No, it wasn't a poor attempt at humour at all. They would be insured for such an event. How do you think MAS is still flying? If you think punters would stop flying an airline that lost a hull in Australia, think again.
Sunfish is yet again displaying his: 'I've got experience of this, I was in the C suite of an airline that lost a hull etc, etc, blah, blah, blah'