Updated
United States President Donald Trump has weighed in on the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy that claimed the lives of 157 people, tweeting that modern airplanes had become “too complex to fly” and that he wouldn’t want Albert Einstein to be his pilot.
Key points:
- Mr Trump tweeted that “split second” decisions were needed by pilots and that “complexity creates danger”
- Britain, Germany and Singapore join Australia, China and Indonesia in grounding Boeing 737 MAX 8
- US Senator Mitt Romney called on the United States to follow suit
His tweets come as more countries join a growing list of nations boycotting the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, the jet model that has been embroiled in two mass-casualty plane crashes in the past six months.
The Lion Air flight that crashed and killed all 189 people onboard in October last year was also a Boeing 737 MAX 8.
“Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly,” Mr Trump tweeted.
“Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology].
“I see it all the time in many products. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better. Split second decisions are … needed, and the complexity creates danger.”
He did not reference the fatal Ethiopia Airlines flight directly, but added that new developments came at great cost, for little gain on Twitter.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t want Albert Einstein to be my pilot.
“I want great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane!”
Nations boycott jet and force other carriers to change
Mr Trump’s comments come as Republican US Senator Mitt Romney called on the US Federal Aviation Administration to follow several other countries and temporarily ground the aircraft.
Groundings by country:
- Australia
- China
- European Union
- India
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- Norway
- Oman
- Singapore
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- Vietnam
“Out of an abundance of caution for the flying public, the [FAA] should ground the 737 MAX 8 until we investigate the causes of recent crashes and ensure the plane’s airworthiness,” Mr Romney said in a tweet.
Mr Romney joins similar calls from fellow senators, Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Diane Feinstein. Boeing and the FAA had no immediate comment on Mr Romney’s statement.
India, Britain and the entirety of the European Union joined the growing number of countries grounding the aircraft, following in the footsteps of Australia, China, Indonesia and Ethiopia.
In a media statement seen by the ABC, Fiji Airways — who fly Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes to Australia — confirmed they would change the aircraft type to heed Australia’s ban.
Fiji opposition aviation spokesperson Viliame Gavoka told the ABC Fiji should move towards a total ban.
“I am asking them [to] totally ground the aircraft until the all clear is made, not only by the manufacturer but other users all around the world — this is a collective responsibility and Fiji Airways should be part of that.”
In the Americas, regulators have been reticent to ground the aircraft as Canada and the US expressed confidence in the jet’s safety.
Brazil’s air travel regulator also confirmed it was not grounding the jet, but following the investigation.
“The UK Civil Aviation Authority has been closely monitoring the situation, however, as we do not currently have sufficient information from the flight data recorder we have, as a precautionary measure, issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying UK airspace,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Groundings by carrier:
- Cayman Airways (Cayman Islands)
- Comair (South Africa)
- Fiji Airways (on flights to Australia)
- Norwegian Air (Norway)
- S7 Airlines (Russia)
- Silk Air (Singapore)
- TUI Airways (Germany)
- Turkish Airlines (Turkey)
Singapore, Malaysia, and Oman have also temporarily suspended operations of the jet model in and out of their airports and in their airspace.
The FAA has said the Boeing 737 MAX 8 is airworthy and that Boeing was working to complete “flight control system enhancements, which provide reduced reliance on procedures associated with required pilot memory items”.
Boeing has announced plans to upgrade software in its 737 MAX 8 planes “in the coming weeks”.
ABC/wires
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