This Day in FAA History: August 2nd

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19460802: An act of Congress established the National Air Museum under the Smithsonian Institution. In 1976, the name changed to National Air and Space Museum.
19540802: The Convair XFY-1, an experimental VTOL aircraft, made the first free vertical takeoff and landing by a fixed wing aircraft at Moffett NAS, Calif.
19650802: FAA and the Department of Commerce signed a formal agreement on this date updating all FAA and U.S. Weather Bureau working arrangements in the areas of aviation weather services and meteorological communications. (See September 15, 1950.)
Development of arresting gear devices had first been explored by the Airways Modernization Board in 1958. FAA continued this work and, in 1962, demonstrated the technical feasibility of arresting large transport aircraft on airport runways by means of a tail hook and a cross-runway cable connected to an arresting engine. The issue of whether this emergency gear should be mandatory at large air carrier airports came into sharp focus in April 1964, when three airliners at two New York airports skidded off slippery runways in one 12-hour period. In May 1964, FAA officials opened discussions with aviation industry representatives on arresting gear, and in July the agency formed a committee to work with the air transport industry in studying the question. The committee’s recommendation that the arresting system be integrated into the National Airspace System was reinforced in January 1965 by the results of an FAA-sponsored study conducted by the Flight Safety Foundation. The study concluded that 17 of 87 accidents in the past five years could have been prevented by an emergency arresting system, and forecast 55 jet transport accidents resulting from runway overshoots on takeoff or landing over the next 10 years. In the end, however, FAA decided that the system could not be justified on a cost-versus-benefit basis, a judgment supported by virtually all elements of the aviation industry except the Air Line Pilots Association. The estimated cost of equipping 65 major jetports with two emergency arresting systems and retrofitting all four-engine air carrier jet aircraft with tail hooks was about $47 million. FAA held that this money would buy more safety if spent in such other ways as developing better brakes, removing water from runways through drying and blowing techniques, or eliminating aircraft hydroplaning on runways by grooving or ribbing the pavement (see April 23, 1967). Meanwhile, FAA relied on a new wet-runway rule to reduce potential landing hazards (see January 15, 1966).
19700802: The first hijacking of a wide-bodied airliner occurred as a Pan American 747 bound from New York to San Juan with 388 passengers was diverted to Havana.
19850802: A Delta Air Lines L-1011 crashed when it encountered wind shear during a landing approach to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The accident killed 134 of the 163 persons aboard and one person on the ground. The wind shear did not reach the sensors of the Low Level Wind Shear Alert System (LLWAS) until after the crash, a fact that demonstrated the system’s limitations. The National Transportation Safety Board listed the accident’s probable cause as: the flightcrew’s decision to approach through a cumulonimbus cloud which they observed to contain lightning; lack of specific guidelines, procedures, and training for avoiding and escaping wind shear; and lack of real-time, definitive wind shear information. The report noted that low-altitude wind shear had been a cause or contributory factor in seven fatal air transport crashes since 1970.
On November 27, 1985, FAA announced the award of a contract for development of a comprehensive wind shear training program for pilots. The agency received the completed program in February 1987 and distributed it to the industry. On April 14, 1986, FAA circulated a draft Integrated Wind Shear Program plan. In addition to better pilot training, the plan featured development of: improved ground-based detectors, including: enhanced LLWAS (see January 1988); Next-Generation Weather Radar, known as NEXRAD (see February 28, 1994); Terminal Doppler Weather Radar, known as TDWR (see November 2, 1988); and sensors for airborne detection systems using microwave Doppler, laser, or infrared radiometer technology (see October 9, 1986).
19850802: FAA submitted the first National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) to Congress. A successor to the National Airport System Plan (see September 7, 1973), the NPIAS was to be published in an updated form every two years as mandated by the Airport and Airway Improvement Act (see September 3, 1982). The first NPIAS estimated that Federal, state, and local agencies needed to invest $18.3 billion in airport development over the next decade in order to keep pace with the projected growth of air traffic.
19900802: Iraq invaded and seized control of Kuwait. President Bush’s response included immediate restrictions on air transportation between the U.S. and Iraq, and these prohibitions were extended to include occupied Kuwait on August 9. The United States also sent thousands of troops to Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Shield. Among the other effects of the crisis during the rest of 1990 was a dramatic escalation of the rise in jet fuel prices. (See August 17, 1990.)
19950802: DOT and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) released to Congress a joint study on aviation inspection programs. The study concluded that USDA actions during 1994 had reduced to a minimal level duplication between FAA inspections and USDA’s inspections of its aviation activities.
20020802: Jane Garvey’s five year term as FAA Administrator ended. The Senate confirmation hearing for FAA Administrator-designate Marion Blakey, originally scheduled for this date, was postponed. Secretary Mineta named Monte Belger acting administrator. In an earlier memo to the FAA management team, the Secretary announced that Belger had agreed to stay on beyond his planned retirement date to aid in the transition. If Blakey had been confirmed, Belger would have been acting deputy administrator through August 30. (See August 4, 1999; November 8, 1999; July 17, 2002; September 13, 2002.)
20160802: FAA announced plans to charter an UAS safety team that would include a wide variety of stakeholders from the drone and aviation industries. Similar to the highly successful commercial aviation safety team, this group would analyze safety data to identify emerging threats that drones may pose to aircraft, people, and property. It would also develop mitigation strategies to address these threats and prevent future accidents. The group held its first meeting on October 21. (See July 1, 2016; August 2, 2016.)
20160802: FAA announced it planned to hire 1,400 new controllers to help meet its future workforce demands. Applicants had a one-week window to apply, August 8-15.
20160802: FAA granted permission for Google parent company Alphabet to test delivery drones in designated areas. The company could conduct an operational research study, flying drones less than 400 feet, to develop an airspace management system. The data gathered would be shared with government partners to help regulators study questions about critical safety and human factors regarding unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) cargo deliveries. (See August 2, 2016; August 29, 2016.)