This Day in FAA History: June 9th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19280609: Australian pilots Charles E. Kingsford-Smith and Charles T. P. Ulm, accompanied by a navigator and a radioman, both Americans, made the first transpacific crossing by air. They flew from Oakland, Calif., to Brisbane, Australia, with stopovers at Hawaii and the Fiji Islands, in a modified Fokker F.VII.
19460609: CAA regional offices, rather than Washington headquarters, became the approving authority for flying schools, repair stations, ground schools, mechanic schools, and parachute lofts. The increasing number of applications for CAA aircraft and airman certificates had made this further decentralization of CAA services necessary.
19650609: FAA conducted a one-day national symposium on aircraft noise in New York City. The symposium, attended by all segments of the aviation community, considered current and proposed programs to alleviate aircraft noise and related problems.
20000609: FAA issued directives to the airports and air carriers that strengthened procedures for verifying the credentials of law enforcement officers who carried arms on board aircraft or into secure areas of airports.
20030609: FAA commissioned the first Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) at a large, busy airport – Philadelphia International Airport. Under a joint FAA and DoD program, STARS would eventually replace computers and displays at more than 300 air traffic control facilities nationwide. In addition to Philadelphia, other FAA deployments scheduled for 2003-2004 included: Portland, Oregon; Boston, Massachusetts; Miami, Florida; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Port Columbus, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; and Seattle/Tacoma, Washington. (See February 4, 2003.)
20090609: Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt announced they had ordered FAA inspectors to immediately focus attention on training programs to ensure that regional airlines were complying with federal regulations. Secretary LaHood and Administrator Babbitt also announced plans to gather representatives from the major air carriers, their regional partners, aviation industry groups, and labor in Washington, DC, on June 15 to participate in a “call to action” to improve airline safety and pilot training. (See February 12, 2009; June 15, 2009.)
20100609: FAA signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Boeing subsidiary, Insitu Inc., to facilitate FAA understanding of how unmanned aerial systems were constructed and how they functioned and operated in the national airspace system. Insitu provided the FAA with a Scan Eagle system to help the agency develop recommendations for integrating unmanned aircraft into the U.S. airspace system. The system, including two Scan Eagle small unmanned aircraft, was delivered to the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center under a cooperative research and development agreement. (See June 1, 2010.)
20130609: JetBlue conducted its first ever ADS-B commercial flights from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco. This was the first commercial aircraft that reached its destination using a route that relied primarily on ADS-B. FAA determined the route over the Gulf of Mexico based on the need for the aircraft to avoid turbulent weather. (See April 4, 2013; April 14, 2014.)
20140609: FAA announced the State of Nevada’s UAS test site was ready to conduct research vital to integrating UAS into the nation’s airspace. Nevada was the third of six congressionally mandated test sites to become operational. FAA granted the State of Nevada team a two-year certificate of waiver or authorization to use an Insitu ScanEagle at the Desert Rock Airport located in Mercury, NV. Desert Rock Airport, owned and operated by the Department of Energy, was a private airport and not for general use. The ScanEagle would fly at or below 3,000 feet, monitored by a visual observer and mission commander. Nevada’s research concentrated on UAS standards and operations as well as operator standards and certification requirements. The site’s activities also included a concentrated look at how air traffic control procedures would evolve with the introduction of UAS into the civil environment and how those aircraft would integrate with NextGen. (See May 5, 2014; June 20, 2014.)
20160609: FAA announced steps to address mental health problems among pilots. FAA said it would not require psychological testing for airline pilots. Rather, the agency said it would enhance training for medical examiners who test pilots being hired by airlines and expand mental health assistance for pilots. FAA’s goal was “to break down resistance to seeking treatment because pilots can be grounded for certain medical problems or medications.”
20170609: FAA announced it had extended the participation of two airports in the Military Airport Program (MAP) – Millington Regional Jetport in Millington, TN, and Waynesville-St. Robert Regional Airport in Waynesville, MO. The program used federal funds to convert former military airports to civilian use and supports improvements to joint-use airports. The MAP funding was a set-aside of the airport improvement program (AIP) that helped increase civilian aviation capacity by financing projects such as building or rehabilitating parking lots, fuel farms, hangars, utility systems, access roads, cargo buildings, and other airfield projects at former military airports. The other airports participating in the program included: Brunswick Executive Airport, Brunswick, ME; Alexandria International Airport, Alexandria, LA; and Jose Aponte de la Torre Airport, Ceiba, PR. (See August 17, 2016; October 29, 2021.)