Definition
United States legislation that established the Federal Aviation Agency as an independent body responsible for civil aviation safety and the regulation of all U.S. airspace, both civil and military. It transferred and consolidated the air safety functions previously held by the Civil Aeronautics Authority and the Civil Aeronautics Board, and gave the new agency sole authority to develop and operate a common system of air traffic control and navigation for both civilian and military aircraft.
Plain English
A 1958 law that created one single federal agency to run America's airspace and oversee aviation safety, replacing a patchwork of older bodies that had split those duties.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation history sections that explain how the modern Federal Aviation Administration developed.
Derivation
In law, an “act” means a statute passed by a legislature. Here, “The Federal Aviation Act of 1958” is not an action someone took; it is the formal name of a law passed by the U.S. Congress.
Why Pilots Care
It created the regulatory framework that still governs pilot certification, aircraft standards, and airspace management today.
Intuition Check
Do not read “Act” as simply “an action.” In this term, an Act is a law passed by Congress.
Example Sentence 1
The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 unified control of U.S. airspace under a single agency after a series of midair collisions exposed the dangers of fragmented oversight.
Example Sentence 2
The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 shifted responsibility for civil aviation safety from the military to a dedicated civilian agency.