The roller coaster technique first came into being with the DC-8 and the Boeing 707 and was included in their training manuals. In the case of a runaway stabilizer downwards which the 737 MAX experienced, if the crews had switched off the stabiliser trim switches and switched off the AT's, then both pilots could have used their combined strength to haul the nose above the horizon to 20 degrees or more then let go of the control column, the aircraft would have started to lower the nose by itself in a slight negative G state. As that is happening the pilots would have been able to rapidly manually wind the stab trim from its out of trim state towards neutral
. During the period where the Boeing 737-100/200 PTM's (Pilot Training Manuals) were published, Boeing also published its Boeing 737 Flight Instructor Manual. Among other sequences, this manual published the technique to be used for a runaway stabiliser used in-flight - presumably assuming a simulator was unavailable. It stated that in manual level flight use the electrical trim to no more than two units either side of neutral, then switch off the stab trim cutout switches leaving the aircraft out of trim. Then by using the roller coaster technique, manually wind the stabiliser trim to an in-trim condition. There was a warning not to set more than plus or minus two units from neutral when setting up the aircraft in this fashion. As stated, this was an in-flight technique prior to having a simulator available
During my career of flying the Boeing 737-200, we were trained in the simulator the roller coaster method of countering a runaway stabiliser trim. It was considered no big deal and gave one the confidence to deal with what was a potentially serious non-normal if not handled promptly and correctly. There was nothing to be gained by Boeing in deleting this invaluable advice
Last edited by Centaurus; 19th May 2026 at 04:17.