I think it's more than luck. The Airbus automation systems had sane failure modes. They realized they were dealing with malfunctioning input and returned manu

I think it's more than luck. The Airbus automation systems had sane failure modes. They realized they were dealing with malfunctioning input and returned manual control to the pilots. The 737 MAXes, on the other hand, trimmed the planes down all the way until they impacted into the ground. Also, the Airbus autopilot could be disabled. The 737 MAX MCAS system couldn't be; all they could disable was all electronic control over the trim motors, which shut off MCAS but also shut off the system they needed to be able to recover the trim entirely.