The 737 Max saga is what can happen under a laissez faire Regulator and a Manufacturer run by bean-counters. Suddenly you are left with no defence in depth and have to rely on individuals to stand up and be counted. If they don't then people die, as they did here. No amount of jargon can alter that.
tdracer, if as you say the engineers who signed off MCAS as safe did not know otherwise then it says little for their professional judgement. The system was a turkey from the word go, particularly in its standard form with a single AoA input. As tuc says, we have had similar issues in the UK where the military air regulator (aka the MOD) knowingly released into service a grossly unairworthy aircraft. People died as a result. If the FAA didn't know the Max was unairworthy they were derelict in their duty, if they did then they were criminal in their action. Either way doesn't end well for Boeing or the Airlines. All that could have been prevented if the engineers involved had just said NO!
Last edited by Chugalug2; 24th Sep 2020 at 12:51.
Reason: Words, dear boy, words!