I don't follow GA that closely but am well aware of the controversy ( to put it mildly) about the Sala accident.
If that is a reference to the FAA regulations then it is way off the mark. The aircraft servicing had been carried out and signed off in the UK by a british engineer. It had been turned away by another perhaps more scrupulous FAA approved engineer because so much was wrong with the aeroplane. The aircraft was then flown by a british PPL operating well beyond his qualifications, experience and skill. It seems that neither the aeroplane nor the pilot were approved by the FAA to undertake such flights.