India puts Boeing 737 fleet on ‘enhanced surveillance’ after China crash

Indian aviation authorities have put the Boeing 737 aircraft on “enhanced surveillance” after a Chinese flight of the same make crashed on Monday, killing all 132 people on board.

Following the incident, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Kumar said they were closely monitoring the situation.

“Flight safety is serious business and we are closely studying the situation. In the interim, we are focusing on enhanced surveillance of our 737 fleet” he said.

The 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, killing 123 passengers and nine crew members on Monday.

Back in March 2019, DGCA had banned use of Boeing 737 Max planes in India following two international accidents between October 2018 and March 2019 involving the same model aircraft that killed 346 people. The ban was lifted in August last year after Boeing made necessary software rectifications to the satisfaction of the DGCA.

Boeing 737 Max aircraft is an advanced version of Boeing 737-800 and both belong to the 737 series made by the US-based aircraft manufacturer. 

SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express are the three airlines that run Boeing 737 aircraft in India. China has a fleet of more than 1000 Boeing-made planes.

IndiGo runs a fleet of A320s and A321s made by French aircraft-maker Airbus.