This Day in FAA History: October 8th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19461008: CAA announced the opening of 44 new district offices for the administration of the Federal-aid airport program (FAAP). Of these, 43 were located within the United States and one in Puerto Rico. CAA also established Airport branches in its regional offices at Honolulu and Anchorage. (See May 13, 1946 and January 9, 1947.)
19471008: New air traffic rules resulting from a revision of Part 60 of the Civil Air Regulations went into effect. Besides substantially altering visual flight rules, the new regulations made some changes in instrument flight rules operations. One section of the regulation set up rules for water operation of aircraft and others applied specifically to helicopter flight rules.
19651008: In two separate but related rulemaking actions, FAA authorized increased industry participation in the certification of aeronautical products. One rule permitted FAA to delegate authority to qualified manufacturers in certification of helicopters, small turbine engines, and aeronautical parts. Previously, delegation procedures were permitted only in the certification of airplanes and gliders weighing 12,500 pounds or less, small piston engines, and propellers manufactured for use with these engines (see September 29, 1950). The other rule provided for the establishment of Designated Alteration Stations by qualified manufacturers, air carriers, commercial operators of large aircraft, and domestic repair stations. FAA authorized the stations to: issue supplemental type certificates for already type-certificated products; issue experimental airworthiness certificates for aircraft they altered; and amend standard airworthiness certificates for such aircraft. In June 1966, FAA made the first issuance of a “Designated Alteration Station” authorization to the American Airlines repair station in Tulsa, Okla.
19921008: FAA ordered inspection of fuse pins securing the engines of most Boeing 747s following the crash of an Israeli 747 in Holland on October 4. On November 13, the agency ordered all U.S. 747 operators to replace old-style fuse pins after the inspections showed instances of corrosion and cracking.
19981008: FAA, with assistance from the Helicopter Safety Advisory Conference (HSAC), implemented the world’s first Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) Grid System in the Gulf of Mexico. FAA designed this navigational route structure, completely independent of ground-based navigation aids (NAVAIDs), to facilitate helicopter IFR operations to offshore destinations. The Grid System was defined by over 300 offshore waypoints located 20 minutes apart (latitude and longitude). These waypoints have five-letter identifiers systematically based so that operators and controllers can visualize the relative location. To simplify flight planning inflight data input and navigation, these waypoints were integrated into the computer database within the GPS receivers. Both flight crews and controllers used the grid system, which assisted them by: allowing for more direct routing; reducing the manual workload that controllers performed to provide separation from other helicopters; and reducing delays.
20021008: In a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey announced that, within a month, FAA would approve Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedures for San Francisco International Airport. Through the use of onboard technology, pilots would be able to navigate aircraft to any point in the world using only geographical coordinates. (See September 9, 2002; December 31, 2002.)
20101008: FAA issued a safety alert for operators (SAFO), which summarized research showing that lithium metal (non-rechargeable) and lithium-ion (rechargeable) batteries were highly flammable and capable of igniting during air transport under certain circumstances. The research also indicated that Halon 1301, the suppression agent found in Class C cargo compartments, was ineffective in suppressing lithium metal battery fires. The SAFO recommended procedures air carriers could use when transporting lithium batteries. (See December 29, 2004.)
20141008: DIGITALiBiz announced it had been awarded a prime contract to continue supporting FAA’s flight standards service flight technologies and procedures division under a contract called technical, engineering, administrative, and programmatic support. The scope of work under the contract, valued at nearly $45 million over the next five years, included: providing support in developing policies and procedures for improving flight safety and efficiency; assisting in developing regulations and policy recommendations governing instrument flight procedures and safety, capacity, and efficiency improvements, based on advanced technology and innovative concepts; and supporting flight test or simulator test programs, simulator setup, pilot briefings, and observer responsibilities specifically for data collection in support of test plans.
20141008: Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced its flagship Gulfstream G650ER had been certified by FAA. The G650ER could travel 7,500 nautical miles/13,890 kilometers at Mach 0.85 and 6,400 nm/11,853 km at Mach 0.90. This represented an increase of up to 500 nm/926 km over the range of the G650, which entered service in 2012. Like the G650, the G650ER had a maximum speed of Mach 0.925. Gulfstream expected to deliver the first fully outfitted G650ER business jets to customers ahead of the projected 2015 delivery date.
20141008: FAA and the NextGen advisory committee agreed on the “NextGen Priorities Joint Implementation Plan” that would accelerate the delivery of key NextGen initiatives over the next three years. FAA delivered the plan to Congress on October 17. According to the plan, FAA would institute new NextGen procedures through the use of multiple runway operations at 36 airports nationwide and deploy satellite-based navigation procedures known as performance based navigation at three key metropolitan areas – Northern California, Atlanta, and Charlotte – to provide more direct flight paths; improve airport arrival rates; enhance controller productivity; increase safety and fuel savings, and a reduce aviation’s environmental impact. The plan also called for FAA to increase surface operations data-sharing to increase predictability and provide actionable and measurable surface efficiency improvements at the nation’s airports. In addition, FAA planned to prioritize its work on data communications services, which would upgrade communication between pilots, air traffic controllers, and airline operations centers from voice to digital. (See March 2010; October 17, 2014.)
20151008: FAA issued a safety alert to encourage carriers to alert passengers at the point of ticket sales and check-in that spare lithium batteries were prohibited in checked and carry-on luggage. The alert stated: “To reduce the risk of lithium battery fires, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR), and equivalent International Civil Aviation Organization’s Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods (ICAO TI), prohibit spare lithium batteries from checked baggage.” (See August 4, 2014; October 26, 2015.)