Do you really think that’s an appropriate level of analysis for the manufacturer of a brand new MCAS? “Any failure of this new thing we’re shipping is just a trim failure, pilots can handle it”?
With the benefit of hindsight it looks obviously wrong, but without that the reasoning looks sound to me. IMHO, the failure lies in validating the analysis with realistic test conditions. They should be testing their assumptions against the worst pilots, not the best.
The problem with their testing wasn't just that they tested against the best pilots. They simulated MCAS failure as just the stabilizer trim running away, which of course their test pilots caught. Real-world MCAS failures were accompanied by a bunch of warnings about loss of accurate airspeed and altitude (because those also used the angle-of-attack sensor), which meant that in reality pilots were occupied trying to sort through that and figure out if any of the conflicting airspeed and altitude readings could be trusted. That is, as I understand it, hard enough to deal with and demanding enough on its own that even well-trained Western pilots screw it up, occasionally with tragic results. Then whilst all that's happening they're meant to notice that the trim wheel is moving in an uncommanded and unwanted fashion, turn electric trim off, and manually wrestle the trim wheel back into the correct position (whatever that even is). Boeing didn't simulate any of those added complications according to the NTSB.
Doing X number of complicated routine things at once, in general, is infinitely easier than any situation where you are suddenly told "part of your system isn't reliable, now come up with a new model of what you can trust on the fly".
It boggles me how people can't put themselves in the place of someone in the latter situation. Like, even if you haven't crashed a plane, haven't you experienced something similar on a small scale? Haven't you observed other people with such problems?
