Interesting discussion.
I'm just an observer, not an expert, but the debate about Airbus vs Boeing really needs it's own dedicated blog or topic, imho.
That said, for my 2 cents, it's hard to beat the AF447 crash of an A330. A simple, temporary icing up of (I think) a pitot tube, led to that situation, The unforgivable flaw with that is that the junior pilot was secretly countermanding the inputs of the more senior, then pilot-attempting-to-fly. There was, it seems, no obvious way that the PIC could tell that his inputs were being countered. Nothing like a horn and warning saying "Pilot Input Conflict" or some such. This would also warn about inadvertent inputs, such as laptops, dinner trays, hostess's feet, legs, head etc jamming a stick, or a faulty stick.
I suppose that situation is still the same?
A bit like having your seat driven forward without your input.
This stupid seat switch design, equally seems to have had no one with any sense overseeing it and its possible risks - such as the most obvious - hijackers and terrorists. Now, they all know about it.
Ordinary, everyday car manufacturers do far better. My car warns when the driver and passenger seat belts are not fastened. The passenger seat has a weight switch built in to stop erroneous warnings - though something heavy enough on the passenger seat will set it off anyway. Reminds you to strap the package in too...
The point is, weight switches on the pilot's seats to disable the seat-back switches would have prevented this entirely, faulty or missing cover, loose switch or whatever. To me, this "accident" is inexcusable for an aircraft manufacturer to design in.
As for the "kinky" seat track - WTF? Isn't there ample space on the outboard side to get in? Is this just a marketing gimmick? "Look, we have a side-shifting pilot's seat!" WOW! Or WaW.
Flying is just getting scarier and scarier. This accident wouldn't even happen on an ordinary commuter bus. And some of those drivers are Eeenormous.