Originally Posted by dblumenhoff

These were well below average pilots. The PIC had the flu and was called in as a replacement at 4 am. The FO had repeatedly failed checkrides because, among other things, he couldn't find checklists, and on the fateful flight he...wait for it...couldn't find the checklist. The investigation found that had he actually run the full checklist, everyone would have been safe. I believe that the MAX 8 in its previous configuration wouldn't have crashed twice in quick succession with average pilots - it crashed (at least one of the times) with underqualified pilots. In the new configuration it will likely be one of the safest airliners in the sky.