I am pretty sure there is a Dilbert cartoon or similar where the people rewarded to find bugs ended up in league with the coders to find a "mutually beneficial outcome".
I think it has to be cruder and harder to manipulate - like a salary or bonus multiplier that contains elements like "deaths due to design or manufacture failure" which can immediately set the multiplier to zero , number of recalls / airworthiness directives / other violations which can massively reduce it, etc.
I agree with the general principle of rewarding the design, manufacturing maintaining of safe aircraft - it just needs to be careful to promote the desired outcome not just something else to be manipulated. Arguably my proposal should, in a a fair, world lead to management implementing yours
