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19600325: FAA Administrator Elwood R. Quesada revealed details of a new program under which agency air carrier operations inspectors were being trained as specialists in the operation of specific types of high-performance turbine-powered aircraft. The specialist program called for increased ground and flight training and type rating of selected inspectors in the Convair 880, Fairchild F-27, Vickers Viscount, Douglas DC-8, Lockheed Electra, and the KC-135, the Air Force jet tanker version of the Boeing 707.
19620325: Late March: FAA Administrator N. E. Halaby added a Special Assistant for General Aviation to his personal staff. A recognition of general aviation’s great growth and continuing expansion, this appointment carried out one of the recommendations of the Project Horizon study (see September 10, 1961).
19670325: The management of the XB-70 supersonic aircraft research program was transferred from the U.S. Air Force to the National

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19360324: At a meeting before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee to ask for supplemental funds, Director of Air Commerce Eugene L. Vidal, convinced the committee of the necessity for the Federal Government to take over Air Traffic Control. Vidal succeeded in ultimately obtaining $175,000 for the takeover of three existing control centers early in fiscal 1937. (See July 6, 1936).
19600324: The Federal Aviation Agency established a new Bureau of Aviation Medicine to replace the former Office of the Civil Air Surgeon. The elevation to bureau status pointed to the growing

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19330323: Enactment of legislation by the State of Georgia meant that all of the 48 States had laws dealing with aeronautics (see August 1, 1928, and March 1946). Georgia’s new law included a requirement that all airmen and aircraft operating within the state have Federal licenses. This provision was included in most, but not all, of the other state aeronautical laws (see December 1, 1941).
19390323: The Civil Aeronautics Authority submitted to Congress its final report on a detailed nationwide survey of airports mandated by the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938. The report indicated that the number of municipal and commercial airports had increased from 823

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19270322: The first general amendments to the Air Commerce Regulations took effect (see December 31, 1926). Among the many mandated changes were the addition of a limited commercial pilot license classification to the existing categories of transport, industrial, and private. The new category permitted pilots to carry passengers within a ten mile radius of their base while building up flight time for a transport license.
The amendments altered the original system under which the identification numbers for licensed aircraft would be preceded by the letter “C” (commercial), “S” (state), or “P” (private). The “P” designation was now dropped and “X” (experimental) was added. The

19420321: Spring, 1942: CAA Experimental Station in Indianapolis flight tested a stall-warning indicator for general aviation aircraft. The agency believed that some minor modifications in construction were desirable before a marketable device would be available. (See February 25, 1947.)
19460321: The Army Air Forces, the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics, CAA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and the aircraft industry formulated a National Aeronautical Research Policy. Promulgated largely to clarify the relationships of NACA with other research and development agencies, the policy statement charged NACA with responsibility for “research in the aeronautical sciences,”

19280320: The Department of Commerce announced the award of contracts for equipment that included 12 new radio stations capable keeping pilots advised of changes in weather conditions while they were in flight. At that time, the Department was operating 17 radio stations that had been received when it assumed responsibility for the transcontinental airway (see July 1, 1927). Known as Airway Radio Stations under Commerce, the facilities served as gathering points for data on weather and flights for use in preflight briefings for pilots. The stations transmitted this information along the airways by radiotelegraphy. (Soon, however, teletypewriter communications via

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

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19600317: A Lockheed Electra lost a wing in turbulent air and crashed near the towns of Tell City and Cannelton, Ind. All 63 persons aboard the Northwest Airlines flight were killed. On March 20, FAA reduced the top cruising speed of the Electra Model 188 series turboprop airliners from 373 to 316 m.p.h., pending determination of the cause. Additional restrictions effective on March 25 included a further cutback in permissible speed (down to 259 m.p.h., or 225 knots) and a series of rigid tests and inspections. These measures seemed warranted by similarities between the Tell City crash and the crash of another Electra in Texas (see September 29, 1959). On April 12, the Civil

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19600316: New requirements regarding instrument flying skills became effective. Persons receiving a commercial pilot certificate were required to have a minimum of 10 hours of instrument flight instruction and to demonstrate their ability to control their aircraft manually while relying solely on instrument guidance. Successful applicants for private pilot certificates were required to have dual instruction in the basic control of the aircraft by the use of instruments, and to demonstrate their manual capability in attitude control in simulated emergencies involving the loss of visual reference during flight. The added requirements applied only to new applicants, not holders of existing certificates.
19620316: Effective this date, FAA abolished the Office of Plans, and transferred its personnel to other FAA components (see January 15, 1959 and August 28, 1967).
19640316: A manpower study conducted by FAA revealed an approaching shortage of aircraft maintenance personnel. The