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The main culprit is the FAA. Private companies should be expected to take shortcuts for short-term gain. That's why there is government regulation and oversight. It's the oversight part that failed here. Yes, Boeing also failed, but that's less worrying.

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I think you're expecting too much of the government regulator in this case if you consider them to be the main culprit. They are a culprit but not the main one. They would need to have engineers and managers from the FAA in every meeting at Boeing from the beginning of the project to be considered a main culprit. In theory they should be overseeing and understanding every detail but if you work in any place where any sort of system is designed you know that a third party never knows as much as the makers do.

I don't think that is the case. Given the types of failure we are talking about, this would be documented as part of the design process.

All it takes is someone from the FAA to read it and think about it and act on it. That is the role of the FAA.

Now, if it wasn't on the design, then you may say Boeing is mainly to blame. If it was documented, but not rejected, then the FAA is mainly at fault.

Ultimately though, the FAA has the responsibility.

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