Civil Aeronautics Board

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1940 out of the prior Civil Aeronautics Authority and abolished in 1985, best known for tight economic regulation of the US airline industry through 1978. The CAB's regulatory powers originated in the 1938 Civil Aeronautics Act, which created the Authority and two other bodies. A 1940 amendment re-arranged 1938 Act duties, with economic regulation going to the CAB and most air safety/operational matters going to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), a significant exception being air accident investigation which went to the CAB. The 1958 Federal Aviation Act amended the 1938 Act, with some non-economic CAB functions split off. The 1966 Federal Transportation Act gave CAB's accident investigation duties to the newly-created National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).