1956 Grand Canyon Collision: the Creation of the Faa

The odds are that at some point in time, most people in America will travel by air. What most of these people do not realize is that a simple flight is in reality a well-oiled, complex machine unlike any other air navigation service provider in the world. After the Wright brothers took their first successful flight, America embraced air travel.  The Federal Aviation Agency (now Administration) officially began operations in May of 1958, and later developed a sophisticated air traffic control system that is responsible for the largest volume of air traffic in the world (“A Brief History of the FAA”). Today, however, many politicians believe that government involvement in air traffic control is inhibiting the overall performance of air traffic control. Several bills have been proposed to Congress since the 1970s in attempt to separate air traffic control (referenced as ATC) from the FAA by privatization, corporatization, or other means (Elias 2). The most recent of these bills has caused serious debate in the aviation world over economic policies, safety regulations, and overall effectiveness of the current ATC system. The Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act (21st Century AIRR Act) as proposed by Representative Bill Shuster should not be passed by Congress because it would privatize air traffic control by removing it from the Federal Aviation Administration. This would entail the creation of a board of stakeholders who would have the power to make regulatory

The reorganization of how the government will create regulations for aviation has now come to its final home, the future of United States day to day aeronautical operations is now the responsibility of the FAA. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was a big step that the government took to getting to how we know Aviation today. When you think of United States Aviation the FAA usually comes to mind, and for good reason, the FAA has been a huge component in shaping new technologies and ways of running the National Airspace System (NAS). All of these contributions to the advancement aeronautics, through the FAA, could not have been possible if it weren’t for the reconstruction of government involvement in aviation. From the Air Commerce Act of 1926, to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, the government has had a significant influence on how we conduct day to day aeronautical operations, ranging from reducing emissions, to improving navigational systems, and ATC

Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. At about 8:46 pm, on 16 August, 1987,

As Kathy suggests, safety can be mainly evaluated through the airport funding and fleet age. A quote from her article reveals the concerns at airport funding: “The general Accounting Office says the country spends $3 billion less per year on airport infrastructure than is needed to keep up with the increased demand for air travel.” This under-level funding may mainspring airports to function clumsily, and may be the root for the air-traffic controllers experiencing “significant system failures” (Koch). Such failures have led to near misses. The supplementary salient aspect of safety- the fleet age – has also seen a degradation. One of the graphs shows that the “Average Age of Fleet” in the US is much higher than “the planes flown by other industrialized nations” (Koch). The decrepit planes have elevated prospects of getting technical problems that could cost numerous lives. Dempsey presents a table accounting the fleet age of different American airlines in his article to substantiate how sharply it has escalated after the act. Following closely is given a table of “Number of Mechanics per Aircraft” that reflects a drastic shrink in numbers for most airlines (except Northwest, Pan Am, and United) (Flying Blind). The reduced number of technicians per aircraft results in lesser care for the aircraft that might lead to accidents. This makes it clear that airlines are putting passenger safety at risk to increase their profits.

Furthermore, the creation and enforcement of standards for pilots and aircrafts was instrumental in ensuring the advancement of commercial aviation. The Air Commerce Act of 1926 ensured that the federal government was able to supervise and regulate the airlines as they evolved from airmail couriers in small, single-engined aircraft to massive, dual-engine aircraft capable of transporting cargo and hundreds of passengers across thousands of

Airport safety is one of the Federal Aviation Administration's biggest concerns. They are tasked with tracking over 10,400,000 commercial flights every year, not including military and non-commercial flights (Canavan). Collisions and crashes are the two major causes of injuries and death. Air travel accidents date all of the way back to 1908 (Old). Orville Wright, one of the original inventors of the airplane, was flying a demonstration for the military when a propeller suddenly was ripped off of the airplane. The passenger, Lieutenant Selfridge was killed when the plane hit the ground (Old). The Federal Aviation Administration has come a long way since the 1960’s to improve safety (Mission). They have implemented various systems such as the United States program, NextGen Program, and the Air Transportation

In an effort to avoid delays and safety issues in the national airspace, Congress subsequently passed the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013. This act allowed the FAA to transfer up to $253 million between accounts, enabling the agency to end furloughs and avoid tower closures (Elias, 2013). Thus, air safety was ensured, the controller workforce was re-instated, air traffic delays were reduced, and the FAA was back to business as

There hardly comes a time when Congress and Senate can unanimously agree to a bill to pass. Congress created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Senate voted unanimously to federalize airport security. Furthermore, this immediate action of unanimous votes was due to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Additionally, this quickly led to the Aviation and Transportation Act. This act was immediately placed, and led to the establishment of the TSA as an Agency by George W. Bush in the fight against terrorist attacks on the U.S. On November 2001, the new agency known as TSA was created within the Department of Transportation and is now part of Homeland security. The amount of the budget given to the TSA allows them to be a bully that

With jet travel quickly developing and becoming something that will be common soon, there was need for more laws regarding air travel, thus the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was passed. At this point, the CAA and CAB essentially became the FAA (Agency). The FAA was responsible for a common civil-military system of air navigation and air traffic control. Also, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created in the wake of the Soviet satellite launch.

With the creation of Federal Aviation Administration in 1958 and also the forming of the Transportation Security Administration in 2001 through the newly created U.S Department of Homeland Security the US government has been getting more and more involved in aviation. They are in control of security, ownership of airports and air traffic control towers. How much control should the government have and how will this work out for the aviation industry?

The crash of the Turkish carrier flight 981 was to be sure a learning knowledge for the whole aircraft industry and amid the following couple of years, examinations and hearings numerous reports had surfaced which made it clear that the disappointment of the plane was not as straightforward as it was thought to be. Every single hierarchical disappointment at each stage and the mixes of every one of these disappointments and breakdowns delivered awful outcomes and a point to be noticed that the FAA perceived their duty regarding the carrier business' security, not simply business achievement and benefit and from that point forward the FAA has settled

From the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, safety was one of the primary concerns of the public. Within 11 years, aircraft as a form passenger travel was expanding rapidly. As a result, the skies quickly became crowded and accidents were occurring both in the air and on the ground. Fearing that air transit would not reach its full economic potential, the Air Commerce Act of 1926 (ACA) was enacted (Dilger, 2003). The ACA established uniform safety rules for carriers, required pilot licensing, and standardized routes. As a result, deaths from aircraft accidents reduced from one in every 1.4 million miles flown in 1927 to every 13 million miles (Dilger, 2003). The ACA paved the way for the Federal Aviation Administration in 1956.

The events that led the path to deregulation were the Middle Eastern oil embargo of 1973, Inflation, and economic downturn, wide body aircraft, CAB. Because of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, many of the regulatory controls were removed such as air passenger eliminated restriction and air cargo domestic route operation, what remained were an antitrust exemption, safety and essential air service, which changed the face of Civil Aviation as we knew it (Greenberg, 2013). The deregulation now allowed airlines to set their own routes and not long after in 1982 the airlines could set their own fares. CAB was abolished in 1984 and airline safety was regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Passengers numbers increased due to

Many years before the Federal Aviation Act was created, the airline industry grew with little to no rules for safety. The skies filled with aircraft each year, always adding more numbers than the previous years. Imagine an aviation world where safety was never even thought of. How do we control and monitor all the aircraft in the skies to ensure they all reach their destinations safely. What if airline regulations never existed? Would aircraft just fly till parts literally fell off? Who would be the responsible party to clean up after an aircraft accident? These are the reasons that the Federal Aviation Administration was created.

Approach-and-landing accidents (ALAs) have been a persistent aviation safety concern. As early as the Wright brothers’ pioneering efforts of manned flight, controlled landing without crashing was a target end state of successful flight (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company, n.d.). More than a century later, perturbations to the approach and landing phases of flight prevail. In an earlier study by the FSF ALAR Task Force, the average worldwide fatal ALA rate from 1980 through 1996 was 16.8 per year (FSF, 1999). Between 2007 and 2016, approximately 56% of all fatal accidents in worldwide commercial operations occurred during the approach and landing phases of flight (Boeing, 2017). Although substantially less than the fatal ALA rate of 23 per year predicted a decade earlier (FSF, 1999), this is an average fatal ALA rate of 3.5 per year. However, these numbers do not account for the nonfatal ALA accidents and incidents resulting in aircraft damage and other adverse outcomes. While the average fatal ALA rate has been significantly reduced, the ALA risk has not. Although only as many as 4 percent of all approaches occur in conditions jeopardizing aviation safety, nearly 97 percent of those at-risk approaches are voluntarily continued to landing (FSF, 2017). According to these numbers, only 3 percent of at-risk approaches in commercial aviation are countered by adherence to the policies and procedures intended to mitigate them. While ALAs occur at a