Originally Posted by
NutLoose
Ok, so we finally have some "we tried this in the sim and...", albeit sim and scenario were under Boeing control (but apparently not under Boeing NDA...). Apparently these were first-world pilots, forewarned, MCAS expected, and obviously with knowledge of the potential implications (smoking crater / large splash).
Things that jumped out at me (my emphasis):
Those involved in the testing hadn’t fully understood just how powerful the system was until they flew the plane on a 737 Max simulator, according to the two people.
Under conditions similar to the Lion Air flight, three engagements over just 40 seconds, including pauses, would send the plane into an unrecoverable dive
MCAS was surprisingly powerful once tested in the simulator
So, 40 seconds to unrecoverable dive due to a system that the pilot does not know about (before), or (now) even with knowledge
will not appreciate how powerful it is until they have experienced it in the sim. Which they won't have, because there are no sims outside Boeing because there don't need to be because no max-specific sim training is needed and an NG sim doesn't have MCAS. So the first time a line pilot encounters this "surprisingly powerful" control law is,
inevitably, in the air with a plane load of pax behind them (WTF are sims
for?), and they have 40s to figure it out - and it is not clear at what altitude that is...
Before the Lion Air crash, Boeing and regulators agreed that pilots didn’t need to be alerted to the new system, and training was minimal.
So, that was before Lion Air. Now, having established in tests with line pilots (presumably not done before?) that the "surprisingly powerful" MCAS
cannot be appreciated
until experienced in the sim (or presumably in the a/c, however briefly), the fix is, drum roll..............:
Pilots will be required to complete a training on the updated system on their iPads.
I really don't know what to say.
I'm sure plaintiffs lawyers will though - they're going to have a ****ing field day in court with this.