How old are the Quantas aircreaft which have been in the news lately?
The jury is still out on the cause. My guess is that maintenance will be faulted, rather than the airframe. It is true that as aircraft get older they require more maintenance, but it is also true that a properly maintained aircraft can fly safely for decades. The military (in the U.S.) still flies B-52 bombers, which have been around so long that some of the current pilots are the grandchildren of the original pilots. They are still as safe as they ever were. Twenty-five years is not old at all for an aircraft. The Comet problems were due to a (significant) design defect, in the days when the effects of pressurization on airframes were still poorly understood. A lot of airlines are outsourcing their aircraft maintenance to developing countries, and this concerns me a lot more than the age of aircraft.
