Had the Shuttle not encountered severe wind shear on the ascent, they may have got away with it. Pictures of the exhaust plume show a well defined kink and aircraft in the vicinity were reporting CAT. The leaking joint had sealed however the flex that resulted from being hit by a 100kt plus side wind was enough to open it up.
The return to flight was also beset with problems, the second post disaster flight STS-27 was very nearly lost due to the cone on a booster disintegrating and striking the underside of the orbiter. The damage was extensive and in one place, a metal plate over an antenna saved the crew from a burn-through on the return. Commander Hoot Gibson knew that they were in trouble. Mike Mullane chose to watch the initial atmospheric entry on the upper deck before strapping in on the lower deck. He left it too late to safely use the stairs so he is the only astronaut to have returned from orbit while standing up all the way.
While the machine is still a fascinating technological marvel, it was in my view a death trap. The odds of dying were around 1 flight in 60 with a high risk event happening during 1 flight in 10.