Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19621012: At the Administrator’s direction, the Office of the General Counsel assumed sole responsibility for drafting of FAA safety rules. This action ended a situation in which the Office of the General Counsel had shared rule drafting responsibility with other major FAA components.
19701012: FAA announced adoption of a three-bar version of the visual approach slope indicator (VASI) system. VASI had been adopted as the U.S. national standard in 1961 and became the international standard shortly thereafter. The bicolor (red-white) light box system was located alongside the runway at its touchdown or aiming point. When the pilot was on the proper glide slope, the far indicator was red and the closer one was white. When the pilot was above the glide slope, both indicators were white; when below the glide path, both were red. The specialized three-bar VASI was primarily for runways which were not equipped with the Instrument Landing System and which served new, large jets, such as the Boeing 747, whose pilots sat high above the landing gear. Pilots flying these jets would use the second and third bars for reference, while pilots of smaller aircraft would use the first and second bars. (See February 8, 1985.)
19711012: FAA abolished the Office of Supersonic Transport Development and established the Supersonic Transport Office under the Associate Administrator for Engineering and Development to continue SST engineering and research activities. The agency also established a SST Contracts Branch in the Logistics Service to perform the contracting and procurement functions for the negotiation, administration, and termination of SST contracts. (See March 24, 1971.)
19781012: President Carter signed Public Law 95-452, establishing Offices of Inspector General in the Department of Transportation and several other departments and agencies. The independent offices were to conduct objective audits and investigations of programs and operations.
20101012: FAA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require helicopter operators to use the latest on-board technology and equipment to avoid terrain and obstacles. The proposal contained provisions which, when finalized, would require operators to use enhanced procedures for flying in challenging weather, at night, and when landing in remote locations. The proposed rules would require air ambulance operators to
* Equip with Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (HTAWS)
* Conduct operations under Part 135, including flight crew time limitation and rest requirements, when medical personnel are on board
* Establish operations control centers if they are certificate holders with 10 or more helicopter air ambulances
* Institute pre-flight risk-analysis programs
* Conduct safety briefings for medical personnel
* Amend their operational requirements to include Visual Flight Rules (VFR) weather minimums, Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at airports/heliports without weather reporting, procedures for VFR approaches, and VFR flight planning.
* Ensure their pilots in command hold an instrument rating
Under the proposal, all commercial helicopter operators would be required to:
* Revise IFR alternate airport weather minimums
* Demonstrate competency in recovery from inadvertent instrument meteorological conditions
* Equip their helicopters with radio altimeters
* Change the definition of “extended over-water operation” and require additional equipment for these operations
In addition, the proposed rules would require all Part 135 aircraft, i.e., helicopter and fixed wing on-demand operators, to:
* Prepare a load manifest
* Transmit a copy of load manifest documentation to their base of operations, in lieu of preparing a duplicate copy
* Specify requirements for retaining a copy of the load manifest in the event that the documentation is destroyed in an aircraft accident
* Require Part 91 general aviation helicopter operators to revise the VFR weather minimums
The public had until January 10, 2011, to comment on the proposed rule. (See January 12, 2009.)
20121012: The Mingo County (WVA) Airport Authority held a grand opening ceremony for the new Appalachia Regional Airport. The airport officially opened on June 26 with limited services. The airport consisted of 975 acres of previously mined land donated to the county in 2008 by Alpha Natural Resources. The airport authority said a total of $9 million had been invested in the site to date.
20121012: FAA approved the type certificate for the Sikorsky S-76D helicopter. Originally announced in 2005, the S-76D featured all-composite main rotor blades, Pratt & Whitney PW210S engines, and Thales TopDeck avionics.
20181012: FAA announced a relaunch of its $500 ADS-B rebate program effective immediately and ending October 11, 2019. The Agency made $4,900,000 available under the program, which would fund 9,792 ADS-B Out installations. Under the previous rebate program, which ran from September 19, 2016, to September 18, 2017, the FAA issued more than 10,000 rebate payments. (See June 26, 2018; October 11, 2019.)
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This Day in FAA History: October 12th
