The engine failure on the SW flight was due to metal fatigue - one of those situations where the problem doesn't really show until things start going south. Consequently, the process dictates that the FAA starts its investigation by interviewing the quality assurance inspector who signed off on the engine, rather than jumping straight on the backs of the AP mechanics.
I spend far too much of every single week dealing with quality assurance inspectors who just don't get it. They are the last in line to protect the end users and consumers in a very long process of constant inspections, but a handful just can't seem to grasp that concept.
Just a handful of them are utterly worthless. They claim expertise, but almost never do a thing to prove it. While my technicians (a lot of former AP mechanics) are on the production floor doing their damnedest to be perfect at every turn, these "quality" individuals are usually found in the break room, stuffing their faces and talking trash because the mechanics have corrected them or they have to ask questions about even the simplest procedures because they've never so much as tried to do it themselves. They spend their inspection time complaining to others - "I hate it here and I want to move", "I can't get anything done, so what's wrong with me?" and so on. Poor attitudes result in poor performance.
And you want to talk about who should be flipping burgers for a clown? These jerks give me written reports that are so full of grammatical errors and misspelling that I am left wondering just how they managed to pass their qualification exams or just how many cereal boxes they had to collect to send off for credentials in the first place. Truly embarrassing garbage that you would never even consider passing along to a customer like Boeing or General Dynamics because they would laugh you straight out of a contract.
Be nice to those AP mechanics. Both the FAA and the military know where to start their investigation - by looking for the signature of the guy who signed his name in the inspection block of the sign-off giving the OK to take the bird up in the first place.