Originally Posted by
joe_bloggs
IIRC it was he who asked FAA to not include it.
It was indeed, and also the same bloke who went around to other regulators and, paraphrasing, lied straight to their faces about the extent of authority embedded in MCAS.
So, not so much a question of 'forgetting' to implement MCAS in the FCOM, but a deliberate and successful attempt to hide it out of view. We know now what the real motive was behind that decision, and it wasn't at attempt not to overburden the pilots with too much technical information. We now also know, why he sought work outside of Boeing, lawyered up and pleaded the 5th when the investigators came knocking
A smoking gun directly linking this knowledge of MCAS to senior management has yet to be uncovered, as far as I know. But it does sound extremely unlikely that nobody from the pool of test pilot and technical pilot has not, at some point between 2016 and certification in 2017, held up their hand in a meeting, email or chat conversation involving one or more senior managers, and said WTF is going on. If that happens, and it's sadly becoming increasingly likely that it will, the consequences for Boeing will be dire.
And what Boeing did to their regulator, on whom their only hope of resolving the Max debacle rests, is nothing less than astounding. Anybody who's ever been involved with Boeing will testify to their institutional arrogance, but this one takes the cake at a level I didn't think possible.
Be surprised if we see the Max operating any airline service this side of summer 2020.