FLYING INTO TROUBLE

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But in fact, planes were falling out of the sky. After I resigned, I tried to get one final piece of information out of the FAA that had mystified me for years: the monetary value of human life.

"I know very well what you mean," an FAA public-affairs official said in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, "but I don't think you're going to get that from us. Do you expect anybody here to say what is the value we give to human life and then sign off on it and be left open to ridicule for the rest of our lives?" The question angered the official, and the request was denied.

The truth is, no one needs government officials to put a dollar value on his or her life or on the lives of loved ones. We consider ourselves priceless. So should the FAA.