And here we arrive at a question about the MEL, and what the requirements are for a test flight if there is a flight control problem, one that repeated, to include a safety of flight sub system, stick shaker, malfunctioning (false positives, apparently) for an extended period of time.
Post of interest and
Another post of interest.
That's a hole or three in the Swiss cheese lining up.
A separate concern is what is an apparent glossing over of that system in the difference training, and how well trained/taught aircrews are regarding systems That Move The Flight Control Surfaces in various degraded/malfunction modes. From the contributory causes perspective, there's seems to me a (tragic) synergy between three elements of the system that are
not the flying-the-aircraft piece, or even designing and building it.
1. Known failure modes, and training pertaining thereunto
2. Documentation and difference training so that pilots know how the flight controls move, and when ...
3. The MEL, how to trouble shoot and fix a problem, and then release for flight for carrying passengers.
The bellowing about how the latest 737 is somehow not a fit aircraft I'll leave to others - been watching the A vs B bun throwing on PPRuNe for a decade, and it's pointless. The vast majority of the fleet seems to take off and land without issue on a daily basis. What concerns me are pilot training, maintenance procedures, and documentation. A few pages back there was a video by a flying Captain that raises a disturbing point in parallel with some issues raised in this discussion: how thorough is the difference training, and what "this is new" stuff is covered in the simulator sessions that introduce the new version to the aircrews.
Does this vary by company? If so, why?
Similar question about maintenance procedures, and what constitutes a defect that can be "fixed later" versus "can't fly until it's fixed' versus 'can't fly till it's fixed and a maintenance test flight completed.' That third thing appears, from what I've gleaned so far, to not have been done.
For Concours77:
The "evolution" of the modern pilot still costs time and effort to train and educate on the complex system/aircraft he or she is flying. Getting off of your high horse about the 787 battery would be nice. I don't see it as relevant to a flight control malfunction.