Originally Posted by JDiver

Hand flying is precisely the problem, because the MCAS will govern the flight and overrule the pilot with information from the (faulty, on Lion Air) AOA (angle of attack indicator) when the aircraft is flown manually.

Unless the two switches shown below are thrown past the stops into the CUT OUT position. Currently, if you don’t do that, you’re going to have a white knuckle fight with the airplane you’ll lose.

The MCAS software and operating manual changes seek to modify that.