The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) was established in 1940, but had predecessor agencies in the Department of Commerce,
starting with the Aeronautics Branch (1926-34), and the Bureau of Air Commerce (1934-38). In 1959, it was integrated into
the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA). 1n 1966, the FAA became part of the newly created Department of Transportation, and the
National Transportation Safety Board took over reporting on aviation accidents.
The CAA report numbering system changed over time , but generally they have the two digit year
then a consecutively issued number. After 1948, they also had a suffix. Since CAA reports were used for aircraft incidents
and other types of reports as well as accident reports, there are many gaps in the sequence of numbers. Not all of the
Accident Reports appear to have been issued CAA report numbers. Reports continued to appear under the SuDocs
entry for the CAA (C 31.213) even after the FAA was established and the FAA had its own SuDocs listing. When the NTSB took
over accident reporting in 1966, its reports were listed under SuDocs TD 1.112.
The accident reports listed here vary greatly in content, detail, and format. They can be as brief
an as single page, or can be dozens of pages. Some are illustrated with photographs and diagrams. When additional
information became available, addendums or revisions were made to the reports.
