This Day in FAA History: December 8th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19551208: CAA Administrator Frederick Lee resigned after months of widening personal and policy differences with the Secretary and Under Secretary of Commerce (see spring 1956). The President accepted his resignation two days later. On December 12, 1955, Charles J. Lowen took the oath as Lee’s successor. With Congress not in session, President Eisenhower had given Lowen an interim appointment on December 9.
A 1938 graduate of the University of Colorado, Lowen had worked in aviation sales and service until 1942, then served during World War II with the Air Transport Command. His experience after the war included three years as an executive with Capital Airlines and a period as Director of Aviation for Denver, as well as positions unrelated to aviation. He joined CAA as a consultant in May 1955 and became Deputy Administrator in July.
Lowen underwent surgery for cancer in May 1956, shortly before the Senate confirmed him as Administrator on June 6, and he died on September 5 of that same year. (See February 11, 1957.)
19631208: A lightning-induced fuel tank explosion caused the crash of a Pan American Boeing 707 near Elkton, Md., with the loss of all 81 persons aboard. FAA’s response included a December 18 telegram to air carriers and aircraft operators requiring installation of static dischargers on aircraft using turbine fuels. The accident led to research into methods of preventing such explosions, and to a debate on the safety of JP-4 (Type B) jet fuel. (See January 15, 1965.)
19641208: A United Air Lines Caravelle jet made the first computer landing (automatic touchdown) at Dulles International Airport. (See June 10, 1965.)
19971208: The National Transportation Safety Board began hearings on TWA Flight 800 in Baltimore, Maryland. (See May 4, 1997.)
19991208: FAA issued an AD ordering inspection of backup generators on Boeing 777-200 and -300 airplanes and requiring their operators to replace, within 14 days, any found to have sheared shafts.
20021208: FAA issued an interim final rule requiring inspections and records reviews for most aircraft that had been in scheduled commercial service for 14 years or more. The rule, effective one year from this date, mandated that operators could not keep an airplane in service more than four years from the effective date unless the maintenance program for the aircraft included damage-tolerance-based inspections and procedures for certain parts. The rule affected operators of multi-engine airplanes in scheduled operations under Parts 121, 135, and 129 of the federal aviation regulations, as well as type certificate holders (for example, aircraft manufacturers). The rule did not apply to airplanes operated within the state of Alaska.
20021208: FAA commissioned a new air traffic control tower at Miami International Airport. The tower could withstand 150-mile-per-hour winds generated by hurricanes. At 333 feet, the Miami tower was the second-tallest in the U.S. after Orlando International’s 345-foot tower.
20051208: The engineered materials arresting system installed at Chicago’s Midway Airport successfully stopped Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 that overran the runway. (See May 30, 2003; October 13, 2006.)
20081208: The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stayed the FAA final rules issued on October 10 concerning slot auctions at three New York area airports. January 22, 2009, the Air Transport Association requested Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood withdraw the final rule in light of the court’s stay. While the regulations were already incorporated into the Code of Federal Regulations, they no longer had force and effect because of the court’s ruling. (See October 10, 2008; December 22, 2008.)
20081208: FAA signed a wide-ranging agreement with fractional jet operator NetJets to run some test programs in various parts of the U.S. by equipping some of the 550 to 600 aircraft it manages with NextGen avionics. (See November 3, 2008; September 21, 2009.)
20091208: FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt called for the establishment of a group comprised of both FAA and non-agency members to assess the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) outage that caused widespread air traffic delays across the country. An FTI software configuration problem interrupted automated flight plan processing and other electronic traffic flow management tools for four hours on November 19, 2009. While critical safety systems and radar and communications services were unaffected, controllers and flight data communications specialists had to manually input data, which resulted in delays. The panel was tasked with producing two reports by early 2010: one focused on the outage with suggestions for any immediate changes to the FTI system and the other focused on the FTI architecture as it related to future FAA systems. Panel members included: U.S. Navy Vice Admiral (retired) Nancy Brown, former Joint Staff director of command, control, communications and computer systems; Amr ElSawy, President and CEO of Noblis, a nonprofit science, technology, and strategy organization; Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra; Department of Transportation Chief Information Officer (CIO) Nitin Pradhan; FAA CIO Dave Bowen; and FAA’s Air Traffic Control Organization CIO Steve Cooper. (See April 18, 2008; November 12, 2010.)
20091208: The White House nominated Michael Huerta to be FAA deputy administrator. The White House had announced its intention to nominate Huerta the day before. Huerta had his own consulting firm, which advised clients on transportation policy, technology, and financing. Until April 2009, Huerta was Group President of the Transportation Solutions Group of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., a technology services provider supporting transportation agencies worldwide. Before joining ACS, he was a managing director with the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002. From 1993 to 1998, Huerta served in two senior positions at the Department of Transportation under President Bill Clinton. He also held senior positions in the cities of San Francisco and New York. Huerta has a master’s degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Riverside. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America and served as a member of President Obama’s transition team for the U.S. Department of Transportation. (See December 4, 2009; June 23, 2010.)
20151208: FAA certified HondaJet’s model HA-420 business jet. The new jet could seat up to seven and cost approximately $4.5 million.
20151208: A group of U.S. and Mexican investors opened Cross Border Xpress, one of the largest privately operated U.S. air terminals. The terminal linked Tijuana International Airport with the new terminal at the San Diego airport. It allowed passengers flying into Tijuana to walk across a 390-foot bridge to enter the United States. The fee to cross was $18.00, and passengers were met by U.S. border inspectors. Prior to the opening of the bridge, passengers entering the United States from Tijuana had to drive about 15 minutes to a congested land crossing where they waited up to several hours to enter San Diego by car or on foot.
20161208: DOT announced a proposal to require airlines and ticket agents to disclose in advance to consumers if the carriers operating their flights allowed passengers to make voice calls using mobile wireless devices. Federal Communications Commission rules prohibited the use of mobile devices on certain radio frequencies onboard aircraft, including for voice calls. However, the existing Federal Communications Commission rules did not cover WiFi and other means by which it might become possible to make voice calls. DOT also sought comment on whether disclosure was sufficient or whether it should simply ban voice calls on flights within, to, or from the United States.
20171208: President Trump signed legislation providing appropriations to fund the government for two weeks through December 22.
20211208: The Drone Racing League (DRL) announced FAA accredited it as the first UAS event organizer. DRL also announced its participation in FAA’s Partnership for Safety Plan (PSP) Program where it will work to establish a standardized set of safety protocols for individuals and organizations seeking to conduct UAS demonstrations, air shows, exhibitions and events in front of live audiences.