Three weeks after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared without a sound, the world and its collection of governments still have no direct proof of where the plane is. But the whole episode brings up the usual discussion about airline safety. Could the crash have been avoided? Could better oversight or screening of the pilots have helped evade such a disaster?

Even though the airliner was flying between two Asian countries, the safety protocol had American fingerprints. The U.S. has exported its strict aviation regulations around the world very quietly and with great success. Any plane that wants to land at a U.S. airport needs to comply with regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration, which requires everything from cockpit doors of