E-Paper
Checks satisfactorily performed on Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft: DGCA
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday asked airlines to carry out immediate inspections of emergency exits of Boeing 737 Max-8 aircraft
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday said checks have been satisfactorily performed on Air India Express (4), Spicejet (8), and Akasa (20) Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft amid safety concerns following the grounding of planes in the US after the door plug of an aircraft blew off post take off on Friday.
The door plug of the Alaska Airlines blew off after the aircraft took off from Portland in the US on Friday and triggered flight cancellations. Alaska Air grounded all its Boeing 737 Max-9 aircraft, triggering concerns globally. The 737 MAX, including its variants Max-8 and Max-9, was grounded for 20 months worldwide after two crashes in 2018 and 2019 linked to poorly designed cockpit software killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
DGCA on Saturday asked airlines to carry out immediate inspections of emergency exits of Boeing 737 Max-8 aircraft in their fleet. It underlined none of the Indian air operators have Boeing 737-9 Max. DGCA cited an abundant precautionary measure while directing operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737- 8 Max aircraft.
The 737 Max-8 and 737 Max-9 are identical in most aspects. 737 Max-9 is only roughly three metre longer. Boeing last week asked carriers to inspect all B737 Max aircraft after an international operator discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance.
An Akasa Air spokesperson said the airline completed a thorough inspection of its entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max aircraft following the incident involving Alaska Airlines and the DGCA’s subsequent guidelines. “...there are no adverse findings. ...there was no disruption to our operations during this time.”
A SpiceJet spokesperson said no adverse findings were identified during their inspection. “Our flight operations remained unaffected and continued to operate as usual. ...SpiceJet does not operate the B 737-9 variant of the MAX.”
