India monitors Boeing 737 after crash in China | International | News

Following the crash of a 737-800 model plane with 132 people on board in southern China on Tuesday, India placed its Boeing 737s under “complete surveillance” where the chances of finding survivors are remote.

“Air safety is a serious matter and we are closely monitoring the situation. In the meantime, we are focusing on improving the surveillance of our (Boeing) 737 Navy,” said Arun Kumar, Director General of the Civil Aviation Council of India. Local news agency PTI

Kumar said the authorities would send teams to monitor the flight procedures, flight eligibility and operations of these aircraft to enhance such security.

Up to three Indian airlines, SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express, have aircraft of this type in their fleet and will no longer be examined in detail.

The announcement comes after China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 crashed yesterday with 132 people on board in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi, leaving no survivors during rescue efforts.

Images spread on social media show how the plane crashed at high speed and crashed into a tree-lined area.

Upon hearing this news, several Chinese airlines, including the owner of the damaged aircraft, announced that they were currently landing their 737-800 fleet.

In March 2019, India had already closed its airspace to the Boeing 737 Max model aircraft, two types of aircraft that were fatal after serious accidents – a different model from the one that crashed in China today – in Ethiopia and Indonesia. Nearly 350 people.

India lifted the embargo in August 2021, 27 months after it was joined by almost all countries.

India’s last major plane crash occurred in August 2020, when a plane skidded off the runway due to heavy rain while landing at Kozhikode airport in the south of the country, killing 16 people. (I)