This Day in FAA History: December 11th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19611211: A Supersonic Transport Advisory Group established in November held its first formal meeting with the joint Supersonic Transport Steering Group. The new group was headed by General Orval R. Cook (USAF Ret.) and included aviation industry leaders. Its major tasks were: to assess basic technical background material of the supersonic transport (SST); to define Federal-industry roles in program management; to consider the impact on U.S. and world markets if a European Mach 2 SST flew before the American SST; to develop a plan for financing development; to prepare a blueprint for development, production, and entry into airline service; and to consider methods for airline financing of SST purchases. (See September 25, 1961, and January 16, 1963.)
19671211: Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation unveiled a prototype of the British-French Concorde, the West’s first supersonic transport, in Toulouse, France. On March 2, 1969, the Concorde made its first flight. Almost ten years later, on September 21, 1979, after meeting in London, aviation officials of France and the United Kingdom agreed to end the unprofitable Concorde production program. Unsold Concordes were allocated to the flag carriers of the two countries–Air France and British Airways. Only sixteen of the supersonic jet transports had been built.
19841211: FAA grounded about 180 Sikorsky S-76A helicopters pending installation of a replacement part being developed by the engine builder, a division of General Motors. The action followed an October 31 accident in the South China Sea.
20011211: Runway 4L/22R opened at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
20111211: J. Lynn Helms, FAA’s eighth administrator, died at the age of 86. During his tenure as administrator, he played a key role in keeping the NAS operating during the August 3, 1981, air traffic control strike, headed the U.S. delegation to the United Nations emergency session following the Soviet Union’s shooting down of Korean Air Flight 007, spearheaded FAA’s development of TCAS, and initiated the national airspace review program to develop methods and procedures for improved safety and operational efficiency in the national airspace. Helms originated and oversaw development of the 1982 National Airspace System (NAS) Plan. The 450-page document spelled out specific improvements to be made to facilities and equipment to meet the projected demands of air transportation. (See April 22, 1981.)
20131211: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s aviation subcommittee tasked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) with evaluating foreign civil aviation authority certification processes to see if any lessons learned could benefit both FAA’s process and U.S. manufacturers. GAO’s study would cover four areas: how FAA certification compared to foreign counterparts; general lessons learned; challenges U.S. manufacturers had with foreign certification; and how FAA addressed foreign challenges to U.S. approvals. (See May 3, 2013; September 15, 2014.)
20191211: FAA announced the selection of 12 organization to advise the agency in developing test administration requirements for the recreational UAS aeronautical knowledge and safety test
1. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
2. Drone Launch Academy Southeastern University
3. Science Applications International Corp.
4. DJI
5. Horizon Hobby, LLC.
6. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Coach
7. King Schools
8. Unmanned Safety Institute
9. First Person View Freedom Coalition
10. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
11. Academy of Model Aeronautics
12. Drone Racing League