Legislative Acts

 

Hijackings and other crimes on planes were common throughout the 1960s and 1970s. It was becoming a serious worry, with some reports claiming that there were as many as 100 hijacking cases at the time, with 77 of them succeeding. Before 1961, the hijacking was a strange notion in the United States, but it quickly became a household term, compelling the government to interfere. Section 902 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was changed in 1961 to address this issue, and a few new subsections were introduced as a result. "Aircraft piracy," "Interference with flight crew members or flight attendants," "Special offenses," "carrying weapons aboard aircraft," and "false information" were among the primary subsections that were introduced.

The most notable features of the amendment were the inclusion of harsh penalties for piracy and aggression towards employees. The penalty for piracy (the seizing of control of an aircraft by assault or threat) is death or a minimum of 20 years in jail. Using a weapon against a crew member or attendant would result in a life sentence or any number of years in prison. The existing act needed to be amended due to the high number of air crimes occurring at the time. The 1960s and early 1970s were rife with hijackings and shootings, with US planes being engaged in a significant number of them. More than 150 hijackings have a place in American airspace.

The revisions to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 were necessary for a scenario of this magnitude. They acted as a stark warning to terrorists by making the penalties more severe. Although it took some time to execute and the rate of apprehension was low in the 1960s, the modified legislation laid the groundwork for future success, with the apprehension rate rising and the harshness of the sanctions growing. The number of measures taken by aircraft increased in the 1970s. Many acts were criminalized by the 1961 revisions, allowing authorities to pursue parties who perpetrated such crimes. This prepared the door for the government and the aircraft industry to take more restrictive restrictions in the future. Before 1961, there had been very few similar events in the United States. The areas of aviation violence and crimes were not given significant weight or attention. The hijacking in 1961 altered everything, and the government resolved to act right away. The modifications to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 established the foundation for the environment required to combat terrorism and violence on planes. It also modified the industry's stance regarding aircraft terrorism and violence by establishing rules for dealing with those responsible for such activities. It is fair to say that it significantly impacted the aviation sector.

 

References

Notification of Proposed Construction or Alteration on .... https://www.faa.gov/airports/central/engineering/part77/index.cfm?print=go

Background Checks - Strom Aviation. https://www.stromaviation.com/compliance.asp