After China plane crash, DGCA puts Indian Boeing fleets under 'enhanced surveillance'

India's air-safety watchdog, The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday put all the Boeing 757 fleets of Indian civil aviation companies on 'enhanced surveillance' after today's fatal crash of China Eastern Airlines aircraft that killed132 people. 

Speaking on the DGCA action, the body's chief, Arun Kumar said, "Flight safety is a serious business. We are closely studying the situation and in the interim, we are mounting enhanced surveillance on our 737 fleets." reported ANI. It is pertinent to mention here that according to a PTI report, SpiceJet, Vistara, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express are the four Indian carriers, that operate Boeing 737 aircraft in their fleets.  

Boeing 737 plane crash in China and history of previous crashes

The unfortunate incident unfolded after the plane, which was en route to Guangzhou from Kunming, crashed in Tengxian County in the city of Wuzhou, killing 123 passengers and nine crew members. Both Boeing 737 Max (advanced version of Boeing 737-800) and Boeing 737-800 belong to the 737 series. DGCA had banned the Boeing 737 Max aircraft in India in March 2019 after a total of 346 people were killed in two Boeing 737 accidents in the six months period between October 2019 to March 2019. The ban was lifted after 27 months, in August 2021, only after the necessary software rectifications were made by Boeing. 

Apart from the most recent incident in China, Boeings are infamous for their involvement in a number of high-profile accidents in recent years. There have been 74 mishaps involving Boeing planes since 2000, with 13 fatalities involving the latest generation design. It is pertinent to note, however, that being involved in such occurrences does not automatically make a plane more dangerous.

Moreover, two incidents involving crashes even prompted a worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX. Earlier on October 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, both 737 MAX 8s, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing everyone on board. Between March 2019 and December 2020, aviation authorities around the world grounded the planes in response to the deadly crashes. The 737 MAX took to the skies for the first time in 2017, and it is based on the original 737 model.

With Inputs from agencies

Image: PTI