Business & Economy

India puts Boeing 737s on surveillance after China crash

New Delhi, Mar 22 (EFE).- India has put the Boeing 737 aircrafts operating in the country on “enhanced surveillance,” a day after a Boeing 737-800 plane crashed in southern China with 132 people on board, with little chance of anyone surviving the crash.

“Flight safety is a serious business. We are closely studying the situation. In the interim, we are mounting enhanced surveillance on our 737 fleet,” the head of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Arun Kumar, told reporters.

At least three Indian airlines – Spicejet, Vistara and Air India Express – are operating the aircraft in their fleet, with the model set to undergo a detailed inspection.

The announcement comes after flight MU5735 of the China Eastern airlines on Monday crashed in China’s southern Guangxi province with 132 people onboard, with no survivors located so far during the rescue work.

Images circulated on social network showed the plane plummeting towards the ground at great speed and crashing in a forest area.

After the crash, several Chinese airlines, including the operator of the crashed aircraft, announced that they were grounding their Boeing 737-800 planes until further notice.

In March 2019, India had closed its airspace to Boeing’s 737-MAX airplanes, after two major crashes involving the model – which is distinct from the one that crashed in China on Monday – in Ethiopia and Indonesia, in which nearly 350 people were killed.

Indian authorities lifted the ban after 27 months in August 2021 along with most other countries.

The last major air accident in India took place in August 2020, when a plane slid off the runway while landing amid heavy rain at the southern Kozhikode airport and broke into two, killing 16 people. EFE

hbc/ia

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