A few thoughts from a 737 Max 8 pilot .
The initial profile looks similar to the Lion air crash.
Boeing has stated that if the Lion air pilots had followed the STAB TRIM RUNAWAY. ( the new and revised version.)
the accident would not have occurred.
The Lion air pilots were initially dealing with a UNRELIABLE AIRSPEED drill . They should have then followed the Stab trim drill but were probably task saturated.
We have learned two pertinent things about the MCAS system .
- The system arms when the flaps are up.
- The system disarms when the Autopilot is turned on.
So so on Take off
the auto pilot is off and the flaps are down.
Pilots are trained that on abnormalities on take off "Clean up and climb to a safe altitude". Before troubleshooting the situation .
The 737 Max flap limiting speed for flap5 is 250KIAS. That's a normal take off flap setting and more than enough airspeed for any configuration / abnormality.
So so untill a definitive directive is released for this type , when's faced with similar situations and deciding on Climb / return plan Flaps down during troubleshooting should be the default setting.