Originally Posted by
MemberBerry
If the stick shaker would have been reported by the pilots after that flight, engineers/technicians/mechanics might have checked the AoA vane and may have fixed the problem before the accident Lion Air flight (Indonesian).
I didn't expect the engineers/technicians/mechanics at Lion Air (Indonesia) to find any critical flaw about MCAS or the MAX. But just as they replaced the AoA sensor once, at the very least they could replace it a second time. Since the AoA issue and the stick shaker simptom started when they replaced the AoA sensor, replacing it again might have fixed the issue and the Lion Air (Indonesian) accident might not have happened.
(a) we don't actually
know that the AOA vane itself was the issue on LionAir (or ET, although there is more evidence of a vane failure mode in that case)
(b) if you are troubleshooting a problem persisting over several flights (AOA issues did
not start with the replaced sensor) do you assume the cause is the part you have replaced with new, or that the cause is more likely elsewhere?
But the bigger problem with the theory that better reporting would help (I think) is that maintenance appear to have their own automation dependency problem. The LionAir guys asked the aircraft (BITE/IFIM) what was broken, fixed that and asked the aircraft if everything was now OK, got a yes = job done, end of thinking.
For a more detailed actual example of why reporting stick shaker would make sod-all difference to the outcome, consider this result of a busted AOA sensor:
* stick shaker at V1
* takeoff, establish stick shaker is spurious
* engage autopilot at 400ft "as normal" (
because stick shaker identified as spurious)
* troubleshoot by calling home to find out where the CB is to turn the
shaker off, pull CB
* get to FL170 and notice IAS and ALT disagree so run those checklists at that point
* discuss whether or not to continue flight
* decide to land and get maintenance to look at it (note the stick shaker was definitely reported - to find out which CB)
* maintenance use BITE, identify failed ADC, replace ADC, confirm BITE checks out, good to go
* second attempt at takeoff, stick shaker at V1 followed by high speed RTO...
Note that I suggest working out which incident that was before whining about inexperienced or third-world crews or airlines or maintenance...