United States government role in civil aviation
The
In 1934, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the
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
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
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
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
The Department of Commerce created an Aeronautics Branch in 1926.
NACA began its own aeronautics research undertaking in 1920.
Under President
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
In 1938, the
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
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]
Federal Aviation Administration and NASA
Several mid-air collisions occurred during the latter half of the 20th century, such as the
The same year witnessed the transformation of the
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
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ Reinhard, Stephen (2010-02-16). "First flight cover". Pioneer Period (1783-1918). National Postal Museum. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
- ^ Dale Nielson (1962). Saga of U.S. Air Mail Service, 1918-1927. Air Mail Pioneers.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-60239-780-4.
- ISBN 978-0-19-508209-8.
- ISBN 978-1-61927-685-7.
- ISBN 978-1-58765-047-5.
- ISBN 0-472-06833-4.
- ISBN 978-1-4200-1702-1.
- ^ The Alternative: An American Spectator. Saturday Evening Club. 1977.
- ^ "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.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ISBN 978-0-595-36398-8.
- ^ "Federal Aviation Administration - History". Archived from the original on 2005-03-18.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7446-459-0.
- ISBN 978-0-7881-4728-9.
- ISBN 978-1-886028-83-8.
- ^ Air Commerce Bulletin. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1930. pp. 137–.
- ^ United States. Dept. of Commerce. Aeronautics Branch; United States. Bureau of Air Commerce; United States. Civil Aeronautics Authority (1933). Air Commerce Bulletin.
- ISBN 978-3-540-30421-0.
- ISBN 978-1-78538-324-3.
- ISBN 978-1-58544-130-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7432-0217-6.
- ^ Aviation Week and Space Technology. McGraw-Hill. 1937.
- ISBN 978-1-351-94585-1.
- ^ Report - National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1938.
- ^ The Journal of Air Law and Commerce. Southern Methodist University School of Law. 1975.
- ^ "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.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-315-29957-0.
- ISBN 978-0-16-083949-8.
- ISBN 978-1-61069-698-2.
- ISBN 978-1-317-05983-7.
- ISBN 978-0-8229-7426-0.
- ISBN 978-0-8142-0833-5.
- ^ Bernstein, Adam. "L. Welch Pogue Dies". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ Annual Report of the Civil Aeronautics Board. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1941.
- ^ Flying Magazine. February 1942. pp. 66–. ISSN 0015-4806
- ^ 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–.
- ISBN 978-1-4500-8675-2.
- ISBN 978-90-411-2389-3.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "CAA Colony on Palmyra Exhibit". Palmyra Atoll Digital Archive.
- ^ The Navigator. Department of the Air Force, Air Training Command. 1959. pp. 43.
- ISBN 978-0-309-57834-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-317-13372-8.
- ISBN 978-1-289-15820-0.
- ISBN 978-1-351-55962-1.
- ^ "The Federal Aviation Administration and Its Predecessor Agencies".
- ISBN 978-0-393-34108-9.
- ISBN 978-1-59033-870-4.
External links
- Department of Transportation Online Digital Special Collections Library - air investigation reports and various other circulars and orders dating from before the formation of the NTSBin 1967
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Department of Transportation
- Department of Commerce
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Federal Aviation Administration.