Can I state that I am not an aircraft engineer and I do want the A380 to work (as long as it doesn't mean I am stuck in the back row of a high density A380 with fat passengers!).
But could this wing have broken after being given a lot of other stresses, and thus been weakened? Or should the wing always be able to take that much stress through cycles (i.e. 20,000 flight cycles at maximum loading).