I've been flying the MAX for a year now.
In this thread, Vraciu is pretty much correct. Almost all the arguments against him are either deliberately mis-interpreting his posts (like brainiac #1 who equated saying a 200 hour FO probably sucks and all African pilots suck), or the regurgitating of sensationalist prattle about how "the SoFtWaReZ be crashing deh plainz!".
MCAS is a good feature. The 737 doesn't have a stick pusher, but the new motors on the MAX give it a nose-up pitching tendency when in the stall. The reasonable answer is to run a little nose-down trim in there. The implementation could have been done better and Boeing did a truly awful job failing to highlight it in MAX differences training, since a single sensor failure can cause it to activate inappropriately.
HOWEVER, runaway trim is runaway trim. Any pilot who flies a plane with any sort of power assisted trim should know instinctively how to quickly turn off the damn trim system. I knew and practiced this when I had less than 40 hours because I received instruction in a plane with electric pitch trim. The instructor, 30+ years ago when I was a pup, told me you first attempt to trim opposite of the runaway trim, and while doing that you go for the trim disconnect switch or circuit breaker. That procedure has applied in every single plane I've every flown in, both military and civilian, and it's pretty much the same procedure in all variants of the 737 including the MAX. This is airmanship 101 type stuff.
Activating the trim switch on the yoke should temporarily halt MCAS inputs. So a simple press of the trim switch nose-up should temporarily turn off MCAS inputs. If after the reset period expires the trim starts running nose down again, then trim opposite it with the trim switch again and then also use the stab trim disconnect switches. Once more, this is piloting 101, something that should be taught and practiced before ever flying any real aircraft with powered trim.
The only real difference in the MAX is that the implementation of MCAS could cause runaway trim with a single AOA sensor failure. That's not a good design, but the effect of the malfunction is still a runaway trim situation that any pilot flying anything more complicated than a Cessna 172 should be able to deal with in their sleep.
200 hour FO? Maybe 350 hrs depending on who you ask. Yea. You get what you pay for and sometimes being cheap kills you. That's no different than paying a dive master with no wreck or deep diving experience to take you to a wreck 200 ft down. Some endeavors in life are simply not safe unless you have quite a bit of experience, and flying is one of them. The crash is a tragedy but the real story is to use this horrific accident as one more reason why the US experience standards must remain in place in spite of concerted efforts by certain groups to eliminate the 1500 hour ATP requirement. Zimme you posted about how US standards used to be, but we changed them for a damn good reason and this latest crash further justifies our rules change.
I'd fly the MAX tomorrow if I was scheduled for it. There's no mystical software bug, the automation isn't overriding the pilot, etc etc. The MAX has a new system that needs tweaking because as it is, a single sensor failure can cause runaway trim. The good news is that correcting runaway trim is no different in the MAX than in any other conventional aircraft with powered trim. You attempt to counter it, and disconnect the trim system. The fact that 2 crews appear to have utterly failed to perform this basic procedure (yes I know findings aren't released) is a pretty harsh lesson about how much experience and training it takes to safely fly any airline not just the 737.
