the crew initially rubbished the passengers' concerns
A female passenger boarding what was to become the Hawaii convertible 737 noticed the crack but decided to say nothing on the premise that they (the airline) know what they're doing. Wonder the reaction now if the pax had said something.
C-FONF was a F-28 that crash on take off due to snow and ice contaminated wings. A DC-9 Captain and a Dash 8 Captain were both dead heading, the latter stated that "professional courtesy" precluded an off duty pilot drawing the attention of flight crew to a safety concern.
We're a weird lot.