[saalaa]

The pilot said "[...] un problème de commandes de vol, l'avion a fait à peu près n'importe quoi [...]" and it translates as "[...] flight controls issue, the plane did just about whatever [...]".

To add a bit more, it's interesting to note that at several points in the recording the pilots can be heard fighting the controls and apparently requiring force for that (https://youtu.be/VzCNKhFOPqU?t=25 for example). I know the two ariplanes are unrelated but this was also the case for 737 Max IIRC.

[rootusrootus]

> apparently requiring force for that

Yeah, when autopilot is engaged it requires a good bit of force to override it without just turning it off first.

[t0mas88]

It disengages when you fight it. With the associated and very recognizable autopilot disengage sound. I'm sure there is more to this story than "crew mistake" as some seem to imply here.

[rootusrootus]

To be fair, the "some seem to imply" is directly sourced from the analysis of a 777 pilot. Do you have a source for the "it disengages when you fight it" assertion? You're kinda calling the 777 pilot a liar ;-)

[saalaa]

I'm absolutely not knowledgeable on this topic so double check everything I say.

I think the issue on the 737 Max was that there's been a known and studied system (called the MCAS IIRC) on Boeing planes that overrides pilot controls under some specific pre-determined circumstances and that system had been buffed to compensate for design flaws that were discovered too late to be corrected. On top of being faulty, that buffed system was also way outside of its initial intent and purpose (or rather the parameters guiding its operation were changed so much that it should have been addressed as a separate system and mandated specific training while they were trying to portray the plane as a simple evolution requiring no pilot re-training from earlier versions of the 737).

So, to me, it looks like yet another issue with a system overriding pilot controls for whatever reason.

More generally, this falls into that weird pattern of relying on external sensors which starts a chain of bad decisions leading to accidents (this was also a sensor issue with the Air France 447, although the chain was largely human this time, the pilots realizing way too late their repeated mistake).

[sokoloff]

This is a B777-300, which does not have MCAS. The 737-Max had MCAS added because of the larger engines on that model than prior 737s. This is not an issue "on [all] Boeing planes" (which, to be fair you didn't directly say, but what you did say was pretty ambiguous and could easily [perhaps even most naturally] be read to have meant that).

[saalaa]

Sorry, this happens a lot to me. For the record I'm not trying to discredit Boeing. I do have issues organizing and expressing my thoughts which results in less than ideal communication.