This Day in FAA History: September 2nd

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19580902: The CAA Administrator and the Commander of the Air Force’s Air Defense Command announced the establishment of a program for joint use of 31 new high-power, long-range radar facilities and plans for such joint use of additional facilities in the future. Under the extensive joint-use program, each agency was to budget for special equipment or modifications to meet its particular requirements, with ADC providing security guards and CAA maintaining the primary radar and other facilities used in air traffic control. (See January 9, 1958, and May 1959.)
19600902: FAA Administrator Quesada approved a field reorganization of the Federal Aviation Agency in accordance with the recommendations of Project Straight-Line (see April 6- May 20, 1960), to be completed in phases by June 30, 1961. Intended to decentralize many regional responsibilities to a new and lower echelon, the area office, the reorganization would establish a “straight line” of command between the bureaus at FAA headquarters in Washington and the field facilities. Involved in the reorganization would be the field of the Bureau of Air Traffic Management, the facility maintenance and field supply functions of the Bureau of Facilities and Materiel, and the flight inspection and procedures activities and services of the Bureau of Flight Standards. The area organization was to be based on the geographic boundaries of air traffic flight advisory areas and located physically near the air route traffic control centers within the then existing 27 flight advisory areas in FAA’s four domestic regions. The functions of 74 airway technical district offices and 27 air traffic supervisory offices were to be merged into the new area offices. FAA issued orders to implement the new area concept of administration on November 11, 1960, and February 6, 1961. (See April 7, 1961.)
19750902: FAA released an analysis of Federal grants issued in the first five years of the Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970 (see May 21, 1970). For the period, $37.5 million had been obligated under the Planning Grant Program (PGP) and $1.3 billion under the Airport Development Aid Program (ADAP). (This was a vast increase compared to the $1.2 billion disbursed during the entire 24-year history of the earlier Federal-aid airport program: see May 13, 1946). A total of 1,059 planning grants had been approved during the five-year period. Authorized funding for ADAP–initially $280 million annually and increased to $310 million in 1973 (see June 18, 1973)–had made it possible for FAA to approve aid for 2,434 development projects. With the help of these funds, 85 new airports were built and more than 1,000 received improvements that included: 178 new runways; 520 new taxiways; 201 runway extensions; 28 instrument landing systems, 141 runway end identifying lighting systems (REILS), 471 visual approach slope indicators (VASIs); security fencing; and equipment for crash, firefighting, and rescue.
19760902: CAB approved Advance Booking Charter fares, available to anyone who paid 30 days in advance (or 45 days in advance for certain destinations) and not restricted to members of pre-existing “affinity groups.” Like the approval of One Stop Inclusive Tour Charters during the previous year, this move was part of a trend to liberalize charter regulations. The new competition from charter operators helped stimulate scheduled carriers to begin offering deeply discounted prepaid fares during 1977. (See June 10, 1977).
19820902: FAA published a rule covering two types of recreational equipment that had emerged during the 1970s: unpowered hang gliders (see May 29, 1974), and powered airplanes of extremely light weight. For regulatory purposes, FAA defined machines of both these types as “ultralight vehicles” rather than aircraft; therefore, they were not subject to the agency’s requirements on registration, airworthiness certification, and pilot licensing. To qualify for the new category, a hang glider must weigh less than 155 lbs., and a powered vehicle less than 254 lbs. In addition, a powered ultralight must not exceed: a fuel capacity of 5 gal.; a top speed of 55 knots; and a power-off stall speed of 24 knots. The agency limited both powered and unpowered ultralights to a single occupant.
The new regulation subjected ultralights to certain operating restrictions, including right-of-way and minimum visibility requirements. Ultralight operators were responsible for maintaining separation from other aircraft on a “see and avoid” basis. FAA banned flights over congested areas, and permitted operations in certain controlled airspace only with the prior approval of the appropriate air traffic control facility. The new rule also authorized on-the-spot safety inspections by FAA personnel.
The question of whether ultralights required further regulation remained controversial. During 1984, Congress heard testimony on the subject, and FAA held a series of meetings to obtain public comment. On February 5, 1985, the National Transportation Safety Board urged stronger safety regulation, citing its investigation of 88 fatal ultralight accidents that occurred between between March 1983 and September 1984. FAA subsequently drafted a rulemaking proposal on the registration and marking of powered ultralights, as well as the licensing of their pilots. The proposal was not published, however, because of objections by the Office of Management and Budget.
19870902: DOT announced a rule directing all major air carriers to file regular monthly reports on their delay and baggage-handling records.
19930902: FAA announced that it planned to require air carriers to have proof that freight forwarders followed FAA-approved security programs or else to inspect all cargo sent to them by the freight forwarders. The compliance date of January 31, 1974, was subsequently extended to April 1, 1974.
19940902: FAA issued the first release of results of its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, under which the agency evaluated the capability of nations to provide safety oversight for their air carriers. In rating 30 countries, FAA concluded that 17 were acceptable in their ability to ensure adherence to international safety standards, four were conditionally acceptable, and nine did not meet the standards. The agency continued to issue and to revise such ratings, with the goal of evaluating all nations with airlines serving U.S. airports. By the end of 1996, a total 64 countries had been assessed.
19980902: A Swissair jumbo jet en route from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Geneva with 228 people on board crashed off the southern coast of Nova Scotia late at night while trying to make an emergency landing. Canadian aviation officials said the three-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-11 had been diverted to Halifax International Airport, which lies about ten miles to the north of the Nova Scotian capital, after its flight crew reported smoke in the cockpit or passenger cabin about two hours after take-off. (See November 12, 1998.)
20030902: Effective this date, FAA adopted upgraded flammability standards for thermal and acoustic insulation materials used in transport category airplanes. The standards included new flammability tests and criteria that addressed flame propagation and entry of an external fire into the airplane. The standards previously in place did not realistically address situations in which thermal or acoustic insulation materials might have contributed to the propagation of a fire. (See September 8, 2000; April 1, 2005.)
20160902: FAA issued a finding of no significant impact/record of decision for the Southern California Metroplex project. The decision enabled the agency to move forward with the project, which would replace dozens of existing conventional air traffic control procedures with new satellite-based procedures. FAA planned to begin phasing in the new procedures starting in November 2016 and continuing through April 2017. The project included 99 new satellite-based procedures, consisting of 41 departures, 37 arrivals, and 21 approach procedures. (See March 26, 2020.)
20200902: Magician David Blaine flew about 24,500 feet into the air tethered to 52 weather balloons. He lifted off from the Page airport in Arizona, and landed safely in the desert near the airport. FAA approved flight on September 1. The FAA deemed the flight a research and development project and classified his balloons as an experimental aircraft. The agency required Blaine to get licensed for hot-air balloon piloting before the stunt.
20210902: FAA grounded Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane until it completed an investigation into a problem on the vehicle’s previous flight in July. FAA needed to determine if the issues related to the incident affected public safety. The statement came a day after a New Yorker article said the two SpaceShipTwo pilots ignored an “entry glide cone warning” during the July 11 flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico. That warning indicated the vehicle was outside the volume of space known as the glide cone where it had enough energy to glide back to a runway landing at the spaceport. The warning appeared late in the powered portion of the flight, showing SpaceShipTwo was not climbing steeply enough. (See July 19, 2021; September 2, 2021.)