Originally Posted by
Sailvi767
The problem with the above is that at least in the Lion Air accident it did not happen that way. The MCAS commanded 2.5 units of nosedown trim which was countered by the CA retrimming the aircraft. 5 seconds later MCAS again commanded 2.5 units nose down trim and again it was electrically countered by the Captain. This cycle repeated itself 21 times. That’s a lot of time to diagnose the problem. MCAS does not drive the stab full nose down and cause a instant plunge into the ground. It moves in 2.5 degree increments and electrical trim is available to counter it. Not that difficult to retrim electrically and then disable the trim motors. Your now in trim and have manual trim available.
So, under your criteria, the Captain was competent and the first officer not. But what about the MCAS ? After 21 times MCAS actions were countered by the Captain, MCAS wasn't able to "understand" it was doing something wrong ? Idem when the first officer was pulling desperately the column aft ??? No need for complex AI here, just a few lines of code...