Aviation watchdog DGCA has placed Boeing 737 planes in the country under “enhanced surveillance” after an aircraft of the same model crashed in China with 132 persons onboard on Monday morning.
A Boeing 737-800 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines on a domestic flight crashed in mountains in Southern China. The number of casualties remained unclear, according to media reports.
“Flight safety is a serious business. We are closely studying the situation and in the interim, we are mounting enhanced surveillance on our 737 fleet,” Director General, Directorate General of Civil Aviation( DGCA), Arun Kumar said. This would entail DGCA deploying its teams to monitor flight procedures, airworthiness and operations, the senior official explained.
Three airlines, Vistara, SpiceJet and Air India Express have Boeing 737s in their fleet. There are a total 64 of these planes in the country.
The plane involved in Monday’s crash was not a Boeing 737 Max, a model that was banned globally, including in India, following two deadly crashes, and has not yet resumed flying in China.
