But that still doesn't answer the question. If this known nose gear
malfunction was happening on, say, Beech Bonanzas, the whole fleet
would be
grounded in a heartbeat. Yet it's happening to a commonly used
airliner,
and nothing much seems to be happening.

The FAA didn't put an AD on the Bonanza tail until 350 (and decades)
of them disintegrated in flight. Then it was only because the president
of the Bonanza society, a big Beech defender, was killed that Beech got
off their butt and fixed the tail.

At the same time, King Air wings were falling off at an alarming rate
and Beech and the FAA did virtually NOTHING to solve that as well. It
took a private company to produce a wing strap for the KA to finally
embarrass Beech into fixing the King Air.

The new King Air wing is held on by bolts in shear. The old (pre about
1984)by bolts in tension. FAA did NOTHING!

The FAA is not necessarily going to do anything to promote safety in
aviation. They never have. It's ALWAYS private enterprise that fixes
the real problems!