Not factually correct. All MAX planes have 2 AOA sensors; all had just one active. Some planes (not the two that crashed) were fitted with a difference warning light, an extra cost option.
No, my argument is based on logic. Not that the plane is “unworthy” but that its airworthiness depended, as originally certified, on a system that is now deactivated when it might be needed. The
The most striking fact is the original contract provision with Southwest that called for a $1M penalty if it turned out that some specified level of pilot training would be necessary. That’s $1million per airplane. The whole point was to paper over differences with other differences, the disclosure and explanation of which would have required training. The changes to MCAS don’t affect those fundamentals. Maybe the new training mitigates them. We’ll see.
Excellent propaganda to address the new conundrum: MCAS, essential to the certification of the MAX, is now deactivated, leaving the plane technically unairworthy.
