What is the big issue?
Among others, 737 Driver is getting a lot of flack in this thread because some people see his contributions as trying to deflect blame away from Boeing and on to the pilots. I would not be so harsh, but suggest that pilots tend to look at issues from a pilots perspective. There is little doubt that disabling electric trim at an early stage would have prevented these accidents. However, one could also suggest that disabling electric trim before all flights would have prevented these accidents or simply grounding the MAX series would have prevented the accidents.
A little flippant yes, but it is the reason for some emotional statements. None of the pilots could reasonably be accused of anything other than an innocent mistake. Boeing on the other hand did not make an innocent mistake they took a calculated risk... a risk that did not pay off. It was not an innocent mistake at all. It is the difference between doing something wrong and making a mistake. 737 Driver accepts that MCAS should not be enabled when AoA disagree (or so I understand). Boeing must have understood this issue long before Lion Air, and certainly after Lion Air.They should have grounded the MAX to resolve the matter. That is why a little emotion is creeping into this thread.
737 Driver is tending to argue pitch and power is the solution but underplaying that pitch cannot be achieved if it is running away. Earlier on in the thread, 737 Driver said runaway could be arrested by the knee of the pilot... not sure that is following procedure or is even possible. 737 Driver is insistent that electric trim can be used to counteract MCAS. If the publications of Boeing are accurate, that is true.
However, it is difficult to believe that the in the Lion Air and ET302 incidents that the pilots were not trying to use the thumb switches to counteract MCAS. Maybe they were not, maybe they, for some reason, thought that they could not. I still have some doubts because it does not seem to add up. What is certain is that had they reacted quicker and hit the cut-out switches earlier, they probably would have been in good shape. Of course, the FDR suggests that the pilots did not use much electric trim, but it is not conclusive because thumb switch input is not recorded.
I am a little skeptical why the voice transcripts of ET302 have not been published. I suspect some legal eagles have stuck their oar in. The transcript could be exculpatory or damning to some of the parties. Perhaps some parties do not want those kinds of conclusions made just yet. It is probably for the best to take a little more time to do a thorough investigation, despite the public desire to know what happened. All too much truth has come out already for Boeing's liking. Perhaps the tip of the iceberg?
Last edited by wheelsright; 6th May 2019 at 16:14.