William John Husic, 83, an aeronautical engineer who retired from the Federal Aviation Administration in 1969, died of renal failure March 15 at Sibley Memorial Hospital.

Mr. Husic, a resident of Chevy Chase, was born in Youngstown, Ohio. In 1935, he moved to Washington and began his federal career at the National Bureau of Standards, but soon thereafter he transferred to the Civil Aviation Administration, predecessor of the Federal Aviation Administration.

He graduated from George Washington University with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1943.

His professional career included work in early development of civil aviation and later specialization in airframes.

For 10 years, Mr. Husic was Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 90 at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Chevy Chase, where he was a parishioner. He had received the Boy Scout Silver Beaver Award.

He was an amateur radio operator and a member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, and he had hiked most of the 2,150-mile Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia.

His first wife, Mary Elizabeth Findlay, died in 1958.

Survivors include his wife of 38 years, Madelaine Trumper Husic of Chevy Chase; three children from his first marriage, Mary E. Kuta of Rockville, William J. Husic Jr. of Detroit and Michael R. Husic of Silver Spring; a sister; and five grandchildren.