600 largly missed points
There was nothing wrong with this aircraft, the fault was the faiure to lock the cowling latches, those who seek to fit a " Fool proof system" are the types who would fit enough systems to ensure that there could be no human error and end up with a totaly safe aircraft because it is to heavy to fly.
No one deliberatly released this aircraft to service, it slipped though the inspection net for reasons that we dont yet understand, but some above have shown a total lack of understanding of the pressues put on line maintenance personel and flight crews. These presures have slowiy been built up one small step at a time, minor increases in inappropriate H & S and Security measures may not seem to be a burden by those in walm offices who mandate these regulations but the cumulative effect of the mountain of non aviation regulation on those who have to work in a cold, wet and noisy ramp enviroment is a major distraction to the primery task in hand.
For instance I as a pilot cant get a security pass for a major UK airport because my one of my employers who was based abroad went bust and cant verify that I was contracted to a UK airline that also went bust. The fact that during this whole period I held a security pass and was based at the very UK airport that now wont issue me a pass is irritating to say the least. the problem is that without the pass for that airport I cant park in the staff car park, some idiot has closed the road that gives me easy access to the office for no apparent reason and I cant get out onto the ramp to do my walk around inspection without having someone let me in and out of the door on the jet way. All of this is individualy trivial but it makes for a longer working day and so the picture of the errosion of flight saftey by a thousand small cuts is clear.
The flight safety people like to go on about all the airport staff being part of the flight safety system, this is very good in theory but those in managment who impose more and more small reguations have yet to get the message that all this regulation is distracting people from the task of keeping aircraft safe.
The question both the airline and airport managers should be asking themselfs is "did the small bit of nifnaf & trivia regulation I put in place to cover my own six destract a guy from his flight safety task ?".
Individualy it is unlikely that one regulation will do this but collectively the answer is a very big YES you are building an accident one reguation at a time.