India today granted safety permission for the restart of Boeing 737Max operations in the country after it had instructed grounding of all such aircraft in March 2019.
The country’s aviation regulator DGCA granted safety permission to operators of the aircraft to restart operations. DGCA chief Arun Kumar issued an order rescinding March 2019 order.
”This rescission enables operation of Boeing Company Model 737-8 and Boeing Company Model 737-9 aeroplanes only upon satisfaction of applicable requirements for return to service,” the DGCA said in its order.
It may be noted that worldwide, 17 regulators have been permitted the operation of the Boeing 737 Max engine after the fatal aeroplane crashes involving this type of aircraft. A sizable number of airlines with Boeing 737-Max aeroplanes are operating currently.
The Boeing 737 Max had the worst luck that overcast the beauty of this jumbo aircraft. Apart from India, the 737s were grounded worldwide following devastating crashes that claimed hundreds of lives. Two of the worst incidents were the crashes involving a Lion Air flight and an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
Following an investigation into the crashes, the US Federal Aviation Administration had asked Boeing to remove the manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) which reportedly was resulting in the aircraft taking random nose dives during its flight. The MCAS also reportedly contributed to random instrument failures during flight.
At present, only SpiceJet is the only Indian airline to have 737Max in its fleet. The airline has announced that following the DGCA clearance, their fleet of 737s will soon be flying again.