It’s a training problem.
Yes, one may say there is a training problem because the pilots should have known what to do. However, while there probably is a training problem, it is not the problem.
It is like having a car that may occasionally decide to automatically and with no warning veer hard to the left, but if I step on the brake and turn the high beam lights on three times, and press the car horn to the tune of Yankee Doodle ... I will disengage that shunt to the left and can safely drive the car.
So, yes - there is a training for the car. Step on the brakes, then the high beam lights on and off three times, and press the horn to the tune of Yankee Doodle - and once that is done the car will behave. If I don’t do that, there is definitely a training problem.
However, some MIGHT say that there is a damn bad problem with the car as well. That maybe the car shouldn’t be able to go mad and veer hard to the left.
In the same way, training issue or none - even though the pilots who flew the LION Air plane immediately before the crew that crashed in October managed to resolve the issue, maybe the plane shouldn’t have been trying to transform into a plough or lawn dart in the first place?
Just maybe it is more than a training issue - maybe it is a training issue but also an issue to do with an aircraft that MAY have sensor issues, software issues or other issues that while not a problem MOST of the time, MAY cause a problem at a very sensitive part of the flight regime.
Very good description of MCAS;
https://theaircurrent.com/aviation-safety/what-is-the-boeing-737-max-maneuvering-characteristics-augmentation-system-mcas-jt610/
Boeing says pilots can easily override the system, and it’s covered in the manual. The pilots that previously flew the LIon Air accident aircraft did disable the MCAS system and made their flight safely. The accident pilots didn’t. It seems to be a training/awareness problem. We don’t yet know if MCAS was the cause of the most recent accident.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-to-upgrade-737-max-flight-control-software-456540/
Also witnesses said the Ethiopian plane was was trailing smoke and debris before it crashed;
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-airplane-witnesses/ethiopian-airlines-plane-trailed-smoke-debris-before-crash-witnesses-idUSKBN1QS1LJ