PRESIDENT Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to report some good news concerning the commercial aviation industry. Namely, that there wasn't a single commercial aviation-related death in 2017.
Trump's announcement, however, has come under scrutiny from the media and Twitter users alike - but not because it makes a dubious claim. Rather, he's being criticised by those who felt he took credit for the statistic.
"Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation," wrote Trump in the tweet, which he posted at 9:13am local time.
"Good news - it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!"
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
The report to which Trump was likely referring was conducted by the Aviation Safety Network (ASN), a Dutch affiliate of the non-profit Flight Safety Foundation, The Wall Street Journal said.
According to their statistics, not only were there no airline passenger fatalities recorded among US-based carriers, but anywhere in the world. As a result, the ASN ultimately declared 2017 "the safest year in aviation history".
Despite the good news, the ASN did report on 10 fatal airline accidents that occurred in 2017, but the Wall Street Journal explained that half of those involved cargo planes and the other half propeller-powered aircraft.
Trump's tweet, then, is factually accurate, though critics argue that it isn't due to any of his "strict" policies.
The Atlantic, for example, argued that the statistic detailed in the report refers to the global fatalities, and that the US hasn't seen a commercial aviation fatality since 2009, or long before he took office.
John Cox, an airline consultant who spoke with the Wall Street Journal, also stated that the numbers were "the culmination of decades of work by thousands of people" and did not attribute them to any one person, although he was not specifically commenting on the President's tweet.
Additionally, some of Trump's critics on Twitter were appalled by the presumption they believed the president was making in his tweet.
OMG Give me a break. Are you seriously trying to take credit for that?
— Greg Shugar (@GregShugar) January 2, 2018
You know Trump is a sicko when he takes credit for no aviation deaths instead of crediting pilots, airlines, transportation safety & air traffic control! What an arrogant, self absorbed egomaniacal little twit!
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) January 2, 2018
Maybe you should take blame for everything bad that happens too! Like the worst mass killings in US history.... Like the turmoil around the world because of your alienation of other nations. Like the division within the UN because of you....
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 2, 2018
He doesn’t think so... @AmericanAir #IWillClaimAnything pic.twitter.com/faLb7iDtCN
— 1892RED (@1873Saint) January 2, 2018
The ASN reports that the last fatal jet airliner accident occurred on 28 November 2016, when a Lamia flight from Bolivia to Colombia crashed after suffering an electrical failure.
The accident claimed the lives of 71 passengers and crew, including the majority of the Brazilian Chapecoense soccer team, who had been travelling to a match in Medellín.
This article originally appeared on Fox News and has been republished with permission.
