This is very relevant today
I may or may not know of a few IFR/VFR charter operators where this level of unserviceability is rife throughout their fleet...but the MR's are clean as a whistle.
I have heard these days that during CASA inspections or audits, companies are questioned on why a 40 year old clapped out 210/207/Chieftain or what have you, has a practically untouched MR. You only have to look at these things from the outside to know a defect list (most likely including but not limited do the 17 listed in this traigic P68 accident) should exist on the MR.
Pilots... and LAMEs.... are all too often between a rock and a hard place from the pressures of management to doing the professional & safe thing.
I guarantee that even today, ESPECIALLY in this current economic environment, pilots feel under the pump or in a position of low bargaining power because "If I endorse this MR, i'll be in the bad books and the I won't that twin upgrade" or "my employer will sack me on the next chance he gets, and I'll never find another job".
What really resonates with me about this accident is that I do know pilots of all skill levels keep diaries or send notes to the partners/loved ones for the "Just In Case" flights. All in the hope that CASA & the ATSB will use it in a way that pilots and future professionals alike will never spill blood over $h*t like this again.
Off topic scary thought: The notion that business owners are also operating as a HAAMC or the principal LAME fixing their own fleet. They might be one of the best engineers in the industry, thats great! But genuine Textron parts are by no means cheap. If your the one signing off an aircraft while also having to fork out cash for a new cylinder/cable/fuel valve or spar replacement, isn't their some conflic of intrest? ...Some laws need to be re-written.