as a result of that, new techniques of scanning for failures were developed.
Interesting choice of words, they MAY have been "developed" I don't know, but they certainly were NOT in use at the time of this accident.
Our Company operated an Airbus A300 similar to the one that crashed, also based at JFK NY, and also flying primarily down through the Caribbean.
During the 12 months it was based at JFK, the ONLY inspection required (and carried out) to the composite tail was just an external visual inspection.
Combined with this, at every maintenance overnight at JFK, it would take all night to drain the water that was trapped in the tail.
After this terrible accident happened, and having previously seen these inspections, I still wonder if although the desperate actions of the Pilots that tragic day MAY have been what finally snapped it off, the composite structure may well have been degraded dangerously and nobody would have known.
Most accidents in Aviation are a combination of things, rarely if ever one cause.