[legion]

Can we extrapolate the difference in European and American government in the differences in aircraft design?

Stay with me here...

Americans assume that the individual will act in his own best self-interest to preserve his own life. Boeing designs planes that "trust" the pilots judgements.

Europe believes that the individual is incapable of doing what is best for himself and must be gently guided [overtly overridden] by those who know best (the government/Airbus engineers). Airbus designs planes that will take a pilots inputs into consideration, but ultimately may decide to do something different.