If someone got a research grant to come up with those conclusions then not only should they give back the grant, they should also give back the oxygen they have used up. For pity's sake, anyone who has had anything to do with any public service (with some very limited exceptions and flight safety agencies are not in that category) can tell you that trying to get a decision out of them is nigh on impossible let alone anything that remotely smells of being adventurous.
It is a no-brainer. If you are responsible for safety then every decision is predicated on that single premise and one must be seen to be doing something so making it ever more restrictive is the only way one can get to an end of year bonus. Why do you think we have the politicians we now have when the greatest advances Australia ever made were 30 to 40 years ago.