In this paper we apply a recently developed methodology to assess the compressive strength of an aero-engine component based on measured fibre misalignment angles. The component is a fan outlet guide vane made from a carbon fibre reinforced polymer, which was manufactured and tested by GKN Aerospace in Sweden. The main novelty with this work is that kink-band formation is predicted from measurements of fibre misalignment angles with high spatial resolution in a real component. In addition, we validate the recently published “defect severity model” on unidirectional specimens of the same material system as the aerospace component. We confirm high accuracy of the model for prediction of compressive strength on unidirectional composite laminates. Further work is however needed to extend the methodology for cases where progressive damage leads to final failure.