United States government role in civil aviation

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The

Air Commerce Act of 1926 created an Aeronautic Branch of the United States Department of Commerce
. Its functions included testing and licensing of pilots, certification of aircraft and investigation of accidents.

In 1934, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the

artificial satellite
. The accident investigation powers of the CAB were transferred to the new National Transportation Safety Board in 1967, at the same time that the United States Department of Transportation was created.

In response to the September 11 attacks, the federal government launched the Transportation Security Administration with broad powers to protect air travel and other transportation modes against criminal activity.

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and airmail

European enthusiasm for air power was sparked by an arms race and then by the outbreak of World War I in 1914. During the following year, the United States Congress took a step toward revitalizing American aviation by establishing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), an organization dedicated to the science of flight.

Upon entering

airmail route.[2] The subsequent achievements of the Air Mail Service included the establishment of a transcontinental route and the development of airway lighting.[3][4]

In 1925, the Airmail Act of 1925 authorized the Post Office to contract with private airlines to transport mail. The Airmail Act created American commercial aviation and several of today's airlines were formed to carry airmail in the late 1920s (including Trans World Airlines, Northwest Airlines, and United Airlines).[5][6]

Air Commerce Act

"Watres Act" redirects here. For the McNary-Watres Act, see
Air Mail Act of 1930
.

Aviation in the United States was not regulated during the early 20th century. A succession of accidents during the pre-war exhibition era (1910–16) and barnstorming decade of the 1920s gave way to early forms of federal regulation intended to instill public confidence in the safety of air transportation.[7] As claimed by the Aircraft Year Book, barnstormers caused 66% of fatal accidents during 1924.[8] Opponents of this view included those who distrusted government interference or wished to leave any such regulation to state authorities.[9] Barnstorming accidents that led to such regulations during this period are accurately depicted in the 1975 film The Great Waldo Pepper.

At the urging of the aviation industry, that believed the airplane could not reach its full commercial potential without federal action to improve and maintain safety standards,[citation needed] President Calvin Coolidge appointed a board to investigate the issue. The board's report favored federal safety regulation.[10] To that end, the Air Commerce Act became law on May 20, 1926.[11] The act was sponsored by Rep. Laurence H. Watres, and subsequently referred to as the Watres Act.[12]

The Act created an Aeronautic Branch assigned to the

William P. MacCracken, Jr.[14][15] High visibility accidents such as the 1931 Transcontinental & Western Air Fokker F-10 crash and the 1935 crash of TWA Flight 6
continued to make headlines.

In fulfilling its civil aviation responsibilities, the Department of Commerce initially concentrated on functions such as safety rulemaking and the certification of pilots and aircraft. It took over the building and operation of the nation's system of lighted airways, a task begun by the Post Office Department. The Department of Commerce improved aeronautical radio communications, and introduced radio beacons as an effective aid to air navigation.[4]

In 1934, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the

Bureau of Air Commerce.[4] As commercial aviation grew, the Bureau encouraged airlines to establish three centers (Newark, New Jersey; Cleveland, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois)[16] to provide air traffic control in airways.[17] In 1936, the Bureau itself took over the centers and began to expand the ATC system.[4] Pioneer air traffic controllers resorted to using maps, blackboards, and calculations to perform their new roles, making sure aircraft traveling along designated routes did not collide.[17]

Bureau of Air Commerce

The Department of Commerce created an Aeronautics Branch in 1926.

low frequency radio range, or the "Four Course Radio Range".[19] The branch also built additional airway communications stations to encourage broader use of aeronautical radio and combat adverse weather.[20][21]

NACA began its own aeronautics research undertaking in 1920.

drag than former designs.[23]

Under President

Fred D. Fagg, Jr.[26] Fagg reorganized the bureau,[27] but retired in April 1938, being replaced by Hindenburg crash investigator Denis Mulligan.[28]

The year 1934 also saw a crisis over airmail contracts that former Postmaster General W.F. Brown had used to strengthen the airline route structure. In the Air Mail scandal, Senate investigators charged that Brown's methods had been illegal, and President Roosevelt canceled the contracts.[29] In 1935 the BAC encouraged a group of airlines to establish the first three centers (Newark, New Jersey; Cleveland, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois) for providing air traffic control along the airways, the following year taking over the centers itself and expanding the traffic control system.[4]

Civil Aeronautics Authority

Logo on side of a test aircraft
Seal and flag of the defunct Civil Aeronautics Board on display in the National Air and Space Museum

In 1938, the

Civil Aeronautics Act transferred federal responsibilities for non-military aviation from the Bureau of Air Commerce to a new, independent agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority.[30] The legislation also gave the authority the power to regulate airline fares and to determine the routes that air carriers would serve.[31]

In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt split the authority into two agencies, the Civil Aeronautics Administration and a three-member Civil Aeronautics Board.[32] The CAA was responsible for air traffic control, safety programs, and airway development. The CAB was entrusted with safety rulemaking, accident investigation, and economic regulation of the airlines.[33] Although both organizations were part of the Department of Commerce, the CAB functioned independently.[34] When a Douglas DC-3A crashed shortly after departing Washington, D.C., on August 31, 1940, the CAB had their first major investigation, that of the Lovettsville air disaster, setting the pattern for subsequent accident investigations.[35]

In 1942, President Roosevelt appointed L. Welch Pogue as Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board. Pogue served as Chairman until 1946.[36] During his tenure he helped strike down a plan for a single world airline.[37]

After

control towers,[39] a role that eventually became permanent.[40] During the war, the CAA also greatly enlarged its en route air traffic control system.[41] In 1944, the United States hosted a conference in Chicago that led to the establishment of the International Civil Aviation Organization and set the framework for future aviation diplomacy.[42] In 1946, Congress gave the CAA the task of administering a federal-aid airport program aimed exclusively at promoting development of the United States' civil airports.[43]

This included the establishment of semi-permanent colonies in remote, U.S.-owned territories, such as the Palmyra Atoll, where beginning in 1948, nearly 100 men, women, and children were sent to live and work. They occupied the facilities of what had been a Navy refueling base during World War II, manning its radio station and maintaining the 6,000-foot runway. Strangely, this community was dispersed in 1949, and while the exact reasons why are unclear, it was likely because the benefits of operating the facilities did not outweigh the cost of providing for the colony members.[44]

Bahamas
(the former a British overseas territory and the latter a sovereign country, both where the FAA provides high-altitude ATC service). The blue regions are where the US provides oceanic ATC services over international waters (Hawaii, some US island territories, & some small, foreign island nations/territories where the US provides high-altitude ATC service are included in this region).

Federal Aviation Administration and NASA

Several mid-air collisions occurred during the latter half of the 20th century, such as the

Elwood R. Quesada, was a former U.S. Air Force Lt. General who commanded the early tactical air forces of the Ninth Air Force in Europe in World War II, and served as an advisor to President Dwight D. Eisenhower
.

The same year witnessed the transformation of the

Sputnik. NASA assumed NACA's role of aeronautical research.[48]

Department of Transportation and TSA

The accident investigation powers of the Civil Aeronautics Board were transferred to the new National Transportation Safety Board in 1967, at the same time that the United States Department of Transportation was created.[47]

The CAB's remaining authority was to control the routes airlines were allowed to run, and the fares they were allowed to charge.[49][31] The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 phased out these controls, resulting in the elimination of the CAB at the end of 1984.[50]

The

September 11, 2001 attacks challenged the air transportation system by presenting a new type of terrorist attack: hijacked airliners used for terrorist attacks.[51] The government's response included the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, enacted that November, that established a new DOT organization: the Transportation Security Administration. It received broad powers to protect air travel and other transportation modes against criminal activity.[52]

References

  1. ^ United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services (1 January 2001). E-commerce activities of the US Postal Service. U.S. G.P.O.
  2. ^ Reinhard, Stephen (2010-02-16). "First flight cover". Pioneer Period (1783-1918). National Postal Museum. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  3. ^ Dale Nielson (1962). Saga of U.S. Air Mail Service, 1918-1927. Air Mail Pioneers.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-60239-780-4
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-19-508209-8
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  6. ISBN 978-1-61927-685-7
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  7. ISBN 978-1-58765-047-5
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  8. ISBN 0-472-06833-4
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  9. ISBN 978-1-4200-1702-1
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  10. ^ The Alternative: An American Spectator. Saturday Evening Club. 1977.
  11. ^ "Air Commerce Act of 1926 ~ P.L. 69-254" (PDF). 44 Stat. 568 ~ Senate Bill 41. Legis★Works. May 20, 1926. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  12. Newspapers.com
    .
  13. ^ United States. Dept. of Commerce (1932). The United States Department of Commerce: a brief description of the activities of the several bureaus of the Department. G.P.O.
  14. ^ International Committee on Radio. American Section; New York University. School of Law; American Academy of Air Law (1938). Air law review. Board of New York University Air Law Review.
  15. ISBN 978-0-595-36398-8
    .
  16. ^ "Federal Aviation Administration - History". Archived from the original on 2005-03-18.
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-81-7446-459-0
    .
  18. ISBN 978-0-7881-4728-9
    .
  19. ISBN 978-1-886028-83-8
    .
  20. ^ Air Commerce Bulletin. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1930. pp. 137–.
  21. ^ United States. Dept. of Commerce. Aeronautics Branch; United States. Bureau of Air Commerce; United States. Civil Aeronautics Authority (1933). Air Commerce Bulletin.
  22. ISBN 978-3-540-30421-0
    .
  23. ISBN 978-1-78538-324-3
    .
  24. ISBN 978-1-58544-130-3
    .
  25. ISBN 978-0-7432-0217-6
    .
  26. ^ Aviation Week and Space Technology. McGraw-Hill. 1937.
  27. ISBN 978-1-351-94585-1
    .
  28. ^ Report - National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1938.
  29. ^ The Journal of Air Law and Commerce. Southern Methodist University School of Law. 1975.
  30. ^ "Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 ~ P.L. 75-706" (PDF). 52 Stat. 973 ~ Senate Bill 3845. Legis★Works. June 23, 1938. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 20, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  31. ^
    ISBN 978-1-315-29957-0
    .
  32. ISBN 978-0-16-083949-8
    .
  33. ISBN 978-1-61069-698-2
    .
  34. ISBN 978-1-317-05983-7
    .
  35. ISBN 978-0-8229-7426-0
    .
  36. ISBN 978-0-8142-0833-5
    .
  37. ^ Bernstein, Adam. "L. Welch Pogue Dies". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  38. ^ Annual Report of the Civil Aeronautics Board. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1941.
  39. ^ Flying Magazine. February 1942. pp. 66–. ISSN 0015-4806
  40. ^ United States. Congress. House. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce; United States. Congress. House. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Subcommittee on Aviation (1952). Aviation Safety. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 185–.
  41. ISBN 978-1-4500-8675-2
    .
  42. ISBN 978-90-411-2389-3
    .
  43. ^ Study of operation of Civil Aeronautics Administration: Hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United States Senate, Eighty-fourth Congress, second session on s. 2818, a bill to amend airport act, as amended, and for other purposes; and the resignation of Frederick B. Lee, formerly the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1956.
  44. ^ "CAA Colony on Palmyra Exhibit". Palmyra Atoll Digital Archive.
  45. ^ The Navigator. Department of the Air Force, Air Training Command. 1959. pp. 43.
  46. ISBN 978-0-309-57834-9
    .
  47. ^
    ISBN 978-1-317-13372-8
    .
  48. ISBN 978-1-289-15820-0
    .
  49. ISBN 978-1-351-55962-1
    .
  50. ^ "The Federal Aviation Administration and Its Predecessor Agencies".
  51. ISBN 978-0-393-34108-9
    .
  52. ISBN 978-1-59033-870-4
    .

External links

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Federal Aviation Administration.

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