Airline Crash Deaths Too Few to Make New U.S. Safety Rules Pay

More than a decade has passed since the last major-airline accident on U.S. soil. That’s great news for aviation companies and their passengers -- and a complication for rule makers trying to improve flight safety.

The benefits of aviation rules are calculated primarily on how many deaths they may prevent, so the safest decade in modern airline history is making it harder to justify the cost of new requirements.