Donald Trump weighed in on the tragedy of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing crash on Tuesday by warning on Twitter that aviation was becoming “too complex” to fly.
“Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly. Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. 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 wrote. “All of this for great cost yet very little gain. 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!”
His tweet comes shortly after the United Kingdom became the next in a long list of countries who have opted to ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 in the wake of the crash that took 157 lives. United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority announced on Tuesday morning that the aircraft would be banned from its airspace. The authority said that they didn’t have enough information to make an official determination and were awaiting the results of the flight box, but that they wanted to be cautious.
It’s the second time that this particular aircraft has crashed. In October of last year, Lion Air flight 610 crashed into the sea, killing all 189 people on board.
Several lawmakers are calling for the plane to be banned in the United States as well. Mitt Romney, a senator from Utah, and Richard Blumenthal, a senator from Connecticut, both called for it to be grounded.
Australia, China, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Singapore have all banned the plane as well.
Pressure mounts on US as more countries ground Boeing 737 jets involved in deadly crashes https://t.co/BAhzrezHgA pic.twitter.com/5NHYQGp2B1
— The Verge (@verge) March 12, 2019
Boeing said that it is working to update the software system in the airliners, and according to Bloomberg , the company’s shares dipped 3.7 points on Monday. So far, the FAA hasn’t made any determination as the investigation into why the plane crashed is in progress. On Monday, the agency said that the plane is still airworthy and cautioned people from comparing the crash to the Lion Air disaster last year because the details on the situation weren’t clear yet. That stance is rapidly becoming an outlier as more and more countries opt to err on the side of caution.
Between the 737 Max 8 and the 737 Max 9, there are 74 of the planes in the United States and 374 across the world.
