T7 B16 FAA AVSEC Chronology Fdr- History of Aircraft Regs and Incidents Incl Hijacking 182

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AVSEC CHRONOLOGY(DERIVED FROM

DOT

CHRONOLOGY

ON

WEBSITE)

May 20,1926: President Calvin Coolidge signedthe

Air Commerce Act

of1926 into law.The act instructed the Secretary of Commerce to foster air commerce; designate and establishairways; establish, operate, and maintain aids to air navigation (but not airports); arrange forresearch and development to improve such aids; license pilots; issue airworthiness

certificatesfor

aircraft

and

major

aircraft

components;

and

investigate accidents. (See

Introduction.)

Jun

19, 1934: An amendment to the Air Commerce Act of 1926 gave the Aeronautics

Branch

stronger authority to investigate civil aircraft accidents.

The amendmentempoweredtheSecretaryofCommerceor hisrepresentativetosubpoena witnessestotestify

or

produce

documentary

evidence

at

public hearings into

the

causes

of such

accidents.

If the

accident involvedafatalityorserious

injury,

theSecretarywasrequiredtoissuea

statement

of the probable cause. In other

cases,

issuance of such a

statement

was

left

to the

Secretary's

discretion.Theamendment also

gave

theSecretary additional

safety-rulemaking

powers.

(SeeOctl,

1934.)

Nov

1,

1955:

A

bomb destroyed a United Air Lines Douglas DC-6B airliner

after

it

took

off from

Denver, Colo.,

killing

all 44

people

on

board.

The

Federal Bureau

of

Investigation

later

arrested J. G. Graham, who had taken out a large

life

insurance policy on his mother, apassenger on the

ill-fated

aircraft. Graham was subsequently convicted and sentenced todeath.

Jul

25,

1957:

Dynamite exploded in the lavatory of a Western Airlines Convair 240

flying

at 7,500

feet

over California, blowing the person who had detonated the chargethrough

the

side

of the

aircraft.

The plane

landed successfully

without

further

casualties.

Aug23,1958: President Eisenhower signedthe

Federal Aviation Act of 1958

(P.L.85-726) into law. Treating comprehensively

the

Federal role

in

fostering

and

regulating

civil

aeronautics

and air commerce, the new statute repealed the Air Commerce Act of 1926, the

Civil

AeronauticsAct of 1938, theAirways ModernizationAct of1957,and

those

portionsof the various Presidential reorganization plans dealing with civil aviation. The act assigned

thefunctions

exercised under these repealed laws, which

had

been dispersed within

theFederal

structure, to two independent

agencies~the

Federal Aviation Agency

(FAA),

whichwas created by the act, and the Civil Aeronautics Board

(CAB),

which was

freed

of its

administrative

ties with the Department of Commerce.FAA came into existence with the signing of the Act, but assumed its functions

in

stages. Pursuant to the legislation, it also took over the responsibilities and personnel of

the

Airways Modernization Board, which were transferred to it by Executive Order 10786,onNovember

1. FAA inherited as a

nucleus

the organization and

functions

of CAA on Dec

31, 1958. Later (on August 11, 1960), Executive Order 10883 terminated the Air

Coordinating

Committee, transferring its functions to FAA. Section 103 of the act conciselystated

the

Administrator's major powers

and

responsibilities

as

follows:"(a)Theregulationof aircommerceinsuch manneras tobest promoteits

development and

safety

and

fulfill

the

requirements

of

national defense;"(b) The promotion, encouragement, and development of civil aeronautics;

"(c)

Thecontrolof the use of thenavigable airspaceof theUnited Statesand

the

regulation

of

both

civil

and

military operations

in

such airspace

in the

interest of the safety and

efficiency

of both;"(d)The consolidation of research and development withrespect to air navigation facilities, as well as the installation and operationthereof;

"(e)

The development and operation of a common

system

of air

traffic

control

and

navigation

for

both military

and

civil

aircraft."CAB, though retaining responsibility for economic regulation of the air carriers

and

for accident investigation, lost under the act most of its former authority in the safety

regulation

and enforcement field to FAA. The law provided, however, that any FAA order

involving

suspension or revocation of a certificate might be appealed to CAB for hearing,

after

which CAB could

affirm,

amend,

modify,

or reverse the FAA order. Provision wasmade for FAA participation in accident investigation, but determination of probable causewas to be the

function

of CAB alone. When the FAA assumed

full

operational

status

on Dec

31,

1958, it absorbed certain CAB personnel associated with the safety rulemaking

function.

(See

Nov

land Dec

31,

1958.)

Jan

6,1960:

A National Airlines DC-6B crashed near Bolivia, N.C.,

killing

34passengers

and

crew. The Civil Aeronautics Board accident investigation revealed

that

the plane had

disintegrated

in flight

as a

result

of a

dynamite explosion.

Bomb fragments were

found

imbedded

in thebodyofpassenger Julian Frank, who,in thepreceding year,hadtakenout

more

than

a

million

dollars

in

life

insurance.

The

indication

of

sabotage sparked demands

for

the use ofbaggage-inspection devicesandmovedFAA toclampaceilingof$165,000on

the

amount of

airline

trip insurance a passenger could purchase at Washington National

Airport.

(See Nov 10, 1964.)May 1, 1961: The

firstseriesof

aircraft

hijackingsin the

U.S. began when a passenger ona

flight

to Key West, Fla., forced the pilot to fly to Cuba. Four other "skyjacking" incidentstook place before the end of Aug. In concert with other agencies, FAA actively supportedcongressional efforts

to

remedy

a

lack

of

criminal

laws

applicable

to

these

and

other

threats

to air

safety.

On

Sep 5,

President Kennedy signed Public Law 87-197,

an

amendment

to

the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. The law prescribed death or imprisonment for not less

than 20

years

for

interference with

aircrew members or flight

attendants

in the

performance

of

their duties. Pertinent parts

of the

U.S.

Code

were made applicable

to

certain other crimes

aboard

aircraftin flight. To

help

enforcetheact,aspecial corpsof FAAsafety inspectors

were

trained

for

duty aboard

airlineflights

(see

Aug 10,

1961).Aug 10,

1961:

For the firsttime

the

Federal government employed armed guards

on

civilian

planes.

(SeeMay 1,1961.)The firstsuch guards were border patrolmenfrom the

U.S.

Immigration and Naturalization Service. In Mar 1962, Attorney General Robert F.Kennedy swore in FAA's first "peace

officers,"

as Special U.S. Deputy Marshals. Graduatesof a special training course at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy, all of the men worked as

safety

inspectors

for

Flight Standards

and

only carried

out

their role

as

armed marshals

on

flights

when

specifically requested to do so by airline management or the FBI. (See Feb 21,1968.)

May 7, 1964: A

passenger

shot

the captain and first

officer

of a

Pacific

Air Lines

Fokker

F-27 en route from Reno, Nev., to San Francisco, Calif. The

aircraft

crashed near

San

Ramon, Calif,

killing

all 44 occupants. (See Aug 6, 1964.)Aug 6, 1964: An FAA

rule effective

this date required the

closing

and

locking

of

crew

compartment

doors

ofscheduledaircarriersandother large commercial aircraftin flight todeterpassengers from entering the flight deck either intentionally or inadvertently (see May7,1964).Theagency made exceptionfor

takeoffs

andlandingsofcertain aircraftinwhichthe door involvedled to arequired passenger emergency

exit.

On Dec 18,1965,FAA

published

arule that extended this exceptionto

aircraft

inwhichthecrew compartment door

led

to a floor level exit that was not a required emergency exit, but which might neverthelessassist passenger evacuation.

Nov

10, 1964: FAA announced the results of a

study concluding that neither eliminating

nor

limiting air-trip insurance would solve the airline sabotage problem.

(See

Jan 6,

1960.)

The study was conducted for the agency by Clarence C. Pell, Jr., head of the aviation

division

of a NewYork insurancefirm. In hisview,thevalueofrestrictionsonair-trip

insurance

would

be

nullified

by the

availability

of

other types

of

insurance

and by the

irrational

nature of airline saboteurs. These conclusions were in general agreement withthose reached by the Government-Industry Steering Committee on Airline Sabotage on Mar

8,

1963.

Feb 21, 1968:

A sustained wave of U.S. air carrier hijackings

began when a

fugitive

aboard

a

Delta

Air

Lines DC-8 forced

the

pilot

to

divert

to

Havana.

By

Jul

17,

four

moreU.S. airliners had been diverted to the same destination. On Jul 19, FAA announced that

specially

trainedFAAsafety inspectors ("sky

marshals")

hadbegun boarding Florida-bound

airline

flights

(see

Aug 10,

1961,

and Oct 28,

1970).

The

inspectors, sworn

in as

deputy U.S.marshals

after

being trained at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy, were generally assigned to

flights on a

random, unannounced basis. Hijackings continued, however,

and a

total

of

twelve airliners and six general aviation aircraft were diverted to Cuba during 1968. (See Jan1969.)Feb26, 1968: FAA's put into operation its

National Airspace Communications System(NASCOM),

a daily nationwide telephone conference. NASCOM connected the

Administrator,

Deputy Administrator,

the

associate

administrators,

the

heads

of

FAA'soperating services,

the

regional directors,

and

area managers

in the

contiguous United

States,

and

the directors of NAFEC and the Aeronautical Center in a telephone discussion of thestatus

of the

National Airspace System

(NAS). The

agency developed NASCOM because

of

the need to keep Washington headquarters closely and constantly in touch with activities inthe

NAS.

Jul

1,1968:

Effective

this date,FAAincludedon itslistofemergency proceduresthe

droppingof

chaff

by

pilots experiencing

a

communications

failure

or

wishing

for any

other

reason

todeclareanin-flight emergency.Thechaff (stripsof

tinfoil

orother radio-wave-

reflecting

material) would cause radar echoes to attract the attention of air

traffic

controllers.

Jan,

1969: Eight U.S. airliners were

hijackedtoCuba

during

the

month (see

Feb 21,

1968).

In

February, FAA created an eight-man

Task Force on the Deterrence of Air Piracy

that

combined

a broad spectrum of

expertise

under the leadership of the Deputy Federal AirSurgeon (see

Aug 3,

1970). Systematic study

by the

Task

Force revealed

that

a

hijacker

"profile"could

be constructed from behavioral characteristics shared by past perpetrators.

When

used in

conjunction

with a magnetometer weapons-screening device developed by theagency, the

profile system

offered

a promising method of preventing potential hijackersfrom

boarding

aircraft. On Oct 15, FAA announced that Eastern Air Lines was using thesystem at several key locations. By Jun 15, 1970,

four

U.S. air carriers

were

employing thesystem. (See Jul 17, 1970.)

Calendar

year, 1969:

Worldwide concern focused

on

hijacking

as thenumberof

aircraft

involved

in such incidents

during

the year totaled 87, as compared to 37 for 1968. The

number

ofU.S.

aircraft

involvedwas 40, ascomparedto 47foreign

aircraft.

(In1968,22 outof a total of 35 incidents involved U.S. aircraft.)

Cuba

remained

the

most popular destination

for

hijackers during 1969:

31U.S. and 25

foreign

air

carrier

aircraft,

as

well

as one

foreign

general aviation

aircraft,

were

forced

to

land

there.

But the

year also

saw a

break

in the

diversion-to-Cuba pattern when

11

foreign

and 2

U.S.

air

carrier

aircraft

were forced

to

land

in

other countries. (See

Aug 29 and

Oct 31, 1969.) ForU.S.

aircraft,

theonly previous hijacking completedto adestination other

than

Cubahadbeenan Aug 31,1965, incidentinwhichan

airliner

wasforcedtoreturnto

Honolulu

shortly

after

takeoff.

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