exit somtimes not exit's the script

[vw]

Configuration Information [Automatically generated, do not change]:
Machine: i686
OS: linux-gnu
Compiler: gcc
Compilation CFLAGS:  -DPROGRAM='bash' -DCONF_HOSTTYPE='i686' 
-DCONF_OSTYPE='linux-gnu' -DCONF_MACHTYPE='i686-pc-linux-gnu' 
-DCONF_VENDOR='pc' -DLOCALEDIR='/usr/share/locale' -DPACKAGE='bash' -DSHELL 
-DHAVE_CONFIG_H   -I.  -I. -I./include -I./lib   -O2 -march=i686 
-fomit-frame-pointer -pipe -w
uname output: Linux wst07 2.6.15.1 #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jan 21 15:06:51 CET 2006 
i686 pentium4 i386 GNU/Linux
Machine Type: i686-pc-linux-gnu

Bash Version: 3.1
Patch Level: 5
Release Status: release

Description:
        a exit inside a loop inside a pipe exits's the loop and not the
        script. may bee a error.

Repeat-By:

#!/bin/bash
x() {
  exit 1
}
echo -e "1\n2\n" >error.fil
echo "start"
cat error.fil | while read a; do
  x
  done
# this should never be executed
echo "if you see this, it's an error"