Boeing 737 planes of Indian carriers on ‘enhanced surveillance’

INDIA’S civil aviation regulator has put the Boeing 737 fleets of the country’s carriers on "enhanced surveillance" after a China Eastern Airlines aircraft of the same make crashed on Monday (21).

Three Indian carriers - SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express - have Boeing 737 aircraft in their fleets.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Kumar said flight safety is a “serious business” and “we are closely studying the situation. In the interim, we are focusing on enhanced surveillance of our 737 fleets."

A Boeing 737-800 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines, which was on its way from Kunming to Guangzhou, crashed in Tengxian county in the city of Wuzhou.

There were no foreigners among the 132 people - 123 passengers and nine crew members - onboard the Chinese passenger plane, official media reported.

China Eastern Airlines - one of China's three major air carriers - has grounded all of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft after the crash.

Boeing 737 Max aircraft is an advanced version of Boeing 737-800 and both belong to the 737 series. The US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing did not respond to a request for a statement on the matter.

Two Boeing 737 Max aircraft were involved in accidents between October 2018 and March 2019, killing a total of 346 people. Following these two accidents, the DGCA had banned Boeing 737 Max planes in India in March 2019.

After Boeing made software rectifications to the satisfaction of the DGCA, the ban on the aircraft's commercial operations was lifted after 27 months in August last year.

SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express did not respond to requests for a statement on the DGCA's decision.

Prime minister Narendra Modi and aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed sadness over the plane crash.

(PTI)