B737 Max: SpiceJet says all addl DGCA safety measures in place

MUMBAI, Mar 12: Budget carrier SpiceJet Tuesday

said it has put in place all the additional precautionary

measures issued by the aviation regulator following the crash

of one such plane earlier this week.

The Gurugram-based airline, which has 12 Boeing 737

Max 8 planes in its fleet, also said, it is “actively engaged”

with the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) and the

aircraft manufacturer on the issue.

SpiceJet and Jet Airways are the only two domestic

airlines which operate Boeing 737 Max 8 planes.

“We are actively engaged with both Boeing and the DGCA

and will continue to put safety first, as always,” SpiceJet

said in a statement.

“We’ve already implemented all additional

precautionary measures as directed by the DGCA Monday,” the

airline added.

The 737 Max had two fatal crashes since October last,

the latest being Ethiopian Airlines’ crash this Sunday six

minutes after takeoff killing all the 157 on-board, including

four Indians. The first crash last October when the same type

plane operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed soon after

takeoff killing all on-board.

Significantly, Jet Airways has not been operating them

along with some other planes for quite some time now due to

the liquidity crunch and subsequent default on lease rentals.

Aviation watchdog DGCA had Monday issued strict safety

instructions for flying these planes, which include minimum

1,000 hours of flying for pilot-in-command.

In a statement DGCA also said more interim safety

measures are being taken with inputs available at this stage.

Besides the two airlines have been asked to ensure various

requirements are complied with by their engineering and

maintenance personnel with respect to these planes.

Following the crash, Ethiopia, Indonesia, China,

Singapore, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, and Mexico among

other nations have grounded the Max fleet.

But there was no word from Spicejet on whether it is

also looking to ground its Max fleet.

Earlier PTI had sent a query to SpiceJet chairman Ajay

Singh, asking whether the airline was also mulling grounding

the Max fleet in view of the safety issues.

Queries sent to aviation minister Suresh Prabhu and

his deputy Jayant Sinha’s office on the issue also remained

unanswered till the filing of this copy.

DGCA BS Bhullar told PTI that “no” decision has been

taken on the grounding these planes.

In a statement Monday, Jet Airways said it has five

Boeing 737 Max 8 planes in its fleet “but is currently not

flying any of these aircraft”.

Boeing started commercial delivery of 737 Max-8 in May

2017 and 350 are in service now. These planes offer better

fuel efficiency over the earlier variant. (PTI)

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