MODULE 1 DISCUSSION

What were the driving forces behind the creation of the FAA and ICAO? This question is pertaining to the airline versus FAA safety responsibilities. How do these organizations differ in the effort for safety?
You must include the reasons for your answers. In fact, the rationale supporting your answers may be more important than the actual answers.

The primary driving force behind the creation of the FAA and ICAO was the protection and safety of the public, people on the ground, the aircraft and the flight crew. In the early years of aviation the airspace was completed unregulated, with no aircraft and pilot certification, training, and licensing standards, “No federal safety program existed, which prompted a number of states to pass legislation requiring aircraft licensing and registration. In addition, local governments enacted ordinances regulating flight operations and pilots, creating a patchwork of safety-related requirements and layers of authority (Rodrigues, 2012).” This occurred because the government could not reach agreement on what needed to be regulated until Congress passed the Air Commence Act of 1926. The Commence Act established safety, regulation, licensing, charts, accident investigation and more under the Department of Commerce Aeronautics Department, which, in 1934 changed to the Bureau of Air Commerce. Before the Department of Commerce set the standard, aircraft manufacturing companies were following rules that were unsatisfactory for the safety of aviation. This is a crucial flaw that was fixed by the implementation of the Department of Commerce. As accidents and incidents rates decreased, so did the fatality rate. It was clear that the Department of Commence new standards were a needed fix to the growing aviation industry.
The 1930's saw multiple commercial air disasters which were attributed to failure to enforce many regulations. By 1938, the Bureau of Air Commerce was reorganized into The Civil Aeronautics Board and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). The three-member Air Safety Board was in charge of accident investigations, regulating airlines and routes. In 1940 the CAA was split into the Civil Aeronautics Administration which was under the Department of Commerce and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). The CAA was in control of Air Traffic Control (ATC), airman and aircraft certification, safety enforcement and airway development. The CAB was in charge of accident investigations and economic regulations.
A midair collision in 1956 between a United Airlines DC-7 and a TWA Lockheed Constellation (L-1049) over the Grand Canyon, the CAA was completely overhauled and absorbed virtually all aspects of U.S. civil aviation and military aviation Air Traffic Control (ATC) and renamed the Federal Aviation Agency the Federal Aviation Administration as an independent entity answering directly to Congress.
The driving force to what brought about the development of the current FAA was to develop, standardize, and enforce aviation safety for both operators and passengers.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is the result of The United Nations international conferences first taking place is Paris, France in 1910. The First World War delayed following meetings until 1919 when again the international community met to discuss post war aviation taking into account the advancements in aviation after the war. After many conferences that produced conventions between member states, cooperation began to advance for improvements in safety, regulation, and navigation. The Chicago Convention of 1944 established the ICAO in order to promote international aviation safety and efficiency. Since then, the ICAO has developed international regulations and standards in safety, language, licensing, registration, navigation, fares, liability, and many more issues. The driving force behind creating the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was the need to establish principles and techniques of international air navigation and to foster the planning and development of international air transport.
The main difference between the FAA and the ICAO, are that the FAA is specific to the United States and its national airspace system and the ICAO is concerned with international cooperation. Both conduct research and development, regulation, standardization, and safety. Possibly most importantly they both promote civil aviation in their respective areas of responsibility.
The ICAO differs from the FAA in that it is an international agency. Its primary function is to promote the safe and orderly development of Civil Aviation throughout the world. The ICAO standardized many systems like instrument landing systems, VHF omnidirectional radio, and VHF communication. According to the ICAO website, its mission is “To serve as the global forum of States for international civil aviation. ICAO develops policies and Standards, undertakes compliance audits, performs studies and analyses, provides assistance and builds aviation capacity through many other activities and the cooperation of its Member States and stakeholders (2015, ICAO).”

(2015). In www.faa.gov. Retrieved March 25, 2015, from http://www.faa.gov/about/history/ (2015). In www.icao.int. Retrieved March 25, 2015, from http://www.icao.int/about-icao/Pages/vision-and-mission.aspx
Rodrigues, C. C., & Cusick, S. K. (2012). Commercial Aviation Safety (Fifth ed., p. 8). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Companies.