DGCA to issue safety directives on Boeing 737-800 Max aircraft

A day after an Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737-800 MAX flight crashed killing all 157 people on board, India's civil aviation regulator here on Monday said it will issue safety directives soon for Boeing 737-800 MAX operations.

"The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is reviewing safety issues post Boeing Ethiopian Airline B737-800MAX accident on March 10," said a senior official.

"The DGCA will issue additional safety instructions," the official said and added the instructions might be issued on Monday night or Tuesday morning.

In India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways operate more than 15 Boeing 737-800 MAX aircraft.

On Sunday, the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi crashed claiming the lives of all 149 passengers and 8 crew on board. The victims were of 35 nationalities, including four Indians.

The aircraft with registration number ET-AVJ took off from Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, on Sunday morning. It lost radio contact soon after takeoff and later crashed.

Following the tragedy, Ethiopian Airlines grounded its entire B-737-8 MAX fleet on March 10.

"Although we don't yet know the cause of accident, we decided to ground the particular fleet as extra safety precaution," Ethiopian Airlines said on its Twitter handle.

--IANS

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