Rollins believes it was cut "to prevent the MCAS from having to be included in 737 Max transition training, which in turn will save 737 Max operators training costs." The operating manual mentions the term MCAS under the section entitled "Abbreviations," where the acronym is defined as "Maneuver Characteristics Augmentation System." According to investigators, data obtained from the flight data recorder in the Ethiopian crash reveal "clear similarities" with the Lion Air plane disaster. Following the Lion Air crash, pilots sat down with Boeing executives to complain they had not been given any information about the new MCAS system. The pilots, unfamiliar with the MCAS system, may have been helpless to respond and unable to bring its nose back up.

Source: CBC News March 26, 2019 16:01 UTC