08 JAN 2018: Last week was one of bogus boasting by Donald Trump and members of his administration as they took unearned credit for airline safety. Trump ignored fatality-free years in aviation during the Obama administration when he declared 2017 the safest year on record and suggested that was because he’s kept a sharp eye on airlines.
Trump tweeted, “Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news – it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!”
The reality is that it’s been four ad a half years since the last deaths involving a scheduled passenger airline in the US Three passengers died in the crash of an Asiana Airlines plane while landing at San Francisco International Airport in July 2013. It’s been almost nine years since the last fatalities involving a US registered, scheduled passenger airline in the United States. That was a Colgan Air plane that crashed on approach to Buffalo, New York, in February 2009, killing all 49 on board and a man on the ground.
Last year was notable for having no commercial passenger jet deaths worldwide, although there were two fatal regional airline crashes involving small turboprop planes in Angola and Russia. There were also fatal accidents involving cargo airliners.
What’s Trump got to do with any of this?
His administration has instituted additional screening of passengers and their personal electronic devices at foreign airports with flights to the US, to prevent terrorist attacks. But there have been no new major safety regulations imposed on passenger airlines as Trump rounds out his first year in office. Indeed, he’s held back a regulation pending from the Obama administration that would ban shipments of rechargeable lithium batteries on passenger planes. Testing has shown that the batteries can self-ignite, creating intense fires and explosions.
The White House cited Trump’s initiative to ‘modernize Air Traffic Control’ as justification for his tweet, but that doesn’t fly. His proposal to privatize air traffic control isn’t in effect, so it had nothing to do with the 2017 safety record. And even its proponents say the idea is not about safety, but rather efficiency.
Trump’s tweet was met with ridicule with one Twitter user with the handle @JesseFFerguson remarking “If Trump was a rooster, he would try to take credit for the sunrise.”