This Day in FAA History: December 26th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19611226: Air traffic rules establishing the first national standards for conducting flight operations on and around all controlled airports throughout the country became effective. At airports providing Federal traffic control tower service, the new rules established airport traffic areas, approach and departure procedures, and pattern altitudes; required two-way radio communications; and set airspeed limits within the airport traffic area. The airport traffic area affected was defined as airspace within a five-mile horizontal radius from the airport’s center extending from the surface up to 2,000 feet.
19721226: A National Transportation Safety Board study group investigating the safety of air taxi and commuter aircraft operations released its findings and recommendations to the public. The study group was formed after a series of air taxis accidents in late October 1971 claimed 39 lives. The panel recommended more stringent safety requirements for the industry, including higher qualifications for air taxi and commuter pilots, more thorough training for maintenance personnel, and improved oversight by FAA. (See December 1, 1978.)
19731226: President Nixon used a commercial airliner instead of Air Force One to fly from Washington to Los Angeles for a post-Christmas holiday, a move designed to show his concern for fuel savings during the energy crisis. (See October 6, 1973.)
19751226: The Soviet Union inaugurated the world’s first regular supersonic airline service, with the departure of a Tupolev-144 from Moscow for Alma-Ata in the Kazakh Republic. The plane carried only mail and cargo over the 2,500-mile route. (See January 21, 1976).
19891226: DOT announced the creation of the Airport Capacity Funding Advisory Committee, formed at the behest of Congress to recommend new approaches to funding airport capacity projects. The Secretary of Transportation selected representatives from the airlines and airports to serve on the board, which reported to the Secretary through FAA. On April 19, 1990, the committee’s report made recommendations concerning the design of possible Passenger Facility Charges, should these be authorized by legislation (see November 5, 1990).
19911226: On the day following President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s resignation, the Soviet legislature voted the Soviet Union out of existence.
20191226: FAA released a 319-page unpublished proposed rule outlining requirements for drones to transmit identifying information to the ground. The proposal described “standard” and “limited” categories of remote identification, with a third category for non-equipped UAS. A drone operated as standard would be capable of connecting to the internet and transmitting data to a Remote ID USS, and of broadcasting its identity directly from the aircraft. A limited-category drone would be capable of transmitting remote identification message elements through an internet connection, while being restricted to operating no more than 400 feet from its control station. The rule would prohibit small drones from using automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast out transponders to send identity and position data. Persons operating drones not equipped for remote identification would have to fly the aircraft within visual line of sight in an “FAA-recognized identification area,” such as a flying site established by a community organization (See November 21, 2020). FAA published the proposal as a notice of proposed rulemaking the in the Federal Register on December 31. The cost of the rule to all parties would be $582 million over 10 years, the FAA estimated. (See December 18, 2017.)
20231226: Mexico launched its army-run airline when the first Mexicana Airlines flight took off from Mexico City bound for the Caribbean resort of Tulum. It was another sign of the outsized role that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has given to Mexico’s armed forces. The airline’s military-run holding company now also operates about a dozen airports, hotels, trains, the country’s customs service, and tourist parks.