[Declanomous]

I assumed the failure in the simulator was an MCAS failure, but I'm not sure. I think that the MCAS system pauses for 5 seconds every time you hit the trim button, so it kinda seems like it might be MCAS but I have no idea.

The checklist to fix MCAS and runaway trim is supposed to be the same, so I guess the question is whether the trim wheels move in a substantially less noticeable way with an MCAS failure. I certainly can't say.

I could totally see someone hearing the trim wheels running when they are trying to trim out the MCAS adjustments and assuming that the wheel is moving in the opposite direction that it actually is. In a high-stress situation a mistake like that seems incredibly plausible.

[SAI_Peregrinus]

AFAIK in a runaway trim situation the trim wheels move continuously, while in an MCAS activation or in normal operation of the auto-trim systems they move in bursts. The fix is the same, but the recognition is very different.