Originally Posted by rodthesod
This is so sad, when it is so very easy to make control linkages Murphy-proof at the design stage. (e.g. Male-female connector Left - Female-male Right)
That would protect against a "maintenance" error but the NTSB preliminary report talks of a design modification being introduced prior to the accident flight. While it reads as if the modification
itself was not the direct cause of the reversal of the controls, merely the cause of the disconnection/reconnection, nonetheless it's impossible to design a system that's 'Murphy-proof' against design changes, since one can always include a nullification of the Murphy-proofing in the design change .... design reviews can try to catch such things, but the final operational check of the system is the only sure defence.