Plane crashes, Brexit chaos, and leadership in a fog of uncertainty

Who or what is to blame for the Boeing 737 MAX 8 disasters? An investigation into the cause recalls the way leaders across the world grapple with today’s highly complex problems, and the comparison is hardly reassuring

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The Chrysler Building in New York is seen through a rain-covered window on March 9. Our political leaders across the world will do whatever they think is right, but it looks as if they are flying in a fog of uncertainty. We, the silent passengers, pray that they know what they are doing. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:00pm, 15 Mar 2019Updated: 7:40pm, 15 Mar 2019

While flying to Washington DC and London this week, news came of the tragic Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet crash almost immediately after take-off. It was eerily similar to what happened just five months ago to the Lion Air MAX 8 jet, which also crashed after take-off, from Jakarta.

China, Singapore, Indonesia and UK banned the overflight of the jet in their airspace soon after the second crash, pending further investigations, but the US delayed suspension until scores of countries had already done so, prompting commentators to suggest that the US is losing soft power as a country that used to care about high standards of safety and concern for human life.

Air travel is the safest form of transport, with the risks lower than travel by car. In the case of the Indonesia crash, the flight data recorder, showing experienced pilots on board struggling to stop the plane from diving, seems to suggest to non-engineers that there is something wrong with the plane’s design.

US President Donald Trump weighed in with a tweet, saying “airplanes are becoming too complex to fly. Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT”. He took the decision to ground the jets. Indeed, one could argue that things are so complex these days that we may need autopilots not just in planes and trains, but perhaps also for countries.

So was this a mechanical hardware, software or human-induced crash?

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