When a B737 MAX augered in to the Ethiopian landscape, behinds the scenes dissatisfaction with the newest Boeing commercial liner began to perk to the surface. This was the second of these aircraft to go down in the past six months and in short order nations began grounding their 737 MAX fleets. Just a few hours ago Canada forbade that aircraft from flying through Canadian airspace. The FAA stood firm in defending Boeing’s safety and its own integrity as Democrat apparatchiks began blaming Trump:

Flying to California this am, I typed the words, “Does JetBlue have…” & what popped up on Google was “737 Max.” People scared. What a dismal state of affairs that we don’t trust criteria by which Trump admin making decisions on fleet. Trump’s whims, investments, or safety? — Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) March 13, 2019

The aircraft has troubles that Boeing has seemed more interested in covering up than in fixing:

While the FAA had issued an emergency directive on Nov. 7, 2018, to help pilots understand how to handle problems with the anti-stall technology, “it does nothing to address the systems issues,” the pilot wrote. The pilot further noted that the flight manuals had yet to be updated with that information at that time. “I think it is unconscionable that a manufacturer, the FAA, and the airlines would have pilots flying an airplane without adequately training, or even providing available resources and sufficient documentation to understand the highly complex systems that differentiate this aircraft from prior models,” the pilot wrote. “The fact that this airplane requires such jury rigging to fly is a red flag. Now we know the systems employed are error prone — even if the pilots aren’t sure what those systems are, what redundancies are in place, and failure modes.” The pilot added: “I am left to wonder: what else don’t I know? The Flight Manual is inadequate and almost criminally insufficient. All airlines that operate the MAX must insist that Boeing incorporate ALL systems in their manuals.”

Now the US has followed suit.

BREAKING: President Trump says U.S. issuing "emergency order" grounding all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft after Ethiopia crash — The Associated Press (@AP) March 13, 2019

Oddly enough, the decision was sort of telegraphed yesterday even as the FAA was standing staunchly behind Boeing.

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