Aviation Safety
Modernizing Air Travel in an Era of Budget Constraints
Congress passed the first laws to regulate civil aviation in the 1920s — most notably, the Air Commerce Act, which provided for pilot testing and licensing, aircraft certification, and more thorough investigation of accidents, as well as safety rules and navigational aids. Yet the rate of fatal airline crashes remained high, as measured by miles flown, with pilot error and weather conditions among the major causes. The fatal accident rate has declined steadily ever since, however, with improvements in aircraft design, engineering, and maintenance, and the evolution of navigational technology and safety procedures. The National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) reports…
