Re: The reason that the Max series need MCAS
Airbus are pretty much completely reliant on technology, and it is openly acknowledged in their design philosophies etc. The pilot cannot bypass the technology, that capability no longer exists, and that has to be explicitly part of the design->deployment process.
That is categorically not true. Airbus uses standard flight law, alternate flight law and then only in extreme situations will allow the pilot to make *all* decisions.
QF32's return to Singapore after the engine explosion was literally the latter... One thing that came out of the QF32 debriefs was that the flight computer was not helping with the number of error messages it was showing, and that was apparently changed.
The difference between the 737 MAX certification and Airbus' approach is that Boeing convinced the FAA that the fact they needed MCAS to help deal with the change in the CoG and aircraft stability was not something pilots needed to know. Brazil disagreed and insisted that any airlines using the MAX in Brazil would have to specifically train their pilots to be aware of MCAS and how to control/disable it if it failed/misbehaved. EASA was leaning towards Brazil's view but that also changed (no doubt helped by plenty of chivvying from Boeing).
Airbus is at least very clear about what it does, how it does it, and why it does it. Boeing changed how they did things and showed a lot of arrogance by saying "oh the pilots don't need to know and it won't make much difference in the grand scheme of things". Tell the relatives of JT610 that.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
