Word: faa
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...development of the jet airliner. Flying in a modern jet is ten times as safe as flying in the noisier and slower piston-en-gined aircraft of the mid-'50s. Over the years, airframes have become sturdier and engines not only much more powerful but much more reliable. The FAA, the manufacturers and the airlines poured millions into developing better flight control equipment?sophisticated radars and navigation aids. Military innovations were adopted for commercial use. The FAA steadily tightened flight regulations, prescribing in minute detail how and where planes should fly, how they should be controlled from the ground...
...levers. You've got to be careful because you can blow a hangar off the ground. Another thing, you've got 350 tons of momentum when you're taxiing, and you don't go cowboying around. But once it's airborne, it's an absolutely superb flying machine." Former FAA Administrator Elwood R. ("Pete") Quesada insists that "the 747 is the safest and most reliable air transportation yet designed...
Whatever his rank, the training never stops. He is constantly practicing instrument landings and emergency procedures, both in the cockpit of a jet and in remarkably realistic flight simulators. Twice a year, the FAA requires the airline to check out his proficiency. In addition, an FAA inspector?completely unannounced?may show up just before takeoff, occupy the jump seat in the cockpit?and "lift" (start revocation proceedings) the captain's license on the spot if he detects a major failing during the flight...
...have even phoned in complaints about the Concorde when the offending craft has actually been a distinctly subsonic DC-9. In contrast to the high-pitched whine of a Boeing 707 or 747, the Concorde produces a throaty low-frequency rumble that rattles dishes and bric-a-brac. One FAA report notes that irritating though this is to airport neighbors, these vibrations have less impact on the structure of a house or apartment building than "non-aircraft events, such as doors closing...
...honeymoon, however, proved a short one. Departing a day later, the Air France plane raced down the runway and then lifted off with a deep-throated rumble. One FAA sound meter recorded the plane's noise level at 129 perceived noise decibels; that was 16 decibels more than the loudest Boeing 707 measured that day, and it meant, logarithmically, the Concorde was more than twice as noisy as the 707. There was no decibel reading for the British flight because the pilot, exercising his prerogative to switch runways, made a last-minute decision to take off on a runway...