Peter wrote:
On 12/18/2011 9:15 AM, Han wrote:

Interpretation for those who did not make their career "inside the
Beltway": high government agencies need wiggle room so that their
front offices can satisfy the particular political objectives and
assignments coming from further up in the chain of command. They
detest regulations that box them in and potentially leave them no
capacity to make their bosses happy.


It could go the other way.

In the wake of 9/11, a committee was formed to create procedures for the FAA
to follow when faced with a similar situation of hijacked planes being used
as missiles in the future.

After a significant amount of work it was decided that NO new procedures
would be necessary. The policy to be followed with a repeat of 9/11 was to
let the people directly involved work unfettered around the problem. As it
turns out, the committee could find no instance where the FAA, air traffic
controllers, and the rest could have had a better outcome than they had with
decisions being made ad hoc by the folks involved.

For example:
Senior FAA bureaucrat. "How many flights aloft over CONUS right now?"
Controller: "A bit over 4,000"
Senior FAA: "Okay, this **** stop now. Pass the word. ATC-Zero nationwide."
(All planes in the air to land at the nearest airport)
Controller: "That's never been done! I don't think we have the authority to
do that!"
Senior FAA: "We do now. Just make it happen."