KC .... huh?
From the Seattle Times "doubled down" article, this premise for a question, or two....
Boeing stated to FAA MCAS "wasn't new and novel because a similar system had been previously implemented in the 767 tanker for the Air Force..."
Is there a track record in existence for this level of flight control system or system components (meaning, the MCAS) being waved through because it had been part of an Air Force aircraft development program? Of any type of aircraft?; of a program taking an airliner airframe and converting it to a military type? (How about, and specifically a wide-body type decades after a narrow-body had been certified originally?)
If there is such a track record, specifically, how many types of aircraft, and what were they?
Were any of those aircraft (if any) the subject of quite serious procurement scandals, and/or continuing evident QC issues in the production (debris? debris left in a completed aircraft??)?
What data, if any, did the USAF possess, and act upon in deciding to accept MCAS in the KC-46 Pegasus based upon, that is as derived from, the 767 airliner, with respect to pilot reaction times? Are these data (if any) and the assumptions based upon them comparable to those relied upon in the MCAS proces?; if so, how and to what extent?
What is the total set of communications, bureaucratic and/or official information channels of exchange, and all other forms and modalities of comparative and/or collaborative analysis related to airworthiness and ultimately certification, between USAF with an existing aircraft program, and FAA for a pending cerification decision? In other words, seeing that information that MCAS was already riding along on the KC-46, does FAA just nod "okay yes" and draw the conclusion Boeing obviously was seeking - or if not, then what is the sum total of all types of information exchange between FAA and the Air Force? As a process generally, and specifically for MCAS?
This, as discovery will go (or, as this one atty contends it needs to go and should go), is just the start.