Well I'll go back to my earlier post and say again that there is a "tool" that will do a farly quick inspection for skin damage. Not to say that any of the other posters are not correct, just that Boeing has addressed the problem at this hour.
How do I know this? It was discussed by a Boeing maintenance instructor some time back and unfortunetly I have forgotten a good part of the details at this hour. Give me another week and I'll tell you the latest on this subject
All fine and dandy, there are inspection procedures for composite materials. The problem is that the inspections are made at timed intervals.
The bigger problem is that the environmental loads ( allthough monitored by FDR dumps) do not fit into the program as I presume. From one airframe to the next the stress an airframe endures is not nearly the same. Do you expect Boeing to mandate NDT of the complete airframe after severe turbulence.
Fact is composite materials degrade within where as aluminum starts to fail in a manner that is visible to the naked eye far before it fails.
Lap seam failures of older Boeing aircraft were a result of sealant removal with metallic objects that scarred the skin. We learned from this.
Just saying that some costly lessons are sure to be experienced in the future. New technology is great...But there is allways a learning curve.