I see a very important story here, first for this airline, secondly for the manufacturer and Boeing, NTSB, and FAA, and third for all non US operators that fly in this part of the world.
First Air Transat's maintenance practices were shown to be questionable after the dead stick landing by one of their A330's into the Azores. Of course the Azores incident, which could have so easily turned into a disaster, was also blamed on the captain's poor judgement in monitoring his fuel state and properly excuting checklists. None the less the incident began with a maintenance error, and transport authorities in Canada will not forget this.
Secondly all those who have followed the story of AA A300 loss in New York shortly after 9-11 know just how important this story is, given that the NTSB conclusions from this accident clearly pinned the blame for the structural failure of that A/C's tail on poor piloting techniques induced by poor training practices at AA. The findings of the A300 accident caused a huge wave in the way that large jet operators train their aircrew, as Airbus and Boeing issued new documents on how aircrew should use the rudder in jet upset conditions. At the same time and in the same documents both manufactures took great pains in defending the strength of their rudders. However judging by the images posted clearly the strength of composite structures and in particular on Airbus aircraft will be questioned, and this in turn could very likely affect the findings of NTSB about the AA300 accident.
Third, the aircraft turned back to Varedero, and judging by the statements that have been made by the airline it could have landed in Florida, but turned back to Varedaro at the PIC's discretion. A sound desicion and absolutely not as benign as people percieve. Any non US aircrew that has operated into this part of the world know the consequences to all involved if the A/C would have landed on US soil. The A/C had departed from Cuba, was not a US carrier, was registered to a state that is having it's share of a differing political opinions lately with the US so that would have surely set off a less than hospitable reaction. I remember that on a flight for a non US airline I operated into the US from Panama a few years back, a crew member had bought a $5 bottle of cuban rum IN PANAMA and unwittingly declared it to US customs in Miami. The reaction by US authorities was incredible in its zealousness, as we waited for the crewmember to pass customs a squad of customs officers arrived, the bottle was confiscated and put in a hermetically sealed box, the crewmember was reprimanded verbally, and later sent a letter from the US state department that any additional violations he commited to the "trading with the enemy" act would result in a massive fine, deny him of his right to enter the US ever again and or land him in jail. I know that the PIC of the Air Transat flight made his decision to turn back to Varedaro considering these kinds of potential problems, but it also makes me wonder just how different this story would have been if the Air Transat flight had not made it back or had crashed on landing at Varedero?