Lu:
Your initial post would be syntactically correct if it read thus:
"How poor maintenance practices can effect an ABnormal flight."
[in this case, "effect" actually means "cause". Rather odd, heh?]
(affirmed and sworn on the ghost of far too much time spent studying such things while still at a tender age.)
Your real point is well taken - that the cruddier an airframe/engine/electronics bay becomes, the likelier it is to devise some way of getting at your peace of mind whilest in use.