President Trump raises doubts about aircraft technology after Boeing crash



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"Aircraft are becoming far too complex to fly," President Donald Trump announced on Twitter on Tuesday. "The pilots are no longer needed, but a lot of computer scientists at MIT I see it all the time in many products, and we're always looking to go further, when often old and simpler, it's much better. decisions at the split, at the second the complexity creates a danger, all of which costs very little. "

Trump 's tweets arrive a few days after the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 8, the second time in months that the new model aircraft destroyed minutes after takeoff, killing everyone on board. The accidents have raised questions about the role of a new software system installed in the plane, but investigators still have to decide on the cause.

Similar circumstances in both accidents prompted several countries and airlines to immobilize the 737 MAX 8, but despite the increasingly pressing calls from US lawmakers to do the same – and Trump's tweet Tuesday morning – the US government has said it will not be possible. Federal Aviation Administration has still not followed.

Trump's tweet, however, cast a shadow over the 737 MAX 8's potentially defective anti-stall system, which could have caused the nose of the two aircraft to fall down mistakenly and fatally. It challenges the wide range of radical technological advances that have made aircraft much safer over the last few decades.

Technology skeptic

And this is not the first time the septuagenarian has taken a skeptical look at technology.

"I think computers have complicated life a lot," said President-elect Trump in December 2016, addressing reporters at his retirement in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. "Everyone in the computer has made that no one knows exactly what is happening.We have speed – we have a lot of other things, but I'm not sure about having the type security we need. "

Trump also expressed distrust and dislike for email.

"I am not an email," Trump told a news conference in July 2016, urging Russia to uncover and publish deleted emails from its rival Democratic Hillary Clinton. "I do not believe it because I think it can be hacked, on the one hand.But when I send an email – if I send one – I don`t Almost never sends it in. I'm just not an email fan. "

But the latest skepticism fueled by Trump's technology – about aircraft technology – comes despite the fact that it has been a constant booster of the largest US aircraft manufacturer, which produced the 737 MAX 8: Boeing.

Trump sells Boeing abroad

Boeing has been at the center of several commercial transactions that Trump negotiated ceremoniously during his travels abroad, including during his trip to Vietnam last month, where he oversaw the sale of 100 Boeing 737 MAX-20 aircraft. of these models MAX 8 – – for $ 12.7 billion. The Vietnamese Civil Aviation Authority announced Monday that she "will not reconsider the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft use licenses until the causes of the accidents are identified ".

In addition, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan was one of Boeing's top leaders in the development and release of the 737 MAX aircraft.

He said he felt a "balance of anxiety and excitement" during the first flight of a 737 MAX in 2016, suggesting that he was closely involved in his production.

"This is no different from the birth of a child," Shanahan then told GeekWire. "Now we want to do it about 10,000 more times."
Last month, Trump told his friends and allies that he was inclined to appoint Shanahan to the position of Secretary of Defense, but that he has not done so yet.
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