Originally Posted by
exwannabe
More complicated than this, The FAA required the MCAS for certification. W/o MCAS, it was deemed to unstable to be airworthy.
So why could Boeing not design it right in the first place? It is easy for people to just assume they made stupid mistakes, but that is very unlikely to me. I presume they made engineering decisions and tradeoffs based on issues we do not know. And if so, can they implement a system that does not push the risk elsewhere?
Do agree that the true next gen mid-size (whatever it is) is needed ASAP. Even if they fix this issue, the 737 kind of sucks.
It actually is fairly straightforward.
The single-input is a huge engineering mistake - that needs to be corrected. The fix is basically done; just has to be qualified. That'll reduce the rate of occurrence to more acceptable levels.
It's not a matter of "moving the risk elsewhere" - it's a matter of the pilots knowing the proper procedure for responding to a runaway stabilizer. This is a situation that is trained for -- and has been trained for -- for decades. But, because of MCAS, it can occur at a different phase of flight than is usually trained for. But the response is exactly the same -- slap the stab trim cutout switches, and everything is back to normal.
Fast forward to 2:45 to see the proper procedure:
But that's all that has to happen ... and at this point, I'd guaran-freakin-tee that ANY 737 pilot would respond by hitting the stab trim cutouts right away. I'd argue that the 737MAX is plenty safe to fly as it sits; since any pilot will know what to do now.