As a confirmed member of the Boeing camp in any Boeing vs Airbus discussion, I am gob-smacked by this.
Silly me , trusting Uncle Sam anymore than Alphonse Obvious I guess, but if what is reported in zerozero's link is true this is indeed fairly scandalous.
Makes one wonder about accidents like Kenya Airways /Ethiopian, indeed any unexplained incident involving an NG falling out of the sky, past & future, although both of these quoted above did indeed appear to be pilot disorientation, and happened at low altitude, greatly reducing the possibility of hull rupture as a cause.
Having flown the airframe concerned in the second accident, it does give a certain "frisson" to think there exists a slight possibility it just came apart.
Makes the recent falsifying of the safety standards of seats debacle a bit of a damp squid doesn't it? a bit in the same vein I guess, but several times more serious.