Originally Posted by
oggers
The report mentions in passing that autothrottle was left engaged throughout but fails to acknowledge it should have been disengaged. It avoids the question of whether the pilots switched the stab cut-out back on even though the data shows that must have been the case. The Press Conference "was almost entirely focused on vindicating the actions of the pilots" according to the admittedly non-paretisan Seattle Times - it is subjective but FWIW I agree.
Nonetheless it is abundantly clear the MCAS failed (as if we didn't know that by now). But it is a matter of fact that contrary to the Ethiopian Transport Minister's statement, the crew did NOT follow correctly the Boeing procedures and the Non Normal Checklist. The autothrottle was never disengaged (a significant oversight). Although the stab cut-out was belatedly used the trim was later re-engaged contrary to the Boeing advice to "ensure the CUTOUT switches remain at CUTOUT for the remainder of the flight".
The preliminary report is a statement of facts, not an attribution of blame. The press conference is an entirely different matter, and your points are probably valid.