Re: Will the 737 MAX ever be safe?
As this sorry tale shows so graphically, safety is about more than just the plane. Had the pilots been properly trained, the accidents were avoidable, if only by throttling back to shuck off speed and then lowering the landing flaps to force a change in software mode.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the basic design, as the accidents also graphically show that the control system has sufficient authority to correct excess pitch-up should it actually occur. With the proposed software and hardware fixes in place and debugged, whether the plane is safe will depend more on whether Boeing are allowed to keep up the "we don't need no stinkin' simulator training" farce they are still trying to maintain.
Alternatively the planes could be made more fail-safe/idiot-proof, but that would delay things a lot longer.
So, yes it can be made safe, but whether it will is another question.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
