Yes, the situation you describe is not unlike the one at Morton Thiokol prior to the Challenger accident. You should look up the story of how Feynman (who was n

Yes, the situation you describe is not unlike the one at Morton Thiokol prior to the Challenger accident. You should look up the story of how Feynman (who was not an Aerospace engineer, gasp!) managed to bring the Challenger accident cause to light, despite some of the accident investigation committee's best efforts.