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 between Alaska and the Soviet Far East.
20160216: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin, Cuban Minister of Transportation Adel Yzquierdo Rodriguez, and President of the Cuban Civil Aviation Institute, Ministry of Transportation Colonel Alfredo Cordero Puig signed an arrangement that provided for the re-establishment of scheduled air services between the United States and Cuba. (See December 16, 2015; August 31, 2016.)
20160216: FAA and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore signed the first set of maintenance implementation procedures between the U.S. agency and an Asian counterpart. The deal established reciprocal acceptance of maintenance oversight, among other benefits. It built upon a bilateral aviation safety agreement in place since 2004. (See July 12, 2017.)
20180216: FAA certificated the Boeing 737 MAX-9 jet for commercial operations. (See October 29, 2018.)
20230216: FAA issued a new rule to help airports detect and mitigate safety problems before accidents or incidents occur. The regulation requires certain airports to develop and implement a safety management system (SMS). The final rule applied to over 200 of America’s busiest commercial airports. The timeline to implement SMS ranges from four to five and a half years, depending on the airports’ classification and operations.