Originally Posted by
gums
Forgive me, but I am having a hard time with requiring hours of "training" for pilots to fly the MAX with the new MCAS, or even the old MCAS.
Or maybe the issue is that some sizable fraction of pilots need training on manual trimming, and its quirks in some portions of the flight envelope + trim setting, including high speed with heavy nose down mistrim. From where I stand, it looks like the certification assumption is that pilots can handle such situation or avoid that it happens, when in reality
- ET302 has shown that's not always the case,
- it came out that simulators did not (or did not even attempt) to realistically reproduce trim wheel efforts,
- more generally, the regulators have been forced to come to greater realization that ability to pass a simulator test does not accurately predict ability to handle the corresponding real-life situation.
Granted, this could apply to other planes, including the NG. But there is logic in putting an end to the "it worked fine for the NG, it will work well enough for the MAX" attitude. The planes are significantly different, and that attitude failed, badly, and with dire consequences.