Originally Posted by Packrat

That's the problem, isn't it? I'd bet most F/Os merely look in the correct directions during walkarounds without even seeing what they're supposed to be looking for.

SWA might have the correct system. The F/O does the walk the first flight of the day, the ground crews do the rest. I'd guess their ground crews catch more problems than the average F/O who is just going through the motions.