Origins of the FAA 

Eighty-six years ago, on May 20, 1926, President Calvin 

Coolidge signed the Air Commerce Act of 1926 into law at 

the urging of aviation industry leaders who believed the 

airplane could not reach its full commercial potential without 

federal action. The new legislation, for the first time, created 

an organization responsible for regulating the fledgling civil 

aviation industry. The act instructed the Secretary of 

Commerce to foster air commerce; designate and establish 

airways; establish, operate, and maintain aids to air 

navigation (but not airports); arrange for research and 

development to improve such aids; license pilots; issue 

airworthiness certificates for aircraft and major aircraft components; and investigate accidents. 

Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover believed that the duties imposed by the Air Commerce 

Act should be carried out by existing Department of Commerce components. Although five 

principal units made up the Aeronautics Branch, which ranked as a bureau, only two were 

structurally part of the new Branch – the Air 

Regulations Division and the Air Information Division. 

The other three units followed directions from the 

Branch concerning work to be undertaken, but received 

detailed guidance and administrative support from 

other bureau-level components of the Department. 

Thus, the Airways Division was organized within the 

Bureau of Lighthouses, the Aeronautical Research 

Division within the Bureau of Standards, and the Air 

Mapping Section within the Coast and Geodetic 

Survey. 

Hoover selected William P. MacCracken, Jr., who had played a key role in convincing Congress 

of the need for this new governmental role, as the first head of the Aeronautics Branch, with the 

title of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics. In fulfilling his new responsibilities, 

MacCracken initially concentrated on safety rulemaking and the certification of pilots and 

aircraft. He issued the first Air Commerce Regulations on December 31, 1926. 

The regulations prescribed operational and air traffic safety rules. They also required all aircraft 

engaged in interstate or foreign commerce to be licensed and marked with an assigned 

identification number. Pilots of licensed aircraft were required to hold private or commercial 

licenses. Commercial pilots were classed as either transport or industrial. Failure to apply was 

punishable by a $500 fine. On April 6, 1927, MacCracken received Pilot License No. 1. He had 

President Calvin Coolidge (right) and 

Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover
offered first license to Orville Wright, who declined, saying he 

did not need a piece of paper to prove he was the first to fly. 

The Bureau quickly went to work to carry out its duties. In 

addition to the first pilot license, some of the Bureau’s other 

firsts included: 

 On December 7, 1926, it issued the first official 

airworthiness inspection of an American aircraft, a Stinson 

Detroiter 

 On February 28, 1927, it announced the first 57 aviation 

medical examiners (first designees) – incidentally, William 

MacCracken, Sr., was an early medical examiner 

 On March 29, 1927, it issued Aircraft Type Certificate No. 1 to the Buhl Airster.