Boeing 737 MAX
Well, even if you're the person who knows nothing about aviation, you most likely have heard / read something about Boeing 737 MAX crashes (Lion Air and Ethiopian).
While there are ton of decent information available on the subject, most of it is in the "if it bleeds it leads" style. So, as a triggered aviation armchair enthusiast, I just wanted to create my own summary of the subject.
TL/DR (too long / didn't read) summary
A bit longer summary
Technical description of the underlying issue (ill-implemented MCAS) is usually correct (why MCAS was needed / implemented), what most articles fail to address though, is the non-technical / non-Boeing side.
The very sad conclusion about the situation is -
if the training and safety culture at both companies (Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines) was flawless, and pilots were properly qualified and highly skilled, we probably wouldn't know anything about MCAS.
Boeing (and FAA) messed up big time (due to management pressure / greediness and whatnot) - absolutely no question about it, but that doesn't free both airlines from responsibility.
Both crashes were avoidable. It's not like pilots didn't have any control (as some articles are trying to say) - it's more like they've lost situational awareness and didn't take necessary steps to rectify the situation. In both cases there was a chain of events leading to the crash, and MCAS was only a part of it. In short - was it a difficult situation for pilots to handle? Yes. Was it recoverable? Yes (remember, previous crew on this Lion Air plane had essentially same issue, but managed to safely land the plane. They failed to correctly describe the problem in the log though)
Second crash (Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302) by any means should not have happened. By this time, airline and the pilots should have been aware of the first crash details (and Boeing bulletins that followed, even if they were poorly worded / written),
Pilots are in the cockpit for a reason (and will be, in the foreseeable future) - because when something goes wrong (with the plane, traffic, weather and whatnot), they use their skills, training, experience, judgement to deal with the situation. To put it very bluntly - it could be a matter of time for airlines such as those on ill-fated flights to have serious incidents, even without MCAS.
Now the fixes to the MCAS / manuals / MAX type training are on the way, type is essentially un-banned and will fly again soon.
But who'll fix the pilot training and safety culture at some airlines, especially outside the "first world" ?
