19700319: FAA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking asking public comment on whether smoking should be allowed aboard passenger-carrying aircraft. This action resulted from two petitions filed with FAA in December 1969. One petition requested a ban on smoking on all flights, while the other requested that domestic air carriers effectively segregate smokers from other passengers. FAA believed the petitions warranted an in-depth study to determine to what extent tobacco smoke was harmful to nonsmokers. The agency’s existing rules prohibited smoking only during takeoff and landing. (See May 10, 1973.)
19850319: The appointment of Charles E. Weithoner as the first Associate Administrator for Human Resource Management became effective. Weithoner had served in the post on an acting basis since the
This Day in FAA History: March 19th
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