[namirez]

Fly-by-wire means the control surface actuators are connected to cockpit controls electronically rather than with hydraulic lines or metal cables; it's not necessarily related to stability and control augmentation system.

With regard to the other point, I don't think anyone is advocating for very high aerodynamic stability. That would be a B52 carrying nuclear weapons. It was designed to be extremely stable and forgiving. That being said, you don't want to rely solely on stability augmentation for trimming an airliner.

It reminds me of Air Canada flight 143, the pilots lost both engines and power. yet they were able to land the plane safely on an abandoned airport. I'm not sure if that would be possible with a 737 Max.

[sandworm101]

Yes it would. There are backup systems to keep things working even with both engines dry (ram air turbine etc). In fact, if you really want to stretch our a glide, all those automated systems are probably a good things. They will keep the aircraft more perfectly trimmed for a glide than the pilots ever could by hand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_air_turbine

[StreamBright]

And in case of the electrical system being down how do you control the flight when you have fly by wire controls?

[zrobotics]

If the electrical failure is severe enough to lose control authority, it seems just as likely that a hydraulic system would have failed. These planes are just too large to operate the controls mechanically, so in practice there is just as much to fail in a hydraulic system as electrical control, since both require power.

[sandworm101]

>>And in case of the electrical system being down

That is what the RAT is for, alternative electrical power. If the entire electrical system is down, ie electrons no longer flow anywhere anyhow, then everyone is doomed. But that is up there with the tail falling off. The are no backups for the wings/tail either.

[cududa]

Yeah as long as the sensors actually work