Chug
I think the CAA is a bad model to base it upon. As a Govt quango it comes with lots of issues, but as the civil airlines pays it an awful lot of money, the airlines get an awful lot of say on safety, regulation and airspace in this country. If you compare the number of G-reg civil aircraft to commercial aircraft you can see how this is skewed - surely safety, regulation and airspace should be dictated by the majority? Not in the CAA's case.
Looking at some of the smaller civil organisations that oversee airworthiness on behalf of the CAA - namely the British Gliding Assoc, Light Aircraft Assoc and the British Microlight Aircraft Assoc - you will see that true independent audit is not achieved either.
So is the MAA any worse? I don't know, but I doubt it...
Last edited by The B Word; 11th Jun 2012 at 21:36.