India has decided to put the Boeing 737 aircraft under “enhanced surveillance.”
The decision follows the crash yesterday (March 21) of one such plane belonging to China Eastern Airlines. It was carrying 132 people and crashed in Wuzhou city.
In India, SpiceJet, Vistara, and Air India Express use the Boeing 737.
“Flight safety is serious business and we are closely studying the situation,” Arun Kumar, chief of India’s directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), told news agency PTI. “In the interim, we are focusing on enhanced surveillance of our 737 fleets.”
In 2019, India had grounded the Boeing 737 Max aircraft following accidents involving them between October 2018 and March 2019, killing up to 346 people. It was only after 27 months, in August 2021, that India allowed them to fly again.
Reacting to China’s incident, the US-based Boeing told Quartz that it was prepared to assist in the investigation being led by China’s civil aviation administration.
“Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew of China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 5735,” a Boeing spokesperson told Quartz in a statement. “We are working with our airline customers and are ready to support them.”