Originally Posted by
737 Driver
When I first got into this business, our manuals used to be far more detailed. We used to say we could just about build the aircraft with the information they gave us. Nowadays, not so much. Someone decided that we pilots didn’t need all the technical details, but rather only the procedures. I’m not in that camp, but no one asked me. If not for these accidents any information that Boeing would have provided the pilots on MCAS would have been just as generic as the information they currently give us on the Speed Trim and Elevator Feel Systems (both of which are also activated in a stall).
But in regards to MCAS, I will simply repeat that Boeing has provided no information that would lead me to believe that it would ever unwind any nose down input. This behavior is entirely consistent with how the Speed Trim behaves in a stall situation, so I think you are looking for something that is not there. I am happy to stand corrected if Boeing every publishes new information to the contrary.
Well, given that they didn't even tell you about the system in the first place, I would be a little reluctant to conclude that they have told you everything about it now. However, I certainly hope that by the time the plane is certified again pilots will know more about MCAS than the project managers at Boeing knew during design.
This really has the feel of the sort of thing I have been unfortunately involved in (not aviation), the "we aren't exactly going to lie about this but it raises uncomfortable questions so let's hide it under the rug" patch to save the project once the company is committed to a course that in retrospect was not the best solution to the problem. Engineers realize that if they talk about it too much they are going to be tasked with updating the copyright notices on 10,000,000 lines of code and baby-sitting the 3a.m. builds. The cynical ones accept it because the project is so %#@!! already that it doesn't stand a chance of working anyway.
That sort of mentality takes a long time to get over and I still feel some of that energy coming from Chicago. What exactly "minor control surface" issues were also fixed in this latest patch?
The good news to a Boeing supporter on the horizon is that they are writing off $1 billion for the repair (supposedly not liability) which to me sounds as if it is more than a 1/2 hour software upgrade. That sort of money sounds like a hardware fix, which is what I think they need.