This Day in FAA History: August 11th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19260811: William P. MacCracken, Jr., took office as the first Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics (see October 1, 1929). He thus became the first head of the Aeronautics Branch, created in the Department of Commerce by Secretary Herbert Hoover to carry out the Secretary’s responsibilities under the Air Commerce Act of 1926. MacCracken, who had assisted in drafting that act, brought to the position experience as a World War I Army pilot, as chairman of the American Bar Association’s committee on aviation law, and as general counsel of National Air Transport, a contract mail carrier he helped organize in 1925.
With the appointment of MacCracken as its chief, the organization of the Aeronautics Branch proceeded rapidly. Secretary Hoover believed that the duties imposed by the Air Commerce Act should be carried out by existing Department of Commerce components. Although five principal units made up the Aeronautics Branch, which ranked as a bureau, only two were structurally part of the new Branch–the Air Regulations Division and the Air Information Division. The other three units followed directions from the Branch concerning work to be undertaken, but received detailed guidance and administrative support from other bureau-level components of the Department. Thus, the Airways Division was organized within the Bureau of Lighthouses, the Aeronautical Research Division within the Bureau of Standards, and the Air Mapping Section within the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
19600811: Executive Order 10883, signed by President Eisenhower this date, but effective October 10, 1960, abolished the Air Coordinating Committee (see September 19, 1946). In a memorandum accompanying the Executive Order, the President made future coordination of aviation matters in the Federal Government the responsibility of the FAA Administrator. Since the need for such coordination would be greatest in the international area, the President suggested that the Administrator form an interagency group to develop recommendations on international aviation questions for the Secretary of State. The President stated that continuing membership in this group should be small, but ad hoc membership should be open to any other agencies having a substantial interest in matters under consideration by the group. (See December 19, 1960.)
19700811: FAA withdrew a notice of proposed rulemaking requiring the use of protective smoke hoods. The agency had proposed on January 6, 1969, that these hoods be carried on all large airplanes for use by occupants during evacuation when fire or smoke was present. After further study, however, FAA decided that the hoods’ use might produce unacceptable delays during evacuation. Rapid evacuation after a crash landing, the agency held, was the most vital element for survival.
19710811: FAA expanded requirements for an anticollision system of flashing aviation-red or aviation-white lights for night operations. The agency mandated that the system be installed on all powered U.S. civil aircraft with a standard airworthiness certificate by August 12, 1972. (Aircraft with experimental, restricted, or provisional type certificates were exempted.) Previously, FAA had required the anticollision light system only on large aircraft and on certain small aircraft as specified in their airworthiness certificates. The agency required this system in addition to the position-light system carried by all aircraft on their tails and wingtips.
19980811: The National Transportation Safety Board urged mandatory inspections of the fuel-pump control shaft on about one-third of all commercial jet aircraft engines – including those in most Boeing 727s and 737s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9s and MD-80s. Several incidents – including one on September 6, 1997, in which a Boeing 737 was destroyed on takeoff from Najran, Saudi Arabia, as well as a Delta Airlines in-flight problem – prompted the letter from NTSB Chairman Jim Hall to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey. In the Saudia incident, the crew noticed a control panel light indicating that the right engine’s exhaust was dangerously hot. When the pilot tried to throttle back, the engine remained at a high power level, the board said. (See July 23, 1998; September 21, 1998.)
19990811: FAA Administrator Jane Garvey ordered operators of 699 aircraft to replace insulation blankets covered with metalized Mylar within four years. FAA also strongly encouraged operators to accomplish the insulation replacement during the earliest practical maintenance check. The announcement followed eight months of extensive testing in support of the development of a new test standard for aircraft insulation. (See October 14, 1998; May 25, 2000.)
20050811: Effective this date, a special federal aviation regulation (SFAR) allowed passengers to use certain portable oxygen concentrator devices on aircraft, provided certain conditions were met. The rule required passengers to carry the devices on board and mandated a battery-packaging standard necessary for the safe carriage of extra batteries in carry-on baggage.
20090811: Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced he had asked the Department’s General Counsel to look into whether Continental Airlines or its regional partner, Express Jet Airlines, had violated any laws in connection with the lengthy tarmac delay on their Houston-Minneapolis flight on August 8 during which passengers were stuck in a small plane for seven hours. August 21, 2009, Secretary LaHood announced the Department had concluded the preliminary phase of its investigation and had determined that the Express Jet crew was not at fault. While the crew of the ExpressJet flight did all it could to assist the passengers, more senior personnel within Continental or ExpressJet should have become involved in an effort to obtain permission to take the passengers off the plane. The representative of Mesaba – the only carrier able to assist Continental at the airport – had said at the time of the incident that the airport was closed to passengers, apparently because there was no one from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) available to screen passengers. In fact, TSA procedures allowed passengers to get off the plane, enter the terminal and re-board without being screened again as long as they remained in a sterile area. LaHood said the Department was considering the appropriate actions to take as it completed the investigation, which it expected to conclude within a few weeks. The Department would use the findings from this investigation to formulate a final rule that would provide better protection for airline passengers. (See November 24, 2009; April 29, 2010.)
20130811: Rockwell Collins announced it had agreed to purchase ARINC, Inc., for $1.39 billion. The purchase, when completed, would expand Rockwell Collins’ aerospace business by combining its avionics and cabin technologies with ARINC’s ground-based navigational networks. (See December 2, 1929.)
20200811: New York’s Monroe County Legislature approved the renaming of Rochester’s airport the Frederick Douglass – Greater Rochester International Airport. The decision did not require FAA approval, but the airport had to file paperwork with the agency to the change the airport’s name.