With the current media attention on this very issue one would assume that every Sunstate LAE would be aware of the issue and then face the quandary of deciding whether the doors are 'legal' or not.
That leads back to the age old adage of the engineers professional responsibility to rectify a known defect, regardless of whether it is specifically called up for inspection.
There could be a chance of underlying issues behind this particular occasion, or not, however if the secure flight deck door modification was approved by CASA then it would therefore be deemed by tham and the company to be legal. That a subsequent design flaw has been discovered should therefore be raised directly to the QA department of Sunstate and ultimately to CASA to have this rectified.
I am not condoning nor favouring the actions of the six engineers, however I do consider their actions as 'going out on a limb'.
I would have got the QAM immediately involved in the issue and placed the ball firmly in the QA departments hands as opposed to a group action like what happened that could be completely misconstrued in the cold hard light of day.
I certainly hope that the ALAEA can resolve this situation quickly and effectively for the guys involved.
GB