Originally Posted by
172510
How much experience do you think is required to be able to figure out that disconnecting the elec stab trim and using manual trim is the thing to do in case of trim runaway, failed or locked? Believe it or not, I knew that even before my first type rating.
172510 and ACMS, you guys need to read your accident reports more carefully.
It was not as simple as just applying the stab trim cutout then winding the trim manually back to neutral or wherever. The fact that MCAS had so much authority (multiples of what they had told the FAA) meant that by the time the pilots realised what was going on and applied the correct procedure, the amount of mis-trim was substantial. This then exposed what was an unappreciated flaw in the B737 stab trim operation: that it can be difficult if not impossible to operate manually if there is significant pressure on it. Relaxing the back pressure with the nose pointing at he ground would take great courage I'm sure. This would have been the case for the Ethiopian crew and explains why they restored the stab trim cut out switches in an effort to get back some control of the stab. Grasping at straws for sure but understandable.