A user on AVHerald posted a question which merits an answer from the pilots here:
Downstream consequence of derated takeoffs?
By Lee on Tuesday, Apr 17th 2018 21:32Z
Due to the way they operate, it seems the highest N1 fan speed will be encountered during climb at high altitude rather than during takeoff (since derated power takeoffs are the norm). This accident appeared to happen at almost the exact same altitude as the previous [SWA] incident (around FL300), which would be when N1 is approaching the maximum seen during the flight. Perhaps they should do a periodic max power takeoff or ground tests to 104% N1 to flush out any bad fan blades. In the past these types of failures would occur on takeoff, everything would be contained, and the cowl would stay on. Either Boeing needs to figure out how to keep the engine cowl intact if the fan throws a blade at altitude, or SW needs to do more rigorous blade inspections.
It must be true that if this accident had begun on the ground, there could not have been injuries from cabin decompression.
Is there any merit in the argument that stressing engines to the max on the ground from time to time would be a good idea?