To avoid FAA scrutiny, Boeing developed and deployed MCAS covertly. This was done because they feared scrutiny would have led to huge losses in the face of competition from Airbus. Had Boeing management just laid all their cards on the table, potentially the FAA could have still approved the design, with small but crucial improvements. These changes might have included: using both AOA sensors, using a 3rd AOA sensor, not switching between left and right sensors each flight. Instead, the covert nature of the development and deployment of this feature allowed flaws in its design to go unchecked.