Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 26th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19610626: FAA announced that as a result of a recent decision by the U.S. Civil Service Commission, many air traffic controller positions in approach control towers and air route traffic control centers would be raised one grade to reflect increased job requirements and complexity. Primarily affected were the positions of certain controllers performing coordination and radar control duties as well as facility chiefs and other supervisors. (See December 15, 1968.)
19640626: FAA issued a rule requiring Cockpit Voice Recorders to be installed in certain aircraft used by air carriers or commercial operators.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 25th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19270625: Construction of the Propeller Research Tunnel was completed at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The largest research facility of its kind up to that time, the wind tunnel could accommodate the entire fuselage of a full-sized airplane, making it possible to conduct aerodynamic tests on full-scale fuselages, propellers, and other airplane parts. The facility, which was to make great contributions to aeronautical development (see November 1928), was part of a series of wind tunnels. NACA had begun operating its first wind tunnel on June 11, 1920.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 24th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19470624: A reported sighting of “flying saucers” near Mt. Ranier, Wash., began widespread interest in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) among the American public. In 1948, the Air Force began gathering data on UFO reports under its Project Blue Book. In 1969, a study sponsored by the Air Force rejected the theory that UFOs were extraterrestial visitors, and Blue Book was discontinued on December 17 of that year.
19480624: The Soviet Union stopped rail and road traffic between Berlin and the West. The Western Powers began airlifting vital supplies to the beleaguered city.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 23rd

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19380623: President Roosevelt signed the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 into law. Most of its provisions, however, were to become effective 60 days later (see August 22, 1938). The law created a new kind of Federal agency–one designed, in the light of the Brownlow Report (see January 12, 1937) and court decisions (see June 27, 1935), to keep its functions as the agent of Congress distinct from its functions as the agent of the President. This new Civil Aeronautics Authority was composed of three elements.
19810623: Administrator Helms announced FAA’s decision to adopt the Threat Alert and Collision Avoidance System, soon renamed the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). The TCAS system was an evolutionary improvement of the Beacon Collision Avoidance System (BCAS) that the agency had been developing (see March 1976).

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 22nd

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19810622: Department of Transportation and PATCO representatives reached agreement on a tentative new contract after a marathon bargaining session, thus averting a threatened nationwide strike by PATCO-affiliated controllers that had been scheduled to begin at 7 a.m., Monday, June 22.
20070622: Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, and Minister Praful Patel from the Ministry of Civil Aviation in India signed a memorandum of agreement that established the U.S.-India Aviation Cooperation Program, a U.S. government and industry initiative to promote aviation relations and cooperation with Indian counterparts. (See April 6, 2004.)
20120622: A fire at FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center forced the evacuation of 1,600 people working at the complex.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 21st

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19680621: The U.S. Department of Labor ruled that FAA’s age-60 rule on airline pilot retirement represented a “bona fide occupational qualification” (BFOQ) under the provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. On April 20, 1977, however, a U.S. appeals court held in the case of Houghton v. McDonnell Douglas that age did not necessarily constitute a BFOQ for test pilots. (See March 15, 1960, and January 24, 1974.)
19780621: The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) agreed to obey a Federal-court injunction and end a “work to rule” slowdown by its members that had intermittently snarled air traffic during the spring, particularly during the period May 25-26 and June 6-7 (see May 25, 1978).

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 20th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19280620: Braniff Air Lines began operations. Organized by brothers Thomas and Paul Braniff, the airline carried passengers between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The brothers soon sold their airline, but later organized Braniff Airways, which began operations on November 13, 1930, in the same region. After expanding and acquiring Latin American routes, the company changed its name to Braniff International Airways on June 4, 1948.
19300620: Aeronautics Branch certificated its first glider, the Detroit Gull, Model G-1.
19350620: President Roosevelt ordered the creation of the Interdepartmental Committee on Civil International Aviation to gather information and make recommendations pertaining to civil international aviation.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 19th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19340619: An amendment to the Air Commerce Act of 1926 gave the Aeronautics Branch stronger authority to investigate civil aircraft accidents. The amendment empowered the Secretary of Commerce or his representative to subpoena witnesses to testify or produce documentary evidence at public hearings into the causes of such accidents. If the accident involved a fatality or serious injury, the Secretary was required to issue a statement of the probable cause. In other cases, issuance of such a statement was left to the Secretary’s discretion. The amendment also gave the Secretary additional safety-rulemaking powers. (See October 1, 1934.)
19350619: Gathering at the invitation of the Department of Commerce, a group of governmental and industry representatives formed the Radio Technical Committee for Aeronautics (RTCA).

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 18th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19280618: Wilmer Stultz piloted a pontoon-equipped Fokker from Newfoundland to Wales on the first nonstop transatlantic flight by a seaplane. He was accompanied by a mechanic and by Amelia Earhart, the first woman transatlantic air passenger.
19710618: FAA announced a joint program with the military services designed to minimize the number of military aircraft flying under visual flight rules (VFR). The purpose of the program was to enhance the efficiency of the common civil-military airspace system and reduce the midair-collision hazard by bringing military flights under the direct control of FAA’s air traffic control facilities.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 17th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19290617: Delta Air Service made its first passenger flight, with a six-passenger Travel Air, from Dallas, Tex., to Monroe, La. As it broadened its passenger operations, the company (which originated as an aerial crop dusting operation, the Huff Daland Dusters) changed its name to Delta Air Corporation and then, in 1945, to Delta Air Lines. On May 1, 1953, Chicago and Southern Airlines merged into Delta.
19470617: Pan American Airways inaugurated round-the-world scheduled passenger service, exclusive of the continental United States, as a Lockheed Constellation took off from New York and flew eastward on a route that led to San Francisco. The gap in the circle between San Francisco and New York could not be closed because of a provision in Pan Am’s certificate excluding domestic service. (See January 14, 1958.)
19520617: The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted a recommendation that, pending development of a more suitable form of speech, English should be used as a universal language in aeronautical radiotelephony and should be available for communications involving international air services.