Boeing 737 Max 8: US pressured to ground jet
US continues to defy pressure to ground Boeing’s 737 Max 8 jet as Australia, Britain and EU and other countries suspend flights.
The United States is under enormous pressure to follow the rest of the world in grounding Boeing’s 737 Max 8 jet after Australia, Britain and the European Union joined at least 10 other countries in suspending flights.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration, the planes manufacturer Boeing and the two US airlines that use the 737 Max 8, Southwest and American Airlines, maintains there is no reason yet to ground the jet.
COMMENT: US puts corporate interests above safety
However, pressure came even from the White House, with Donald Trump tweeting that “airplanes were 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,” he said.
“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. All this cost for very little gain.
“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.”
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....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2019
....needed, and the complexity creates danger. 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2019
Concerns about the safety of the 737 Max 8 spread across the globe in recent days after the second crash of a new 737 Max 8 in less than six months.
The crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 shortly after take off this week followed the crash of an Indonesian Lion Air 737 Max 8 last year with the combined loss of more than 300 passengers.
Australia, China, Indonesia and Ethiopia were among the countries that quickly grounded or banned 737 Max 8 jets until further investigation. Today they were joined by Britain, German, France and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, among others.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority said the similarity between the two accidents — in which both planes crashed shortly after takeoff after experiencing highly irregular flying patterns — dictated that no 737 Max jets should operate in British airspace until safeguards were in place.
“Given the similarity of the two accidents, it has been decided that as a precautionary measure that all” 737 Max flights “should stop until appropriate safeguards are in place. This is needed to assure the [UK Civil Aviation Authority] that the aircraft involved are fully compliant with internationally recognised standards,” the agency stated.
A worldwide grounding of the popular 737 Max 8, one of the news versions of the hugely popular 737 aircraft, would have a devastating financial impact on Boeing, whose share price has been savaged in recent days.
The company has so far refused to recommended the grounding of its aircraft, claiming that the plane is safe.
“Safety is Boeing’s number one priority and we have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max,” Boeing said in a statement. “We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets. We’ll continue to engage with them to ensure they have the information needed to have confidence in operating their fleets.’
The US FAA has so far refused calls, including by some members of Congress, to ground the planes, saying “this investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions”.
SouthWest and American airlines have also not grounded their fleets of 737 Max 8 jets, saying that their pilot training is good enough for pilots to deal with any emergency like the one that caused Indonesia’s Lion Air to crash last year.
The Lion Air crash is believed to be linked to a faulty sensor and automatic feature on the Max 8 model which automatically pointed the nose of a plane down, overriding efforts by the pilot to make the plane climb.
Airspace bans for B-737 Max 8
• Australia
• China
• All European Union countries
• India
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Namibia
• Oman
• Singapore
Airlines to ground B-737 Max 8
• Aerolineas
• Argentinas
• Aeromexico
• Cayman Airways
• Comair
• Eastar Jet
• Ethiopian Airlines
• Gol Airlines
• Icelandair
• LOT
• MIAT Mongolian Airlines
• Norwegian Air Shuttle
• Smartwings
• Turkish Airlines
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia
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