Originally Posted by
dervish
A certificate must go hand in hand with a competent regulator. It is meant to provide confidence. If the regulator is incompetent what confidence can we have?
Spot on, and in this case there wasn't a competent regulator. As it happens it most probably didn't play a role in this accident. The investigation has highlighted something known of for years and which has been kicked into the long grass. When an airworthiness authority disappears for an old type there doesn't seem to be a way to create a competent replacement.