FAA - v - JAA who does it right?
The perception is that the JAA do risk analysis and then regulate accordingly and the FAA wait for proof of a systemic problem and THEN regulate - maybe.
Came across this little gem on Wikipedia:-
Initially, aviation flight schools showed little interest in the "Link Trainer". Link also demonstrated his trainer to the US Army Air Force (USAAF), but with no result. However, the situation changed in 1934 when the Army Air Force was given a Government contract to fly the postal mail. This included having to fly in bad weather as well as good, for which the USAF had not previously carried out much training. During the first weeks of the mail service, nearly a dozen Army pilots were killed. The Army Air Force hierarchy remembered Ed Link and his trainer. Link flew in to meet them at Newark Field in New Jersey, and they were impressed in his ability to arrive on a day with poor visibility, due to practice on his training device. The result was that the USAAF purchased four Link Trainers at $3,500 each, and this can be said to mark the start of the world flight simulation industry.
Sound familiar. Not the FAA of course but maybe a Trans-Atlantic mindset in their DNA???? It shows that some folk over there have the ingenuity and insight not only to see a need but also to provide a solution. Pity the people that run the place seem like numb-skulls and were (are?) unable to foresee the consequences of their actions. Maybe 'Risk Analysis' was not part of the US vocabulary or maybe US Army Generals never looked out the window!!
G.