The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is in touch with Boeing and the US’ Federal Aviation Authority as the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft is designed and type- certified in the United States. Jet Airways and SpiceJet operate six such aircraft.
The decision to write to FAA and Boeing comes after a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft of Lion Air crashed in Indonesia on Monday.
The Lion Air aircraft lost contact with ground control a few minutes after take-off from Jakarta. It was last tracked crossing the sea.
While Jet Airways has five Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in its fleet, SpiceJet has a single aircraft of this variety. Jet Airways has ordered 225 Boeing Max aircraft while SpiceJet has placed a firm order for 155 such aircraft.
While Jet’s first Max aircraft was inducted into the fleet in June this year, SpiceJet inducted its only Max aircraft earlier this month.
Till September this year Boeing had delivered 219 Boeing 737 Max to airlines across the globe.
Lion Air is the largest private operator in Indonesia and began operations in June 2000. It operates over 180 flights to domestic and international destinations connecting Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and China.
The airline’s website shows a fleet of 112 aircraft including Boeing 747-400, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-900 ER, and Airbus A330-300.