Given that the warning is optional, it would suggest that the AoA sensors are not components that are critical to a safe flight. Well... or so they thought anyw

Given that the warning is optional, it would suggest that the AoA sensors are not components that are critical to a safe flight. Well... or so they thought anyway. It's questionable if most pilots would abort a take off because of an AoA sensor discrepancy, especially if they didn't know it controls MCAS or that MCAS exists in the first place. But yeah - good point about it potentially triggering further diagnostics prior to the flight altogether.