There’s been a lot of discussion on pilot forums that the difference may have been just having the third set of hands (and third brain). By all accounts, the cockpit in this situation is extremely loud and distracting—its a busy phase of flight anyway and the issue sets off conflicting audio and tactile alerts, some of which may conflict. Fighting the nose down motion takes two hands and serious physical strength, and at least in a takeoff phase, if you don’t catch it quickly you don’t have much altitude to recover.
Right, but they should have known! That sensor was a known problem at least after the Lion crash. The sensor has one purpose and all issues occurred right after take-off. It should have been the first thing they realized. I am not necessarily blaming the pilots. Their employer should have made it known, sent out prior to all flights and the bulletin should have been posted in the cockpit. If they were digging through the manuels they clearly were unaware of the issue. Both planes should have never crashed. The more I read, the angrier I get.
I can't imagine how the jump-seater pilot feels. Fucking horrible.
The captain and first officer followed safety procedures recommended by Boeing. But they couldn't stop the aircraft going into a fatal dive shortly after take off from Addis Ababa on 10 March, the report by Ethiopian investigators said. All 157 people on board were killed.
Boeing has called 737 Max 8 “not suitable” for certain high-elevation airports like DIA
This is rather infuriating - when the Ethiopian crash occurred, I checked to see what kinds of planes I will be flying on a few upcoming trips (out of and into DIA). Our flight home from Orlando was to be a Max 8. It has since been changed, but if Boeing KNEW it wasn't suitable for flying into DIA, why was Southwest using them?