This Day in FAA History: July 5th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19770705: FAA announced award of a contract for an engineering model of a new generation of Airport Surface Detection Equipment, designated ASDE-3. ASDE surface radar had been in service at U.S. airports since September 1960 (see that date). FAA planned to use ASDE-3 as a replacement for the ASDE-2 systems in use at 13 airports, as well as to install ASDE-3 at additional locations. The new equipment would provide clearer outlines of runways and taxiways while at the same time suppressing radar returns from buildings and rainfall. In April 1977, FAA had ordered display enhancement units for the ASDE-2 as an interim measure.
FAA ordered the ASDE-3 engineering model a few months after a ground collision in the Canary Islands caused 583 deaths (see March 27, 1977). Deficiencies in surface radar had earlier been cited by the National Transportation Safety Board as a factor in a crash in fog involving a North Central Airlines DC-9 and a Delta Airlines Convair 880 that killed 10 passengers on the night of December 20, 1972, at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. (See August 1979.)
19940705: Public Law 103-272 recodified certain laws pertaining to transportation, including the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, as amended, which was FAA’s basic enabling legislation. As a result of the recodification, the Federal Aviation Act was superseded by provisions of Subtitle VII of Title 49, United States Code.
20220705: DOT reassigned with conditions 16 peak-hour runway timings from Southwest Airlines to Spirit Airlines at Newark-Liberty International Airport. Southwest Airlines had discounted service from the airport.