Thought you might be able to answer this one.
The sling has spreaders at the top and bottom, they connect to a hardpoint near the gear, the "bands" of the sling are kept away from the fuselage by the spreaders.
Why would any airline want to fly the extra structural weight on every single plane they have just to avoid very rare occurances like this? It sounds like the insurance company might have already decided to right off this plane.