V2500 Cowl Video....
I digress, but that engineer seems mighty brave standing inside the reverser cowl whilst his partner releases the cowl pump pressure during the opening procedure. You certainly wouldn't rely on the soft close system on a larger engined aircraft.
As always, these videos are staged in a nicely lit, dry and stress free environment. They don't portray reality, where, out on the line, it may be cold and dark and oil and water is dripping on your face as you close the cowls.
I can see that there will be some kind of kneejerk reaction to this incident. New time-consuming safety procedures/paperwork will be implemented adding to the burden of the engineer, yet not being allowed the extra (ground) time by beancounters/management (in reality).
I see this happening in my own airline.
Comment on sensors: Sensors are fine, up to the point where they start breaking down themselves. Engines cowls don't provide a very friendly enviroment. Then you start getting intermittent nuisance messages which eventually lead to complacency (perhaps a factor in the Lauda Air 767 engine reverser tragedy). Having said that, they may just work for fan cowls, as cowls can be visually, tactilely checked if there is a doubt (unlike reverser components).