The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator, has reportedly sought information from Boeing after a second 737 Max crashed on Sunday, March 10. The Boeing aircraft, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, crashed soon after taking off from Addis Ababa killing all 157 people on board.
The DGCA has also sought information on the 737 Max aircraft and its instruments from Indian carriers Jet Airways and Spice Jet, who are known to operate these planes. While many of Jet's 737 Max remain grounded, SpiceJet is said to be operating about 13 of these aircraft.
"A Boeing 737 Max aircraft flown by Ethiopian Airlines has crashed. Our two airlines (Jet Airways and SpiceJet have these aircraft) and DGCA officials are in touch with Boeing for information. Further safety measures if required shall follow that," DGCA chief B S Bhullar told the Times of India.
Meanwhile, DGCA isn't the only regulator concerned about the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The civil aviation administration of China (CAAC) issued a notice ordering all domestic airlines to suspend the commercial operation of the Boeing 737- Max 8 aircraft. The regulator said that it had taken the step "in view of the fact that the two air crashes were newly delivered Boeing 737-8 aircraft" and had "certain similarities," reported the Guardian.
On Sunday, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 that was enroute Nairobi in Kenya crashed six minutes after take-off. The cause of the mishap isn't yet known, but the airline said that the pilot had issues with the aircraft and had sought permission to return to Addis Ababa. "At this stage, we cannot rule out anything," Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said in a statement.
"We cannot also attribute the cause to anything because we will have to comply with the international regulation to wait for the investigation."
This crash comes just about four months after a Boeing 737 Max 8, operated by Indonesia's low-cost airline Lion Air, went down on the way to the city of Pangkal Pinang in Sumatra on October 29, 2018. The plane had with 189 people on board, including 3 children and 8 crew members. The flight is known to have requested a return to base before it lost contact. The ATC had permitted it to return, but the jet plunged into the sea 15 minutes after take-off.
The Indonesian crash too had triggered a DGCA advisory, in which it had asked Jet Airways and SpiceJet to take "corrective action" in terms of an instrument which was believed to have malfunctioned, causing the crash.
