This Day in FAA History: August 20th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19630820: The BAC 1-11 first flew. The plane received a British type certificate on April 6, 1965. On April 15, 1965, FAA typed certificated the twin-engine, short-range jetliner with a maximum passenger capacity of 79, the first airliner since the 1940s to be certificated for operation with a two-man cockpit crew. Braniff Airways pressed the aircraft into U.S. domestic service on April 25, 1965.
19850820: Trans World Airlines’ board of directors accepted a stock purchase offer from “corporate raider” Carl C. Icahn, leading to Icahn’s takeover of TWA before the end of 1985.
20010820: A final FAA rule, effective this date, lowered the overflight fees the agency charged carriers for air traffic and related services incurred by certain aircraft that transit U.S.-controlled airspace but neither take off from, nor land in, the United States. The new rule reduced the fees that had been established by an interim final rule that had gone into effect on August 1, 2000, and allowed FAA to continue to charge fees as required by law. FAA rulemaking efforts to impose statutorily required fees had been repeatedly challenged in court. The most recent challenge had stemmed from an opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, issued on July 13, 2001, which stated: “Because FAA has failed to articulate the basis for its conclusions that ‘the unit costs of providing [air traffic control] services to overflights within each environment [are] identical to the unit costs of providing [air traffic control] services to all air traffic within each environment,’ we vacate the 2000 Rule and remand to the FAA for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.” (See August 1, 2000; June 21, 2002.)
20170820: FAA’s flight standards service made organizational adjustments that enabled it to operate with greater accountability, better use of resources, and more readiness to adapt to change. Organizational changes included the elimination of regional flight standards offices and the creation of four functional organizations within flight standards: air carrier safety assurance; general aviation safety assurance; safety standards; and foundational business.
20180820: In a reorganization of its flight standards organization, FAA moved all flight standards elements under four functionally aligned areas: Office of Air Carrier Safety Assurance, Office of General Aviation Safety Assurance, Office of Safety Standards, and Office of Foundational Business.
20180820: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. flew the first large drone approved by the FAA to fly beyond the line of sight of the pilot and without using a manned airplane to observe the flight. The flight took place at the Northern Plains Test Site in Grand Forks, North Dakota. (See April 9, 2018; October 16, 2018.)
20190820: FAA issued guidance to U.S. airlines and other commercial flight operators warning of an “increasing inadvertent risk” to aircraft flying over the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. “Iran has publicly made threats to U.S. military operations in the Gulf region,” the FAA said in a notice. Iran possessed a variety of missiles and military jets capable of intercepting airliners, according to the agency. (See June 21, 2019.)
20210820: The Department of Defense activated Stage 1 of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, calling for carriers to support the military’s effort to evacuate people from Afghanistan. The activation called for 18 aircraft: three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air; two from Hawaiian Airlines; and four from United Airlines. CRAF activated aircraft did not fly into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, but rather moved passengers from temporary safe havens and interim staging bases outside of Afghanistan. This was only the third time the Civil Reserve Air Fleet had been activated since its establishment in 1951. The program was voluntary, and participating carriers were given preference in carrying commercial peacetime cargo and passenger traffic for DOD. (See May 14, 1991; July 25, 2021.)