Resin technology has progressed a great deal since the early days of composites in the 70s. Much of the experience that the older crowd has with carbon composites is with older fibers and first generation resin systems - combined made for some pretty spectacular failures due to the stiffer and lower strain capability of those materials.
Nowadays, most carbon composites leverage elastomer toughened resin systems that makes the matrix more compliant in concert with the high and ultra high modulus fibers - yielding (no pun intended) composite structures are are very strong and lightweight without being as "brittle" and flaw sensitive as the old days.
I wonder about the state of the art in NDT
NDI technology is also rather impressive today, ranging from handheld trandcucer based pulse echo to full water tables, x-ray, computer tomography, laser shearography to name a few. That said, mapping voids in thin laminates or skin to core is still most easily and directly done with a tap hammer and a well trained inspector.