The aviation authorities are very much involved in significant structural defect assessement/ rectification, most authorities (FAA/EASA/CAA) require significant defects in primary structure to be reportable under their mandatory occurence reporting schemes.
So whilst you as an engineer may have had no contact with the aviation authorities directly, they are involved, certainly not in all defects (items already covered in the structural repair manual for example), but they would definately be involved in the a380 wing rib cracks.
With particular regards to this defect I believe the severity and number of cracks varies between aircraft so some may be grounded earlier for repair than others.
