aviation hw help
I have a research assignment that is due September 20th at 11:00pm. The assignment has 4 questions and it needs to be from one to two paragraphs each. I have attached the questions.
Review Questions Module 3: just answer the questions in 1-3 sentences.
there is about 12 questions
due September 20th at 11:00 pm
Online Research Assignment 3
1. Are participants in Red Bull Air Races required to sign an exculpatory contract? If so, describe in detail or provide a copy of the actual agreement.
2. Select an airline crash that occurred on an international flight within the last ten years. For that crash, identify the applicable governing international agreement(s), then analyze the airline`s legal liability for;
a. Passanger injuries
b. Damage to cargo
c. Punitive or exemplary damages
d. Damage to persons and/or property on the ground, if any.
3. Has the Pilot Bill of Rights 2 been enacted into U.S. law? If so, describe the final language of the Act pertaining to FAA designees and explain how this changes the previous law on that topic.
4. Determine whether any changes have been made to NTSB Part 830 since March 2015. Review Questions Module 3
Chapter 7
1. What is an exculpatory contract?
2. Which afford you better protection from liability losses: an exculpatory contract or adequate liability insurance?
3. Are there any states in which exculpatory contracts are void and unenforceable as a matter of law? If so, where?
Chapter 8
1. From the standpoint of legal liability for negligence, what difference does it make whether a domestic commercial flight is a common-carrier or a contract-carrier operation?
2. Is the assumption of risk defense available to an airline to defend against lawsuits brought by injured passengers or the survivors of passengers killed in an airline crash? Why?
3. What is an airline tariff? Where would you find it?
4. Can a mixture of domestic passengers and international passengers be on the same flight?
5. What treaty is now the primary source of law governing the legal relationship between airlines and their international passengers?
Chapter 9
1. Compare and contrast the vicarious liability of the government for the consequences of torts committed by its employees with the same liability of employers in the private sector?
2. Compare and contrast the personal liability for the consequences of torts committed by individual federal employees with that of individual employees in the private sector.
3. What is a discretionary function? What other kind of exercise of judgement is there? Distinguish.
4. Is the United States liable for negligence of a FAA Designee, such as an AME, DAR, DER, DMR, IA, or ODA? Practical Aviation & Aerospace Law, Sixth Edition
J. Scott Hamilton, with Dr. Sarah Nilsson
2015 Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Sixth Edition published 2015 by ASA. Publication history: Fifth Edition
published 2011 by ASA. Fourth Edition originally published 2005 by
Blackwell Publishing. Other past editionsFirst, 1991; Second, 1996; Third,
2001.
Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.
7005 132nd Place SE
Newcastle, WA 98059
Email: [emailprotected]
Website: www.asa2fly.com
See the Reader Resources page for this book on the ASA website at
http://www.asa2fly.com/reader/prctavlaw
Photo credits and acknowledgments. Unless otherwise stated, photographs
used are J. Scott Hamilton. Photos indicated throughout are courtesy of and
copyright of the following organizations or individuals and are used with
permission: 1-3, Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority; 1-5, NASA; 1-
6, (upper) Hyku Photo, and, 1-7, (lower) Eclipse Aerospace, Inc.; 1-8, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection; 7-1, Library of Congress, G.G. Bain
Collection; 7-4, Clay Observatory at Dexter and Southfield Schools, for
Virgin Galactic; 8-2 U.S. Navy; 8-3 Bernie Roland; 9-1, U.S. Army; 13-4,
USGS digital orthophoto of Santa Monica Airport (via TopoQuest); 13-5,
Denver International Airport; 14-2, U.S. Air Force; 15-3, Transportation
Security Administration; 18-1, photo by Danny Fritsche; 18-2, NASA
Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (ISS Soyuz 13 mission training session,
Star City, Russia); 18-3, Bigelow Aerospace, LLC; 18-4, NASA illustration.
Cover: iStockphoto yongbum park
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ASA-PRCT-LAW6-EK
ISBN 978-1-61954-273-0
Preface
Practical Aviation and Aerospace Law is designed to be used in conjunction
with the Practical Aviation and Aerospace Law Workbook as a university text
for aviation and aerospace law courses and, standing alone, as a reference
guide for aviation and aerospace business managers, pilots, mechanics,
aircraft owners, and others involved in aviation by vocation or avocation.
Originally titled simply Practical Aviation Law, beginning with the first
edition in 1991 and continuing through the fifth edition in 2011, the book has
continuously grown in response to industry developments and instructor
feedback. In much of the world, aviation is generally considered to be
included in the term aerospace industry, but in the United States, a
distinction has persisted, with the term aviation industry generally
encompassing operations, repair and maintenance, while aerospace
industry is used to refer to aircraft, spacecraft, and component design and
manufacturing, and now also spaceflight operations. With the recent
expansion of the number of companies engaged in commercial spacecraft
design and manufacturing, and most of these companies engaging in or
preparing to engage in operation of those spacecraft (beyond the flight test
phase) for commercial purposes, it appeared timely to add a new chapter
covering the law of commercial spaceflight operations in this edition. The
addition of and Aerospace to the title signifies the books expanded scope
for this and subsequent editions. The author of this new chapter (the first
contributed by another author since the books inception) is Dr. Sarah
Nilsson, Assistant Professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Universitys
Prescott, Arizona, campus, whose research interests encompass this topic.
Except for certain treaties having worldwide or at least multinational effect,
the scope of previous editions of the book has been limited to the law of the
United States and may have had little relevance to the domestic laws of other
nations. In keeping with the truly global nature of the aviation and aerospace
industries and in recognition of the worldwide employment opportunities that
offers, this edition begins what is likely to be a long-term effort to continually
expand the global perspective. The book does not attempt to explore the
entire seamless web of the lawonly those areas particularly applicable to
aviation and aerospace. I recommend that students considering a career in
aviation and aerospace, whether in operations, maintenance, engineering,
manufacturing or business management, also take courses in business law
and aviation labor relations. While there is some overlap between the content
of those courses and this text, those give much broader and deeper coverage
of some of the legal concepts and principles studied here.
As the title suggests, this book takes a practical viewpoint. It aims to
provide the reader with basic legal knowledge and perspectives along with an
understanding of how the legal system works in relation to aviation and
aerospace activities. It aims to provide that in a form that can be applied to
help you recognize and avoid common legal pitfalls, and to recognize when
the moment has come to stop what you are doing and consult your lawyer. If
this book had a subtitle, it would be How to Avoid Aviation Lawyers and
When to Call One.
No book can hope to advise you what to do in every conceivable situation.
In advising our clients, lawyers must take into consideration not only the law
but also the facts and circumstances. In over thirty-five years of practicing
lawin private practice, as government and later corporate counselI
represented clients in well over three thousand aviation matters involving
every subject in this book, and never saw two identical cases. While similar
facts give rise to similar considerations, slight differences in the facts and
circumstances often lead to major differences in the best approach to solving
the problem. Examples in this book and its accompanying workbook are
drawn largely from cases I encountered in my practice.
The law itself is also in a constant state of change. Even as I write, the
Congress of the United States, fifty state legislatures, and a vast number of
administrative agencies are daily making changes to statutes and regulations,
while hundreds of federal and state courts are writing and publishing case
decisions on the interpretation, application, and constitutionality of those
laws and regulations, along with decisions that modify, clarify, or sometimes
confuse the common law. Simultaneously, U.S. diplomats are negotiating
with their foreign counterparts new or amended treaties to be ratified by their
governments. Such changes as have occurred since the fifth edition of this
book was published are one reason for this expanded and updated sixth
edition.
While this process of continual change keeps the lawyers work from
becoming routine to the point of boredom, it also means that what was good
advice yesterday (or the day this book went to press) may no longer be good
advice today. While the fundamental legal principles discussed in this book
are less susceptible to sudden obsolescence than, say, a text on the Internal
Revenue Code and IRS Regulations, you are cautioned not to attempt to
solve actual individual legal problems on the basis of information contained
in this book. Finding yourself faced with an actual legal problem, you should
recognize that the time has come to consult your lawyer.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following people for their encouragement, advice,
and support, without which I would not have undertaken and persevered with
the writing of this text, the related workbook and teachers manual, and
subsequent updated editions of each. These acknowledgments should not be
construed to imply an endorsement of this teaching system by any of the
persons or organizations mentioned.
Dr. Stacy Weislogel, chair, Department of Aviation, The Ohio State
University, one of the first to urge me to write this book.
Professor Gary Kitely of Auburn University, who recently retired as
executive director of the University Aviation Association, an organization
that consistently provides a wonderful forum and source of information to
those of us who teach aviation-related courses in colleges and universities.
He was a source of encouragement not only in the drafting of the original
manuscript for the first edition, but also in the continuously expanded
international law coverage of each subsequent edition.
Dr. Rex A. Hammarback, director, University of North Dakota Aviation
Foundation and formerly a professor in UNDs renowned aviation program,
who after I had explained my concept for the book said simply and directly:
If you write it, Ill use it.
Hon. John E. Faulk, NTSB administrative law judge (retired), a practicing
attorney with the Trachtmann law firm in Melbourne, Florida, and an adjunct
professor in the School of Aeronautics at the Florida Institute of Technology.
Many of his recommendations based on his classroom experience using this
teaching system have been incorporated as improvements to each successive
edition.
Professor Terri Haynes, Chadron State College, Chadron, Nebraska. She
deserves particular credit for strongly encouraging me to avoid legalese
jargon wherever possible in favor of plain English to make the book as clear
and understandable as possible to students and other readers having no
previous training in the law.
Jonathan Stern, Esq., partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the world-
renowned Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis law firm and editor of the
American Bar Associations Aviation Litigation Quarterly. Jon has been
especially helpful in providing materials, insights, and updates on the
continuing evolution of international law governing airline liability.
Bill Behan, president, AirSure, Ltd., Golden, Colorado. Bill continues to be
a reliable source of information on developments in the ever changing field
of aviation insurance.
John and Kathleen Yodice, a father-and-daughter team in the Yodice &
Associates law firm in Bethesda, Maryland, who do yeoman service for
general aviation as legal counsel for the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association
and other clients and have proved themselves reliable sources of insights into
recent developments in FAA enforcement, aviation medical, and airport and
airspace access issues.
Professors Robert Kaps of Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) and
Timm Bliss of Oklahoma State University, co-authors with me of the new
Labor Relations in Aviation and Aerospace textbook and study guide with
supplemental readings, published by Southern Illinois University Press, and
Professor Jack Panosian of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Universitys Prescott,
Arizona, campus, who strongly encouraged that effort. All of them also use
this Practical Aviation & Aerospace Law text and motivated me to expand
the coverage of Chapter 17 to provide students a broader introduction to that
topic.
Dr. Sarah Nilsson, Assistant Professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University, contributing author of the new chapter on commercial spaceflight
operations, was also a particularly helpful sounding board on recent
developments in the law governing unmanned aircraft and on the Pilots Bill
of Rights and proposed Pilots Bill of Rights 2 legislation. Both of these
topics are moving targets, areas of rapid development having application to
and receiving expanded coverage in several chapters.
The Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association, Southern Methodist Universitys
Journal of Air Law and Commerce; DePaul University College of Laws
International Aviation Law Institute (IALI) and its journal, Issues in Aviation
Law and Policy; and the University of Denvers Transportation Law Journal,
each of which consistently provides wonderful forums and opportunities for
attorneys and others interested in aviation and aerospace law to share
knowledge and ideas in print and face-to-face in an atmosphere of
professional collegiality. They continue to contribute greatly to the
advancement of the legal profession and the quality of legal service to
aviation and aerospace clients.
Colleagues teaching aviation and aerospace law courses at numerous
colleges and universities who provide feedback and suggestions that
contribute to the continuous improvement of each successive edition of this
teaching system.
My students, past and present, who continue to relentlessly question,
challenge, and demand clear explanations and sound reasoning, rightly
refusing to settle for less.
Not unlike the airline and aerospace industries, the publishing industry is in
dynamic change as publishing companies merge, are acquired, go out of
business, or adjust their scope and market focus, particularly in response to
technological advancements in alternative means of dissemination of
knowledge. Through all this change, successive editors at Iowa State
University Press, Blackwell Publishing Professional, and now Aviation
Supplies & Academics have recognized the need for this teaching system and
its periodic updates, turning my vision into the solid reality you are now
holding in your hand or viewing on your electronic device.
My family, who encouraged me in this project and more-or-less cheerfully
tolerated the many hours I spent sequestered writing and updating this work
(often after a full day of practicing aviation law, running a corporation or
teaching), and especially my wife Charlotte, who did most of the work of
preparing the original and subsequent manuscripts.
The credit is theirs; the errors are mine.
Notes on the Text
Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed herein are entirely my own
and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employers, past or present.
All photos and illustrations are by the author, unless otherwise credited.
The use of proper language and phraseology is of crucial importance in the
law. The primary use of italics in the text is to alert you to the introduction of
a law, legal word or phrase you need to understand to grasp the concepts
under discussion, though italics are also occasionally used to give special
emphasis to a point.
The law is constantly evolving to keep abreast of challenges presented by the
evolution of society and technology. The aviation and aerospace industries
are among the most dynamic of all enterprises, and thus the locus of some of
the most continual legal change. The reader can watch for changes that may
occur after this book is in print by consulting the Reader Resources page
for this book on the ASA website at
http://www.asa2fly.com/reader/prctavlaw.
http://www.asa2fly.com/reader/prctavlaw
About the Authors
J. Scott Hamilton is an adjunct professor and course developer at Embry-
Riddle Aeronautical University, formerly assistant professor and faculty
chair. He previously served as general counsel for the Civil Air Patrol, then
as the national organizations chief operating officer. Prior to that, he served
as senior assistant attorney general for the State of Wyoming. While
practicing aviation law in Colorado, he also was a faculty member at the
University of Denver College of Law, as well as Metropolitan State College
of Denver. He is an experienced pilot and skydiver who served as a HALO
instructor in the Green Berets. Hamilton is widely published on aviation law
and has received many honors, including induction into the Colorado and
Arkansas Aviation Halls of Fame.
Sarah Nilsson is an Assistant Professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University and a practicing attorney in Arizona, where her practice focuses
on aviation/aerospace and business law. She previously managed an
Aerospace Magnet program at an inner city high school in Phoenix. Nilsson
gained extensive aviation operating experience working as a cargo pilot and
flight instructor and now volunteers as a safety representative on the FAA
Safety Team. Her research interests include aviation, space, and unmanned
aerial systems law.
PART I
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
1
Regulatory Agencies and
International Organizations
If you are involved in aviation, you will deal with administrative agency
regulations far more frequently than any other area of the law. Indeed, you
will probably be confronted with making decisions based on the Federal
Aviation Regulations (FARs) on a daily basis. Those regulations also
establish standards of legal behavior by which a judge or jury may later
decide whether you and your employer are legally liable for negligence in the
event of an aircraft accident. Hardly any aspect of aviation today is
unaffected by these regulations. That is why we begin with an examination of
administrative law, with particular focus on the role of the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) in administering the federal program of air safety
regulation.
Since the 1920s, Congress has created a plethora of regulatory agencies to
administer the many federal programs it has initiated. Indeed, federal
agencies continue to grow and multiply, under Democratic and Republican
administrations alike. We start here with an overview of the numerous U.S.
administrative agencies most directly involved with some aspect of aviation,
distinguishing them from each other according to the specific role played by
each in regulating aviation. Although this chapter focuses on the U.S. model,
virtually all nations have their own counterparts of these agencies, engaged in
similar aviation regulatory activities. For example, at least 165 nations have
their own domestic counterpart of the FAA, such as the European Unions
European Aviation Safety Agency, the Civil Aviation Authority of
Singapore, the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil, the United Arab
Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority, and the Civil Aviation
Administration of China.
The ease with which civil aircraft cross national borders, air
transportations key role in the global economy, and recent horrific and
effective use of civil airliners as weapons of terror have made the regulation
and development of civil aviation a continuing subject of not only national
but also international concern.
This chapter also introduces the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA),
organizations that, although not technically regulatory agencies, play an
important role in harmonizing technical standards for civil aviation
worldwide.
FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, shook the United States to the
core. Few industriesindeed, few aspects of American lifewere
untouched, though some were more deeply affected than others. Civil
aviation, having been so infamously and effectively abused in these attacks as
a weapon of terror, has borne the brunt of these changes.
One of the results of the attacks was the most sweeping reorganization of
the federal government in over a half-century.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) (www.tsa.gov)
Barely two months after the attacks and for the express purpose of improving
security in all modes of transportation, including civil aviation, Congress
enacted the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, creating the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA was originally
established as an operating agency of the Department of Transportation
(DOT), but moved into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) when
that agency was created.
Previously, operators of airports served by commercial airlines had been
responsible for airport security, relying primarily on contractors, with some
FAA oversight. The new law brought the responsibility for day-to-day
screening of airline passengers, baggage and cargo into the federal arena,
under the TSA, which immediately set about hiring and training security
personnel. Most of the new federal screeners were the same individuals
http://www.tsa.gov
previously employed by those contractors that had been performing the
function prior to its federalization. With a change of uniform and some
additional training, they returned to the same work. However, in late 2004,
the Screening Partnership Program (SPP) enabled airports to obtain TSA
approval to replace those federal screeners with qualified, TSA-approved
private sector vendors. At this writing, some eighteen airports have taken
advantage of the SPP and now utilize private sector contractors to provide
passenger and baggage screening services.
The TSA also took over from the FAA the responsibility for inspecting and
testing security measures at airports, with the added responsibility for the
same at other transportation facilities, including foreign aircraft repair
stations. Congress also empowered the TSA to receive, assess, and distribute
intelligence information related to transportation security. The new agency
was directed to develop plans, policies, and strategies for dealing with threats
to transportation security and to coordinate countermeasures with other
federal agencies. Congress also ordered that the Federal Air Marshal program
be beefed up and that steps be taken to increase the availability and use of
explosive detection systems at air carrier airports.
Under the Secure Flight Program, the TSA is now responsible for
maintaining the Terrorist Watchlist and related No Fly and Selectee lists. The
watch list of known and suspected terrorists is a uniform list used to
identify persons who should be prevented from boarding (the No Fly List) or
who should undergo additional security scrutiny (the Selectee List). The TSA
began taking over the responsibility for the pre-boarding matching of airline
passengers names against these lists from the airlines in early 2009.
Transportation Security Oversight Board (TSOB)
Congress initial investigation into the terrorist attacks revealed that various
federal law enforcement agencies had clues that, if assembled together and
investigated coherently, might have revealed the plot and enabled prevention,
but that these agencies tended to hoard, rather than share, potentially crucial
intelligence information. In an effort to address that shortcoming, the
Aviation and Transportation Security Act also created the Transportation
Security Oversight Board (TSOB), an extremely high-level panel composed
of the Secretaries of Homeland Security, Transportation, Defense, and
Treasury; the Attorney General, and the Director of National Intelligence (or
designees of any of the foregoing), along with a presidential appointee
representing the National Security Council (NSC). The TSOB was made
responsible for assuring the coordination and sharing of intelligence relating
to threats against transportation.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (www.dhs.gov)
Next, Congress and President George W. Bush created the new Department
of Homeland Security (DHS), now the largest federal department. Paralleling
President Trumans epic 1947 merger of all branches of the U.S. armed
forces into a new Department of Defense (DoD) to better coordinate the
nations defense against military threats, 24 federal agencies were brought
under the new DHS to protect the nation against further terrorist attacks and
respond to natural disasters. Agencies brought into the DHS include the
following (italics indicate the agencys former home in the federal
bureaucracy):
Secret Service
Coast Guard (Department of Transportation)
U.S. Customs Service (Department of the Treasury)
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (part, from Department of
Justice)
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) (Department of
Transportation)
Federal Protective Service (General Services Administration)
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (Department of the Treasury)
Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (part, from Department of
Agriculture)
Office for Domestic Preparedness (Department of Justice)
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Strategic National Stockpile & Disaster Medical System (Department of
Health and Human Services)
Nuclear Incident Response Team (Department of Energy)
Domestic Emergency Response Teams (Department of Justice)
National Domestic Preparedness Office (FBI)
CBN Countermeasures Program (Department of Energy)
http://www.dhs.gov
Environmental Measures Laboratory (Department of Energy)
National Biological Warfare Defense Analysis Center (Department of
Defense)
Plum Island Animal Disease Center (Department of Agriculture)
Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office (Department of Commerce)
Federal Computer Incident Response Center (General Services
Administration)
National Communications System (Department of Defense)
National Infrastructure Protection Center (FBI)
Energy Security and Assurance Program (Department of Energy)
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act originally assigned the
attorney general responsibility for screening all aliens applying for training at
U.S. flight schools for security risks. Due to comparatively low fuel costs,
prevalent VFR weather, and abundant suitable airspace, the United States
(and particularly Florida and the desert southwest) was a popular destination
for large numbers of foreigners wishing to learn to fly (and land). This new
requirement hit U.S. flight schoolsmany of which were heavily reliant on
foreign studentshard and hundreds closed their doors. This screening duty
was later transferred to the new DHS and limited to students desiring to learn
to fly aircraft with a maximum certificated gross takeoff weight of more than
12,500 pounds. As required by Congress, DHS now gives quick service to
these foreign students, acting on them within five days.
Aviation security law is discussed in much greater detail in Chapter 15.
Department of Transportation (DOT) (www.dot.gov)
The U.S. Department of Transportation houses a variety of federal agencies
dealing with policy and regulation of various means of transportation of
people and goods. DOT agencies having jurisdiction over various aspects of
transportation include the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal
Transit Administration (FTA), Maritime Administration (MARAD), National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Research and Innovative
Technology Administration (RITA), St. Lawrence Seaway Development
http://www.dot.gov
Corporation (SLSDC), and Surface Transportation Board (STB). The head of
the agency is the Secretary of Transportation.
In civil aviation, the DOT amasses and publishes a wealth of detailed
operational and financial data and statistics on airlines and airports, available
online at
http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/subject_areas/airline_information/index.html
The DOT also issues certificates of economic authority to U.S. carriers for
interstate or foreign passengers and/or cargo and mail authority, a certificate
for interstate or foreign all-cargo authority, or authorization as a commuter air
carrier, as well as foreign air carrier permits to foreign airlines designated by
their nations to provide service to the United States pursuant to treaty. The
DOT consults with the State Department in the foreign air carrier approval
process. Permit issuance requires presidential approval. The president may
disapprove a specific foreign carrier only for foreign relations or national
security reasons. Such permits have occasionally been denied or withdrawn
in the application of U.S. foreign policy, as when Aeroflots permit was
suspended following the Soviet Unions invasion of Afghanistan.
The DOT also regulates deceptive and anticompetitive practices by airlines
and airports to protect consumers and foster competition in the airline
industry.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (www.faa.gov)
In the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, Congress made the FAA primarily
responsible for the safe and efficient use of the nations airspace. The
agencys influence on the entire aviation industry is pervasive.
The FAA Administrator is the head of the agency, and likely the single
most influential person in U.S. civil aviation.
For many years, the FAA (and its predecessor, the Civil Aeronautics
Authority, or CAA) enjoyed independent agency status within the federal
bureaucracy, an arrangement that afforded the administrator direct access to
the president. But now that the FAA is but one of those many divisions of the
DOT, the Secretary of Transportation is the sole voice for all of these
subordinate agencies in the presidents cabinet. Some aviation interests still
feel that the development of sound aviation policy has suffered as a result of
this organizational structure. A parade of proposals to liberate the FAA from
the DOT has come before Congress, but none has passed and as the years go
http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/subject_areas/airline_information/index.html
http://www.faa.gov
by, it appears even less likely that one will.
For several decades, the position of FAA Administrator was one of the
plums of political patronage. The administrator served at the pleasure of the
president, and turnover in the position was frequent, averaging about every
two yearshardly sufficient time to accomplish anything in so ponderous a
bureaucracy. Now, however, the individual appointed to the position is
assured a five-year term in office.
The FAAs activities cover a wide range, and include:
1. Regulation
The FAA regulates aviation safety, airspace use, and, to a certain extent,
aircraft noise. The primary laws promulgated and enforced by the FAA are
the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs), found in Title 14 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (14 CFR). This pervasive body of regulations addresses
every conceivable aspect of aviation safety. Additionally, through those
regulations prescribing airworthiness standards for the certification of new
aircraft, the FAA has established aircraft noise limits. These regulations,
developed in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
deserve credit as the primary incentive for development of the quieter high
bypass ratio fanjet engines that came into use
