This Day in FAA History: December 12th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19411212: President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8974, transforming the Civilian Pilot Training Program into a wartime program. Henceforth, the CPTP would be “exclusively devoted to the procurement and training of men for ultimate service as military pilots, or for correlated non-military activities.” (See May 16, 1940, and December 7, 1942.)
19781212: The first production model of the Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS) II began service at Toledo, Ohio (see October 1, 1976). The device was developed for airports whose traffic volume did not warrant the much more costly ARTS III in use at major hubs. Designed around a minicomputer, the ARTS II lacked the full-scale system’s ability to predict where a target would be on the next radar scan, and to calculate its ground speed. Like the ARTS III, however, it provided controllers with alphanumeric tags that indicated the identity, heading, and altitude of transponder-equipped aircraft. In addition, the ARTS II allowed controllers to record and receive flight data from adjacent air route traffic control centers. Developed by the Burroughs Corp. under contracts concluded in 1974, ARTS II was eventually installed at over 80 airports. It replaced engineering models developed by other manufacturers that had been in service at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Knoxville, Tenn. (See July 24, 1985.)
19851212: A chartered DC-8 operated by the U.S. carrier Arrow Air crashed on takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland. All 256 persons aboard died, including 248 U.S. soldiers returning from the Mideast. Early theories on the tragedy’s cause included the possibility that it was part of a series of crashes involving engine failure (see August 22, 1985), and FAA conducted a special inspection of jet engine repair facilities following the accident. On December 8, 1988, the Canadian Aviation Safety Board released a divided verdict on the crash’s probable cause. The majority of five members cited icing on the wings, perhaps combined with the loss of thrust from one engine (see January 13, 1982, and November 15, 1987). A minority of four concluded that an in-flight explosion was most likely.
FAA increased surveillance of Arrow Air following the Gander crash, and an in-depth inspection of airlines operating under military charter was announced in January 1986. Subsequent actions included the February 8 temporary grounding all 10 of Arrow’s DC-8s pending replacement of unapproved spare parts. Nine years later, in March 1995, Arrow voluntarily ceased operations for nearly three months following an FAA inspection that revealed safety violations.
19971212: FAA issued an airworthiness directive expanding the inspection and replacement of the Teflon wire coating used in the stainless steel wire conduits on Boeing 747 fuel boost pumps and the pumps used in jettisoning fuel. The AD immediately superseded the December 23, 1996, AD requiring inspections and replacements for Boeing 747 airplanes that used aluminum conduits. (See November 26, 1997; December 19, 1997.)
20001212: FAA announced that a team of experts would conduct a one-year study of the safety processes used in certifying large transport airplanes, as well as FAA’s support of continued airplane safety. The commercial airplane certification process study would include all of the safety processes used to design, build, and certify airplanes, as well as those involved in maintaining safety throughout operational service. Beginning in January 2001, the team would assess current safety processes and practices, and identify areas for improvement. Led by FAA, the team consisted of technical experts from the agency, NTSB, NASA, Department of Defense, foreign civil aviation authorities, industry, and academia.
20031212: President George W. Bush signed the Vision 100 – Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (Public Law 108-176). The Act abolished the air traffic services subcommittee of the federal aviation management advisory council and created, separate from the council, an Air Traffic Services Committee (ATSC). The ATSC was given substantial governmental authority, including the power to approve the FAA’s strategic plan for the air traffic control system, to approve certain large procurements, to appoint and determine the pay of the FAA chief operating officer, to dictate major FAA reorganizations, and to control FAA cost accounting and financial management structure. The legislation also endorsed the concept of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and directed Department of Transportation to create a Joint Planning and Development Office to facilitate the process. The legislation also provided funding for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) from FY 2004 through FY 2007. The act also changed the basic requirements and guidelines under which FAA implemented AIP, including numerous provisions to assist smaller airports and to streamline the environmental review of airport projects. (See January 27, 2004.)
20171212: President Trump signed the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which among other things, restored FAA’s right to require small UAS to be registered and marked. (See May 19, 2017.)