This Day in FAA History: July 16th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19260716: The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company inaugurated the first daily passenger air service between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in connection with the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Declaration of Independence. Both passengers and mail were carried on a schedule of three trips in each direction daily, using three-engine Fokker monoplanes seating 10 passengers. The flying time was approximately 1 hour 30 minutes each way, and the passenger fare was $15 one way and $25 roundtrip. The service lasted for five months.
19450716: The United States Government exploded the first atomic device at Alamogordo, N. Mex.
19470716: CAA announced a program under which Latin American aviation leaders would come to the United States to study both the governmental and private phases of the nation’s aviation industry. The effort was closely related to the continuing Inter-American Aviation Training Program (see Calendar Year 1941).
19730716: In public testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, FAA Administrator Alexander P. Butterfield disclosed the existence of a White House audio taping system, a revelation that became instrumental in implicating President Nixon in the Watergate coverup.
19960716: FAA published a rulemaking proposal to increase the amount of data collected by Flight Data Recorders installed in airliners. The agency specified the data parameters to be required for various new and existing aircraft, with retrofit to be accomplished within four years of the final rule. The largest increase in parameters — from 29 to 88 — would apply to aircraft manufactured five years after the proposed rule’s effective date. The proposal addressed concerns raised in several National Transportation Safety Board recommendations following unexplained crashes (see September 8, 1994).
19990716: John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, were killed when their small aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Kennedy, a relatively inexperienced pilot, was flying the Piper Saratoga, a moderately complex plane that he bought the previous April. He took off without incident just after 8:30 p.m. from Essex County Airport in Fairfield, New Jersey. July 6, 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the crash and stated the probable cause of the accident was “The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation. Factors in the accident were haze and the dark night.”
20130716: FAA issued a final policy statement that permitted general aviation airports to enter into residential through-the-fence (RTTF) agreements with property owners or associations representing property owners. To gain access, the property owner was required to pay access charges; bear the cost of building and maintaining the infrastructure necessary to provide access to the airfield; maintain the property for residential, noncommercial use for the duration of the agreement; prohibit airport access from other adjacent or nearby properties; and prohibit any refueling on the property. FAA clarified that sponsors of commercial service airports were not permitted to enter into RTTF arrangements. However, the sponsors of GA airports could enter into such an arrangement if the airport sponsor complied with certain requirements contained in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. (See February 14, 2012.)
20160716: FAA banned flights to and from Turkey following an attempted coup in the country. FAA lifted the ban on July 18.
20210716: FAA suspended operations of Rhoades Aviation, the parent company of Transair. The decision came after the crash of Transair Flight 810 on July 2, which sent the two pilots to the hospital. By stripping Rhoades Aviation the ability to conduct maintenance inspections, it prevented the company from operating and grounded all flights.
20210716: FAA ordered all operators of Boeing 737 series aircraft to carry out inspections of cabin altitude pressure switches, after FAA found a high rate of switch failure. The switches ensured cabins were properly pressured throughout the flight.