It would be more useful to know if there are any similarities or patterns in the pilot complaints regarding the 737 MAX - not just a couple cherry picked out. It would also be a better story if there were some comparison of the number and nature of complaints relative to other new/revised aircraft roll-outs at about the same total number of flight hours with the new aircraft.
Without this we have no idea if the several issues cited in the article represent a big deal for an aircraft type with 46K hours, or if these are in line with other roll-outs, or maybe there are even fewer, indicating the MAX is an exceptionally good aircraft. But of course that wouldn't sell papers or generate clicks...
From what I've learned of the MCAS system yeah, there may be an issue with how it decides to activate, possibly related to being too trusting of faulty sensors and no way to convince it to stop short of pulling breakers. There's probably some fault with Boeing, the FAA, and carriers for not getting the word out about the MCAS system until after the first crash. But ultimately it seems like the MCAS system cycles inputs in, and the pilot(s) can counter act them. Right now it seems to me the ultimate blame would be with the pilots who let the system do it's thing while they got distracted running checklists or trying to figure out the problem. First and foremost you fly the aircraft. If you have to keep pulling back pressure on the yoke, you keep pulling back pressure on the yoke and you keep the beast in the air.
“There’s probably some fault with Boeing, the FAA, and carriers for not getting the word out about the MCAS system until after the first crash”
Boeing kept the carriers out of the loop until AFTER Lion Air.
As for pulling back, they were trying but were fighting a system they were not even told existed. And switching off the autopilot would make it worse. They would have to make the next jump and understand that it is a SORT of runaway elevator trim. That’s not exactly what it is, but it uses the fix for that.
Things happen very fast. And the pilot error game isn’t going to fly. This was poor management decision at Boeing.
Love Boeing and despise Airbus. But no fast talking will get them out of this. It will take an actual answer and a fix to the MCAS.