Fallout of Ethiopian Airlines crash; both Jet Airways and SpiceJet own and operate the ill-fated 737 Max 8 planes; China and Indonesia ground them but DGCA merely insists on pilots with 1,000 hours flying these aircraft
New Delhi: The best-selling model of Boeing’s most popular jet is under lens after a deadly crash on Sunday, leading several countries and airlines around the world to ground their 737 Max 8 planes. Boeing shares, in fact, fell more than 12% in early morning trading on Monday.
China has ordered 96 of these planes to be grounded and Indonesia has followed suit. Ethiopian Airlines has already done the needful, and so has Caribbean airline Cayman.
India’s aviation regulator DGCA was also mulling over action it can take in the matter. There was reason for concern as both Jet Airways and low-cost carrier SpiceJet own and operate these aircraft in India. SpiceJet told NDTV that it is operating all 13 of its 737 MAX planes. Jet Airways, which has five such aircraft, said it is not flying any of them currently. The DGCA, after extensive discussions, has directed that only pilots with 1,000 hours of experience can fly these aircraft.
The watchdog has also asked the airlines to ensure that various requirements are complied with by engineering and maintenance personnel with respect to 737 MAX planes. This is for the second time in less than five months that a Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane has crashed. In October 2018, an aircraft operated by Lion Air crashed, killing over 180 people in Indonesia.
Jet Airways had placed orders for 225 737 MAX planes with Boeing and some have already been delivered. SpiceJet, which has embarked on ambitious expansion plans, has a deal with Boeing for up to 205 aircraft, including at least 155 737 MAX 8 planes.
The two airlines did not offer any immediate comments regarding the use of MAX planes. On Sunday, 157 people, including four Indians, were killed when a Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines’ 737 MAX aircraft crashed after taking off from Addis Ababa.
Last December, the DGCA had asked Jet Airways and SpiceJet to immediately report any “abnormal” issues related to the MAX plane’s Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), following the Lion Air crash. MCAS is a kind of stall-recovery system that is used in Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and generally alerts the pilot in case there is stalling of the plane or fall in speed, among others.