Originally Posted by
PEI_3721
The certification arguments for MCAS were flawed, but the principles were proven in flight test, certification, and subsequently commercial operations. MCAS worked as designed; however history shows that the supporting design was not fail safe, nor in that sense, were the interpretations, judgements, and approvals in the regulatory process; both systemic failures.
Are there any records of MCAS firing up
as designed during actual commercial operations? I wonder how an aircrew that somehow finds itself in the part of the flight envelope where MCAS would be activated would react to the sudden (presumably unexpected) automatic nose-down trim correction. MCAS may work as designed in that case, but what about the startled human element?