ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a perspective of the United States (US) regulatory system for aviation, administered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It begins with a brief description of the underlying philosophy of aviation regulation as a form of risk management. The legal origin for the FAA's regulatory activities is founded in the US Constitution and is generally considered to have begun with the Air Commerce Act, enacted in 1926. The chapter describes the history and philosophical basis of some of the key aviation regulations in the US system. It focuses on how and where flight-deck human factors (HF) are integrated in the regulations with an emphasis on flight deck–related applications. Flight-crew training and qualification requirements include many aspects that affect pilot performance and, therefore, involve the application of HF. The chapter discusses how HF applies within the regulatory structure for equipment design, flight-crew training, flight-crew procedures, and flight-crew operations.
