come on PBL, first of all a very interesting point and a bit of history, totally agree with your views, however......
This makes it particularly ironic that people are being tried, and some convicted, in 2010 for a freak accident that ended the most spectacular safety record in commercial aviation.
the design is one thing, the other is that a properly qualified and approved individual did not follow procedures and the consequence of his shoddy work brought on this discussion.
I have absolutely no problem at all with his sentence and actually consider him lucky.
Too many individuals link just culture and no blame together. Very simply put, a just culture is about analysing an event and learning from it. Many accidents are just that an accident and therefore should not be criminalized. Wanton disregard for approved procedures and repairs, you get what you deserve, aviation or any other industry.