sure its always the pilot fault ... did you already forget that case when the pilot was locked out of manual because the automated system though he was making a mistake and continued to pitch the plane ?
it doesn't lock the pilot out of anything.
there's a physical link from the trim wheel to the moving control surfaces.
all you need to do is hold the wheel. it will stop moving. as far as i know this has always been boeing's policy.
besides that, right by the trim wheel are two cutout switches that can turn the thing off completely.
there are also a number of breakers on the rear overhead panel or bulkhead that can accomplish the same thing and more if the situation allows enough time to pull them.
boeing diverged from its philosophy of allowing the pilot to manually override anything with physical force on the control column with this series of aircraft and it has clearly not been implemented well.
but ultimately i still think that this crew's lack of familiarity with flying in general (200 hour copilot?) was probably a major contributor to this crash. not absolving boeing at all - their system sucks. but every 737 pilot in the world should have known to hit the trim cutout switches after the first crash, and grabbing the wildly spinning, clacking trim wheel ought to be an instinct for any pilot with ears. they were probably literally twiddling their thumbs trying to get the trim to work on their yokes like in the first crash. 200 hours is not enough to fly a commercial jet. it's more of a burden to whoever's in the left seat than anything.
