Jefferson City pilots took plane to maximum altitude

I have been in one on my old employers CRJ-200s at 41000 feet and I can
tell you they fly fine. We we repositioning and want to get home. I
un-fortunately was riding in the jump seat and not the left seat. :-(
Michelle

Bucky wrote:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/plane_crash_investigation

I think this was reported a month ago as well, but there was another
round of news releases today stating that the pilots took their
Bombardier CJR200 to its maximum altitude of 41,000 ft. Afterwards,
both engines failed and they crashed before reaching an airport.

Of course, the pilots should not have experimented around, but is it
dangerous to take a plane to its max altitude? When the engineers
specify a maximum altitude, doesn't it still have to be safe at that
altitude?