Originally Posted by
Compton3fox
MCAS is not supposed to operate if the AP is engaged. I would want to look at these events further to be sure they are not related or that they were a result of crew error. If not, there maybe a further complication to the current issue or another issue lurking that we don't know about.
In both cases when the crew took over manually the nose down stopped. It MCAS had been involved then the aircraft would still have had nose down trim in manual control. These cases were activation of an autopilot that for whatever reason was set for a lower target altitude, that is a human factors issue in its own right and needs to be assessed.