The FAA Federal Aviation Authority
The FAA has its roots in the Air Commerce Act that was signed into law on May 20, 1926. This act was the beginning of the US Federal government's regulating of civilian aviation, and was actually brought about at the behest of industry leaders who feared that the commercial development of aviation was not going to go much farther without government propping-up.
The Secretary of Commerce was given responsibility for helping to develop air commerce, issuing and enforcing air traffic rules, licensing pilots, certificating aircraft, establishing airways, and operating and maintaining support for air navigation. A new ly created Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce assumed primary responsibility for aviation oversight.
The Department of Commerce took over , from the Post Office Department, the building improved aeronautical radio communications, and introduced radio beacons as avionic ground support. By 1934, the Aeronautics Branch had evolved into the Bureau of Air Commerce .
There were more planes flying the friendly skies than ever, and the Bureau encouraged a group of airlines to establish the first three centers for providing air traffic control (ATC) . By 1936, the Bureau had taken over the centers and beg un to expand the ATC system.
Over twenty years later, with the friendly skies getting faster and ever more crowded (resulting in some midair collisions, no less) , especially with the advent of jet aircraft, the federal government passed the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. This legislation transferred the Civil Aeronautics Administration's functions to a new independent body, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) , and gave it more across-the-board authority to confront aviation hazards.
At once , the act entrusted safety regulations to the new FAA , while giving the agency sole responsibility for developing and maintaining a common civil-military system of air navigation and air traffic control, a responsibility that the CAA previously shared with others.
The FAA gradually assumed responsibilities not originally contemplated by the Federal Aviation Act. A hijacking epidemic of the 1960s got the agency entangled in the field of aviation security. Regulations for avionics started to be churned out more rapidly. In 1968, Congress gave to the FAA's Administrator the power to prescribe aircraft noise standards.
The Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970 placed the agency in charge of a new airport financial support program which was funded by a special aviation trust fund. By the mid-1970s, the FAA had successfully developed and now held authority over a semi-automated air traffic control system through the merging of radar and computer technology.
By automating certain routine tasks, the system allowed controllers to concentrate more efficiently on the vital task of providing separation. Data appearing directly on the controllers' scopes provided the identity, altitude, and groundspeed of aircraft carrying radar beacons.
This system must be and has been continuously upgraded due to steadily increasing air traffic since the 1970s. In recent times, the FAA has worked to speed the application of the Global Positioning System satellite technology to civil aeronautics.
Another one of its more recently implemented programs is called " ATOP - Human Factors ". The purpose of this program according to the FAA is to "provide scientific and technical support for the civil aviation human factors research program and for human factors applications in acquisition, certification, regulation, and standards.
"ATOP assures "implementation of human factors policies, regulations, programs, and procedures which support the safety and productivity of the national airspace system " while formulating and managing "the aviation human factors research program providing human factors support to acquisition and regulatory activities."
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