Author: ENDaviationinequity

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19860224: Financially troubled Eastern Air Lines tentatively accepted a buy-out offer by Texas Air. The board’s decision followed labor negotiations in which Eastern’s pilots agreed to make concessions but the union representing machinists and mechanics demanded replacement of chairman Frank Borman. Following the purchase agreement, Borman remained as Eastern’s head until his resignation in June. (See October 1, 1986.)
19920224: Andrew H. Card, Jr., took the oath as Secretary of Transportation (a public swearing-in ceremony was held on March 11). A former member of the Massachusetts legislature, the new Secretary had been deputy Chief of Staff under Bush and served the Reagan White House as deputy assistant to the President and director of the Intergovernmental Affairs Office.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19340223: The Lockheed Electra L-10 first flew. On August 10, the Bureau of Air Commerce type-certificated the aircraft, which featured twin fins and rudders. Scheduled airline service with the L-10 began on August 11, 1934.
19560223: The Civil Aeronautics Board, noting the increasing frequency of near-collisions in the air and wishing to gain more information about such incidents, adopted Special Civil Air Regulation No. SR-416, which granted immunity from disciplinary proceedings to pilots reporting near misses. The identity of the pilot or other person making the report would be held in confidence by the Board. In cases where information about a violation of Civil Air Regulations was obtained by other means, however, the fact that the violation was voluntarily reported would not preclude enforcement, disciplinary, or remedial proceedings on the basis of such other information.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19660222: Under a rule effective this date, FAA required newly certificated flight engineers to have an aircraft class rating for each class of aircraft (piston-engine, turboprop, or turbojet) in which they flew. Currently active flight engineers had until February 22, 1968, to exchange their existing certificate for one with a class rating.
19740222: At Baltimore-Washington International Airport, a former mental patient killed two persons and seriously wounded another in an attempt to hijack a DC-9 and crash it into the White House. The gunman committed suicide when wounded by a policeman.
19780222: Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams nominated the terminal building at Dulles International Airport for the National Register of Historic Places.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19290221: Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh was appointed Technical Adviser to the Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce.
19470221: The Air Line Pilots Association adopted a resolution providing that all four-engine aircraft be required to carry a flight engineer. (See February 15, 1946 and June 15, 1947.)
19610221: Effective this date, an amendment to Part 60, Civil Air Regulations, made it possible for FAA to raise the floor of control areas (airways) from the existing 700 feet to at least 1,200 feet above the surface, on a case-by-case basis. Such actions would provide an additional 500 feet or more of uncontrolled airspace.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19310220: The Senate ratified the Havana Convention in which 21 Western Hemisphere nations guaranteed the right of innocent passage of aircraft without discrimination. The Convention formulated the rules for international air navigation between the contracting states relating to the marking of aircraft, landing facilities, prohibited transport, competency of airmen, and the right of each country to prescribe the route to be flown over its territory. The Convention had been prepared at the Pan American Convention on Civil Aviation at Havana, Cuba, in February 1928.
19520220: President Truman established a temporary Airport Commission under the chairmanship of James H. Doolittle, with CAA Administrator C. F. Horne and J. C. Hunsaker of NACA as members. The action responded to a series of crashes, due to varied causes, in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19750219: FAA announced that it had ordered air taxi operators using business-type jets to equip these aircraft with Cockpit Voice Recorders and Flight Data Recorders by May 15, 1975. (See August 5, 1957, June 26, 1964, and March 25, 1987.)
19820219: The Boeing 757 first flew. On December 21, 1982, FAA certificated the first version of the Boeing 757, a narrow-body jet capable of carrying up to 219 passengers in short/medium range flights and designed to replace the Boeing 727, the single most popular jetliner model produced to date, but obsolescent in terms of noise, fuel efficiency, and flight crew productivity.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19660218: The National Committee for Clear Air Turbulence was established to determine operational needs for the detection and prediction of this hazard, known as CAT. Formed at the instigation of the Defense Department, the committee was composed of representatives from the National Science Foundation and seven Federal agencies, including FAA. In a December 1966 report, the committee called for a coordinated national effort to understand and remedy the CAT problem. The report’s recommendations included a national data collection project to gather information needed to achieve CAT detection and forecasting. On March 29, 1967, the CAT hazard was illustrated by the death of an unbelted passenger when a United Airlines jet reportedly plunged 8,000 feet after encountering turbulence. Subsequent FAA actions regarding CAT included participation in joint research on forecasting methods.
19700218: FAA’s first IBM 9020 computer and its associated software program became operational at the Los Angeles ARTCC

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19480217: The Executive Committee of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) accepted a special committee report on air traffic control (see June 12, 1947). Prepared by top government-industry representatives and technicians in the field of aeronautical telecommunications, the report outlined “interim” and “target” requirements for a common military-civil air traffic control system. In its recommendations for the transition period, the special committee recommended implementation of very high frequency omnidirectional ranges (VORs) and distance measuring equipment (DME). The plan called for the ultimate development of reliable all-weather navigation and landing aids, integrated into an ultramodern airways traffic control system. The report’s recommendations were accepted by Congress and all major users of the airspace. The RTCA received the 1949 Collier Trophy for these efforts. (See December 1949.)
19620217: The Director of the Bureau of the Budget proposed appointment of a joint Bureau of the Budget/Department of Defense/Federal Aviation Agency Steering Committee to study outstanding problems and recommend further action in the matter of the proposed mass transfer of military air navigation facilities to FAA

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19400216: Radio station WSY, the Civil Aeronautics Authority’s first overseas and foreign airways communications station (OFACS) began regular operations. Capable of two-way radio communications with aircraft flying the Atlantic Ocean, the powerful facility could also communicate with various points in Europe, Bermuda, and Newfoundland. The station’s high-frequency transmitting equipment, located at Bayville, Long Island, initially included four 4-kilowatt transmitters and two 400-watt transmitters. The receiving equipment was spread over 600 acres at Barnegat Light, N.J. A CAA office at La Guardia Field operated both receivers and transmitters by remote control. During World War II, the station proved extremely valuable to U.S. ferrying operations over the North Atlantic. WSY set the pattern for the establishment during the war years of similar overseas communications stations at San Franciso, Seattle, Miami, New Orleans, Anchorage, Honolulu, San Juan, and Balboa, Canal Zone.
19900216: Representatives of FAA and the Soviet aviation ministry signed a memorandum promoting cooperation on air navigation

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19300215: The Aeronautics Branch announced that it had issued the first rating under the Airport Rating Regulations to the municipal airport at Pontiac, Mich. The airport received the highest possible rating, A-1-A. The designation system enabled pilots to know at a glance what facilities to expect at any of the rated airports, which the Branch inspected in response to voluntary applications by airport operators. The program was part of the Aeronautics Branch’s efforts to encourage airport development through promotional activites, disseminating technical and statistical information, and giving expert advice to municipalities.
19460215: The Lockheed L-049 Constellation went into U.S. domestic passenger service. Designed for a three-man crew, the Constellation had a separate panel and side-facing seat for a flight engineer.