blocked the aircraft’s pitot heads, causing erroneous air speed and Mach readings that contributed to a low-speed stall. On March 13, 1978, FAA published a rule requiring the installation within three years of a pitot heat indication system in all transport category aircraft having flight instrument pitot heating systems, and making such an indication system a type certification requirement for such aircraft.
19741201: Approaching Dulles International Airport under conditions of poor visibility, a Trans World Airlines Boeing 727 descended too soon and crashed into a mountain near Berryville, Va., killing all 92 persons aboard.
Unfamiliar with terrain to the immediate west of Dulles, the TWA captain interpreted a controller’s “cleared for approach” instruction to mean that he could descend to the final approach altitude of 1,800 feet immediately, although his chart indicated mountain peaks and a prescribed minimum altitude of 3,400 feet. The controller had assumed the pilot knew he was not to descend to 1,800 feet until he had cleared the mountains. Soon after the accident, FAA took steps to clarify pilot responsibilities for maintaining safe altitude by issuing a notice, followed by a regulatory amendment. This new rule explicitly required that in-bound pilots maintain their assigned altitude until they were given a new one or became established on a published route. FAA also issued additional guidance intended to ensure that controllers informed radar arrivals of any applicable altitude restrictions at the time that they issued an approach clearance. (See January 1, 1976.)
With FAA still under scrutiny for its handling of the DC-10 cargo door problem (see March 3, 1974), the TWA crash added to intense criticism of the agency (see December 27, 1974). The accident underscored the need for a cockpit device to alert pilots if they strayed too close to terrain, and FAA speeded work on a proposed rule to make a terrain warning system mandatory (see December 24, 1974). Other FAA actions in the wake of the TWA crash included the appointment of a Special Air Safety Advisory Group, composed of six retired airline captains, which submitted a variety of safety recommendations on July 30, 1975. Meanwhile, DOT established a task force on FAA’s safety mission (see January 28, 1975).
19771201: A new air route system between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland permitting more direct flight paths and greater fuel economy on the 2,500-mile trip became permanent, following a successful six-month test that began in May 1976. The new system provided six great circle routes between Hawaii and the U.S. west coast in place of the previous four essentially parallel routes. The increase in routes was made possible by the use of composite separation criteria that permitted lateral separation of as little as 50 miles instead of the previous 100, so long as the aircraft had at least 1,000 feet vertical separation. The procedure had been used successfully on North Atlantic routes for some time.
19781201: Effective this date, FAA promulgated a comprehensive revision of Federal Aviation Regulations Part 135, governing air taxi and commuter airline operations, the fastest growing segment of the air transportation business. Since the Civil Aeronautics Board had created the designation “commuter airlines” (see July 1, 1969), the number of passengers on these lines had increased at an average annual rate of over 10 percent; the growth rate in 1977 was 16.5 percent. The new competitive environment created by airline deregulation (see October 24, 1978) was expected to bring ever greater increases.
As the commuter airline and air taxi business had grown in the 1960s and 1970s, FAA had tried to tailor new regulations for it; however, serious doubts remained about the safety of the industry (see December 26, 1972). An important aim of the revised Part 135 was to bring the safety level of the commuter airlines more closely in line with that of the major airlines operating under Part 121. The new rules required pilots of virtually all multi-engine commuter airliners to hold an airline transport pilot’s rating. Depending on the size of their operations and aircraft, commuter airlines were required to have a director of operations, a chief pilot, and a director of maintenance, as well as more stringent programs of maintenance and pilot training and testing. Again depending on size, FAA also required commuter airliners to have such equipment as a ground proximity warning indicator, a third attitude gyro, and thunderstorm detection equipment. The safety upgrade, and the fact that requirements were tied to the size and complexity of operations, permitted FAA to raise the maximum size of aircraft included under Part 135. Commuter airlines and commercial operators could now use aircraft with a seating capacity of up to 30 passengers or a payload of up to 7500 lb.
19841201: FAA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration conducted a Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID) in which a Boeing 720 was remotely piloted to a prepared crash site at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The aircraft carried instrumented test dummies, high-speed cameras, and more than 350 sensors to transmit data to ground recorders. The project involved numerous experiments on the crash behavior of the aircraft’s structure and of internal features such as seats, seat belts and harnesses, storage compartments, and galleys. Among the other items tested were fire-blocking seat cushion layers, fire-resistant windows, cockpit voice recorders, and flight data recorders. Most importantly, the aircraft’s tanks carried anti-misting kerosene (AMK), an experimental fuel designed to prevent or minimize the fireball that may result when spillage from a ruptured tank forms a volatile mist and ignites. Devices known as degraders converted the AMK back to normal kerosene before it entered the engines.
Preparations at the impact site included eight steel wing cutters installed to ensure that fuel would spill from the tanks. Touching down 300 feet short of the cutters with its left wing low, the aircraft slid forward at an angle so that the first cutter slashed into the right inboard engine before ripping open the wing tank. In consequence, the spill began with non-AMK fuel from the engine, which ignited instantly and touched off the AMK fuel gushing from the tank. A spectacular fireball resulted. The use of AMK reduced the heat of the fire, and an estimated 20 percent of the passengers would probably have escaped had the aircraft contained real occupants. The AMK test was disappointing, however, and in Sept 1985 the FAA announced that it had dropped plans to require airline use of the special fuel. Despite this, other experiments conducted as part of the CID produced a wealth of useful information.
19931201: A Jetstream BA-3100 operating as a Northwest Airlink commuter flight crashed while approaching Hibbing, Mont., in instrument weather conditions. The National Transportation Safety Board cited crew errors and loss of altitude awareness as the probable cause of the accident, which killed all 18 persons aboard. The crash increased public and congressional awareness of the issue of commuter airline safety. (See December 13, 1994.)
20091201: FAA issued a final rule, effective February 1, 2010, that prohibited operations with polished frost on the wings and stabilizing and control surfaces of aircraft. Under the final rule, operators were required to remove any frost adhering to critical surfaces prior to takeoff. Additionally, the rule restructured language in parts 91, 125, and 135 to clarify that aircraft must have functioning deicing or anti-icing equipment to fly under IFR into known or forecast light or moderate icing conditions, or under VFR into known or forecast light or moderate icing conditions. (See November 23, 2009; June 29, 2010.)
20111201: FAA announced it had awarded $7.7 million in contracts to eight companies to help advance alternative, environmentally-friendly, sustainable sources for commercial jet fuel. (See November 7, 2011; December 2, 2014.) FAA funds were distributed by the Department of Transportation’s John A. Volpe Center. The eight companies selected for the contracts were to help FAA develop and approve alternative, sustainably-sourced “drop-in” jet fuels that could be used without changing aircraft engine systems or airport fueling infrastructure. As part of that work, the companies would develop these biofuels from sources such as alcohols, sugars, biomass, and organic materials known as pyrolysis oils. In addition, the contracts called for research into alternative jet fuel quality control, examination of how jet biofuels affect engine durability, and guidance to jet biofuel users about factors that affect sustainability. (See November, 7, 2011; February 13, 2013.) Awardees included
* $1.1 million for Honeywell UOP of Des Plaines, IL
* $3 million for LanzaTech, Inc. of Roselle, IL
* $1.5 million for Virent Energy Systems of Madison, WI
* $1.5 million for Velocys, Inc. of Plain City, OH
* $280,000 for Honeywell Aerospace of Phoenix, AZ
* $250,000 for Metron Aviation, Inc. of Dulles, VA
* $50,000 for Futurepast: Inc. of Arlington, VA
* $25,000 for Life Cycle Associates, LLC of Portola Valley, CA
20151201: FAA announced the Kingdom of Thailand did not comply with ICAO safety standards and had been assigned a Category 2 rating based on a reassessment of the country’s civil aviation authority. A Category 2 rating meant the country either lacked laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards – or its civil aviation authority (a body equivalent to FAA for aviation safety matters) was deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, or inspection procedures. With a Category 2 rating, Thailand’s carriers could continue existing service, but not establish new service, to the United States.
20201201: The Department of Transportation announced that all necessary regulatory measures had been taken for the safe, rapid transportation of the COVID-19 vaccine by land and air. Transportation agencies and Operation Warp Speed officials coordinated with the private sector companies that plan to carry the vaccines from manufacturing facilities to the distribution centers and inoculation points. The Department established the appropriate safety requirements for all potential hazards involved in shipping the vaccine, including standards for dry ice and lithium batteries. In October, the FAA COVID-19 Vaccine Air Transport Team was established as part of the Department’s effort to support the safe and expedited transportation and distribution of approved COVID-19 vaccines, including providing support to Operation Warp Speed. Key to this effort has been coordination with the Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to ensure the safe transportation of hazardous materials.
20201201: FAA extended through March 31, 2021, two regulatory exemptions (18509, 18512) it previously issued to scheduled and on-demand U.S. air carriers. The exemptions gave crewmembers relief from having to don protective breathing equipment or oxygen masks in training, checking, or evaluation. They originally were going to expire on November 30, 2020.
20201201: FAA announced it had issued its first airworthiness certificate for a Boeing 737 MAX built since March 2019. Boeing had about 450 737 MAX airplanes built since 2019 awaiting approval by the FAA before they could be delivered to airlines. (See November 20, 2020; December 9, 2020.)
20211201: A United Airlines flight from Chicago’s O’Hare airport to Washington, DC’s, Reagan National Airport, made the first commercial flight carrying passengers operating on 100% sustainable fuel in one of two engines. (See October 15, 2021; December 9, 2021.)
20231201: Miami-based Doroni Aerospace announced its all-electric flying car, the Doroni HI, received FAA airworthiness certification, the second flying car, or vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to be certified. Powered by ten independent propulsion systems, the all-electric flying car has a claimed top speed of 140 mph (100 mph cruising speed) and a 60-mile range. (See November 12, 2023.)
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This Day in FAA History: December 1st
