Former President Trump argued Tuesday for the return of the “beautiful” Boeing 757 aircraft, after nearly 200 of the company’s planes were grounded over the weekend due to an emergency door panel flying off a 737 Max 9 aircraft midflight.
“Boeing should bring back the 757, the most beautiful, best handling plane (from the pilots standpoint!) that Boeing ever made,” Trump posted on his Truth Social site. “Stop with the crazy extensions of the 737, the worst looking plane in the air.”
“All you get is the 737Max – And how did that work out? It seems cursed! Go back to the ‘Praying Mantis,’ the greatest of them all,” he added. “I did!”
Boeing stock has fallen since the the Jan. 5 incident left passengers terrified. An emergency door panel detached from a 737 Max 9 aircraft at about 16,000 feet elevation shortly after the plane took off from an airport in Portland, Ore., and left a gaping hole in the side of the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the temporary grounding of about 171 Boeing planes operated by U.S. airlines Saturday.
Alaska Airlines, which operated the Boeing aircraft during the flight, and United Airlines reported separately that they found loose parts in door panels in some of their 737 Max 9 jets during subsequent inspections.
Federal investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board said they are investigating whether the plane door had bolts attached prior to take off.
Boeing, which had problems with various planes over the years, pledged to “help address any and all findings” during the investigation.
The former president has long been a fan of the 757 aircraft. He currently owns a VIP Boeing 757 private jet.
His son, Eric Trump, posted a video of the aircraft getting a new paint job in July 2022. Later that year, the company said it lost $660 million in a deal with Trump over constructing his Air Force One, which the former president has now dubbed Trump Force One.
In September, Trump criticized the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin after an F-35 went missing after its pilot ejected from it midflight. He recommended then, too, that Boeing should let go of the 737 aircraft and instead opt for the “updated fast, beautiful, and sleek 757, the ‘Praying Mantis.’”
“It is commercial pilots favorite plane to fly. Had they listened to me, years who, they wouldn’t have had the disaster known as the 737 MAX. Those two horrible tragedies would never have happened,” Trump posted on Truth Social at the time, referencing Boeing’s previous worldwide grounding of the aircraft after two crashes that killed everybody on board.
“As they say, ‘Trump was right about everything,'” he added. “Thank you!!!”