Originally Posted by
Speed of Sound
A simple question which I’m not sure has been discussed.
If the original amount of MCAS authority was required for certification, then how can the revised software which gives MCAS a reduced authority, still fulfil certification requirements and if it does, why then was an excessively powerful system allowed on an aircraft when that power and authority was in excess of what was required for certification?
The version of MCAS with increased authority seems to have been "allowed" because the FAA didn't know about the increase in authority. We can't know what might have happened if it hadn't slipped through the very wide cracks.