Originally Posted by
retiredmecheng
First time poster here, and not a pilot, but... I just noticed this in an article on the Guardian. Doesn't sound like MCAS, but perhaps another example of "un-wanted" automation trying to bring a plane down. Apologies if this has been posted before, but I haven't seen it yet on this (fascinating) thread...
"Two US airline pilots filed voluntary safety reports last year to a database compiled by Nasa, saying an automated system seemed to cause their 737 Max planes to tilt down suddenly.
The pilots said that soon after engaging the autopilot on Max 8 planes, the nose tilted down sharply. In both cases, they recovered quickly after disconnecting the autopilot.
The problem did not appear related to the automated anti-stall system that is suspected of contributing to a deadly October crash in Indonesia."
I saw that on Rachel Maddow tonight. I agree that this doesn't seem to be MCAS related, given that MCAS doesn't activate when the AP is on. Depending on how out of trim the aircraft is when the autopilot is turned on, it might well command nose down.