The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a U.S. federal government agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation which regulates civil aviation in the United States and surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic control, certification of personnel and aircraft, setting standards for airports, and protection of U.S. assets during the launch or re-entry of commercial space vehicles. Powers over neighboring international waters were delegated to the FAA by authority of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of traffic in the air, and provide information and other support for pilots.
The September 11 attacks of 2001, in addition to being a unique act of terrorism, constituted a media event on a scale not seen since the advent of civilian global satellite links. Instant worldwide reaction and debate were made possible by round-the-clock television news organizations and by the internet. As a result, most of the events listed below were known by a large portion of the world's population as they occurred.
An air defense identification zone (ADIZ) has existed since February 10, 2003, around the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area to restrict air traffic near Washington, D.C.
The 9/11 Commission Report, officially the Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prepared by the 9/11 Commission, chaired by former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, at the request of U.S. president George W. Bush and Congress.
Aeroméxico Flight 498 was a scheduled commercial flight from Mexico City, Mexico, to Los Angeles, California, United States, with several intermediate stops. On Sunday, August 31, 1986, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the flight was clipped in the tail section by N4891F, a Piper PA-28-181 Cherokee owned by the Kramer family, and crashed into the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, killing all 64 on the DC-9, all 3 on the Piper and an additional 15 people on the ground. Eight on the ground also sustained minor injuries. Blame was assessed equally on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the pilot of the Cherokee. No fault was found with the DC-9 or the actions of its crew.
Operation Yellow Ribbon was commenced by Canada to handle the diversion of civilian airline flights in response to the September 11 attacks in 2001 in the United States. Canada's goal was to ensure that potentially destructive air traffic be removed from United States airspace as quickly as possible, and away from potential U.S. targets, and instead place these aircraft on the ground in Canada, at military and civilian airports primarily in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and British Columbia. Yukon, New Brunswick, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, the Northwest Territories, and Quebec also took in aircraft so that any malicious or destructive potential threats could be better contained and neutralized. None of the aircraft proved to be a threat, and Canada hosted thousands of passengers who were stranded until U.S. airspace was reopened.
Marion Clifton Blakey is an American businesswoman and former government official who served as president and CEO of Rolls-Royce North America. Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, she served as the eighth full-time chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association, an American defense industry trade association from 2007 to 2015. Before this, she served a five-year term as the 15th Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Blakey was the second woman to hold the position, serving as a successor to Jane Garvey, the first woman to hold the Administrator title. She was the second Administrator who was not a licensed pilot. She was awarded the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2013.
United 93 is a 2006 film written and directed by British filmmaker Paul Greengrass. The film largely chronicles the events aboard the eponymous hijacked flight, one of the four hijacked flights during the September 11 attacks on America. Flight 93 was the only plane to not hit its intended target due to the intervention of passengers and crew. The film also covers the experiences of government officials and air traffic controllers, many of whom are played by themselves, as they witness the other events of the attacks unfold that day.
Hughes Airwest Flight 706 was a regularly scheduled flight operated by American domestic airline Hughes Airwest from Los Angeles, California to Seattle, Washington, with several intermediate stops. On Sunday, June 6, 1971, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 serving as Flight 706 departed Los Angeles just after 6 p.m. en route to Seattle as a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II of the United States Marine Corps was approaching Marine Corps Air Station El Toro near Irvine at the end of a flight from Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada. The two aircraft collided in midair over the San Gabriel Mountains near Duarte, killing all 49 aboard the DC-9 and the F-4 pilot; the F-4 radar intercept officer ejected and survived.
Delta Air Lines Flight 1989 was a regularly scheduled flight offering nonstop morning service on September 11, 2001, from Logan International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport on a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. This flight was one of several flights considered as possibly hijacked, but landed safely at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is the current U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) program to modernize the National Airspace System (NAS). The FAA began work on NextGen improvements in 2007 and plans to finish implementation by 2030. Modernization goals include using new technologies and procedures to increase NAS safety, efficiency, capacity, access, flexibility, predictability, and resilience while reducing aviation's environmental impact.
The Grand Canyon mid-air collision occurred in the western United States on June 30, 1956, when a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 struck a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation over Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. The first plane fell into the canyon while the other slammed into a rock face. All 128 on board both airplanes perished, making it the first commercial airline incident to exceed one hundred fatalities. The airplanes had departed Los Angeles International Airport minutes apart from each other and headed for Chicago and Kansas City, respectively. The collision took place in uncontrolled airspace, where it was the pilots' responsibility to maintain separation. This highlighted the antiquated state of air traffic control, which became the focus of major aviation reforms.
On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners in the United States and tried to crash them into large buildings, succeeding in three cases. American Airlines Flight 11, having departed from Boston, was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 08:46. United Airlines Flight 175, also leaving from Boston, struck the South Tower at 09:03. American Airlines Flight 77, from Washington Dulles International Airport, hit the Pentagon at 09:37. United Airlines Flight 93, from Newark Liberty International Airport, was crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03, after the passengers on board revolted.
The Air Traffic Organization (ATO) is an air navigation service provider in the United States of America. The ATO is the operational division of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The Plan for the Security Control of Air Traffic and Air Navigation Aids (SCATANA) is an emergency preparedness plan of the United States which prescribes the joint action to be taken by appropriate elements of the Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission in the interest of national security in order to effectively control air traffic and air navigation aids under emergency conditions. Known versions of the plan are dated June 1971 and August 1975. The plan implements parts of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, the Communications Act of 1934, and Executive Order 11490 of October 28, 1969.
The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was an act of the United States Congress, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, that created the Federal Aviation Agency and abolished its predecessor, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). The act empowered the FAA to oversee and regulate safety in the airline industry and the use of American airspace by both military aircraft and civilian aircraft.
Jonee Lynn Helms was a U.S. Marine Corps officer who served as president of Piper Aircraft Corp. and as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) is a labor union affiliated with the AFL–CIO through its affiliation with the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association. It represents more than 11,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Defense employees. These employees install, maintain, support and certify air traffic control and national defense equipment, inspect and oversee the commercial and general aviation industries, develop flight procedures, and perform quality analyses of complex aviation systems used in air traffic control and national defense in the United States and abroad.
On July 7, 2017, an Airbus A320-211 operating as Air Canada Flight 759 was nearly involved in an accident at San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, United States. The flight, which originated at Toronto Pearson International Airport, had been cleared by air traffic control to land on runway 28R and was on final approach to land on that runway; however, instead of lining up with the runway, the aircraft had lined up with the parallel taxiway, on which four fully loaded and fueled passenger airplanes were stopped awaiting takeoff clearance. The flight crew initiated a go-around prior to landing, after which it landed on 28R without further incident. The aircraft on the taxiway departed for their intended destinations without further incident. The subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the Air Canada airplane descended to 59 feet (18 m) above the ground before it began its climb, and that it missed colliding with one of the aircraft on the taxiway by 14 feet (4.3 m).
