In the aftermath of, first, the MAX disasters; second, the decline of Boeing's engineering virtuosity and excellence in the grip of bean-counters; and third, the general issue of regulatory capture, it seems imprudent to defend FAA other than on an individual-by-individual basis. But I would NOT say NTSB, under current leadership, has become bureaucratic in the negative sense of the word. (This stuff is too important to leave to broad generalizations, so I thought I'd take your post beyond its rhetorical question.)