Knowledge of the consequences of a failure of a component leads to design decisions concerning that component including consideration of the use of redundant systems. If redundancy is not feasible the components are designed with larger safety factors.
In the special case of a manufacturing defect the design logic is overridden and so safety depends on the ability to trap the defect during inspection and assembly.
The fact that the error was not detected in the normal course of manufacture does not imply that corrections to the aircraft systems are appropriate. The rule is “if it aint broke don’t fix it.” In my opinion, this accident does not indicate a problem with the design of either the aircraft or the engine, but is only a manufacturing issue.
But suppose you go and change something because you think that you have spotted a possible weakness. Then ask yourself what are the inadvertent adverse consequences of that change. I doubt very much if you would ever really know that you were better off.
Last edited by firstfloor; 3rd Dec 2010 at 11:08.