Regarding liability, the essential point is that the titatium-alloy strip was a non-certified, non-approved part, that was installed completely half-assed. Many of you are looking at the failure from the wrong-end of the equation (an 'a posteriori' view)... presuming that since any part COULD fall off, therefore ANY part that falls should be equally without liability. You simply can't make that presupposition. You have to look at it with an 'a priori' view. If an airline installs something non-certified, where it's just "fudged" to make it work or fit, then the fact is it's reliabiliy is (dramatically) less and is mathematically much more probable to fail. An airline should know that, as should any mechanic. Either they DID know that... or SHOULD have ... either way is, by definition, negligence.
To NOT hold Continental responsible (at least partially), the resulting logic would mean you've opened up the acceptability of doing whatever you want, willy-nilly, when it comes to installation of non-standard (self-manufactured) parts, and I'm sure no one wants that.