Originally Posted by
yoko1
So this is why I keep asking what made the difference between the first three pilots and the last two when it came to the first critical step. Yes, none of us would wish any of them to be placed in this situation, but once they were, the training and experience they brought to the cockpit was absolutely critical to what happened next.
Perhaps training did apply, but your posit about three out of the five is completely flawed and your claim that it was absolutely critical to what happened is simply unsupported in any way by your words or argument.
IIRC each of the pilots flying initially gave up more ground to MCAS ANU stab movement than did the pilots who followed them. Thus each of those pilots upon taking control started in a deep hole that much closer to a literal vertical plummet if they let the trim run for too long, and the starting position of the trim when they took control was not basically neutral, but roughly halfway to the stops, meaning they were fighting far heavier control column forces from the first moment of control.
The answer to your question is simple: They all acted with similar but non-knowable approaches, inputs and reasoning. The reason only two pilots ended up flying the airplanes into the ground was simply that they were the unlucky seconds who came after their counterparts had already dug them halfway to China and the margins were that much steeper. (Use of steeper intended to convey multiple meanings there, from the learning curve to the rate of descent...) If you are a baseball fan: The first guy started with a clean count, and when he handed off control the second guy came into the game with an 0-2 count. Debating about why the second guy failed at the plate and the first guy succeeded is ridiculous..
This is a straw-man argument and I have no idea why we are even speaking about this. Trying to parse which crew member was better trained or just better or luckier is cruel and unfair. Which is the only reason I have once again reluctantly re-engaged here.
dce