Thanks to fdr for posting the quote from the 'regs'. I'm only SLF but have some expertise in reading British and European Standards and trying to interpret what the people who drafted them intended them to mean. Look at (a) below.
Originally Posted by fdr§ 25.672 Stability augmentation and automatic and power-operated systems
If the functioning of stability augmentation or other automatic or power-operated systems is necessary to show compliance with the flight characteristics requirements of this part, such systems must comply with **** and the following:
(a) A warning which is clearly distinguishable to the pilot under expected flight conditions without requiring his attention must be provided for any failure in the stability augmentation system or in any other automatic or power-operated system which could result in an unsafe condition if the pilot were not aware of the failure. Warning systems must not activate the control systems.
My question is: was MCAS intended to operate under '
normal' flight conditions? If it was intended to operate only in 'abnormal' flight conditions, then there is no need to tell the pilot anything, even if it fails. I presume this is how the wording has been interpreted, but surely it should make the pilot aware when it is operating. Compare this to a car with 'anti skid' and 'traction Control' you don't need to know it is there and working, but when the wheels start spinning you get a warning that the system is operating, you also get a warning if it has failed.
I sit down the back and muse over what you guys (and girls) up the front don't know, or more importantly haven't been told/taught.
Having read this thread from page one I'm still concerned, (like others have posted) that there are things lurking that you still don't know about, that might come and bite you in the backside at the wrong moment.
I have an adage when risk assessments go wrong: YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW UNTIL YOU FIND OUT YOU DIDN'T KNOW.