Trump laments complexity of modern airlines in wake of crash

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump lamented the complexity of modern airplanes today in the wake of two deadly crashes in the past five months, appearing to speculate on the cause of the disasters before aviation experts from the United States and elsewhere complete their investigations.

The president commented as several countries announced they were grounding their fleets of the Boeing 737 Max 8 model involved in both crashes, or closing their airspace to the planes.

Trump tweeted that "airplanes are becoming too complex to fly." He did not specifically mention the crashes, but his comments come just two days after an Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people aboard and as a cascade of countries worldwide began suspending use of the plane.

"Split second decisions are needed, and the complexity creates danger," Trump tweeted. "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!"

The president's tweet came as lawmakers were examining the future of the aviation industry during a congressional hearing Tuesday morning.

"I have a hard time interpreting anything the president says," Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, said after reading the tweet aloud. "I don't know if this is a knock at Boeing, or if it's a knock at pilots or if it's a knock at Einstein, or just that he's a Luddite and it's a knock at technology in general. But it doesn't seem to be the right attitude at this moment."

Pilot Patrick Smith, who flies a Boeing 767 aircraft and writes a column called "Ask the Pilot," said Trump's tweet reinforces the false notion that computers are flying the plane while pilots are there as a backup.