DGCA wants all Boeing 737 Max aircraft to be grounded before 4 pm today

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA wants all Boeing 737 Max aircraft to be grounded before 4 pm today. This is to cater to situations where aircraft are to fly back to India or go to maintenance facility for parking.

While DGCA had earlier issued additional safety guidelines for Indian airlines operating Boeing 7373 Max 8 aircraft, it has finally decided to ground the particular model immediately.

In India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways are the two airlines that operate the Boeing 737 Max 8 jets. SpiceJet has around 12 '737 Max 8' planes in its fleet, while Jet Airways has five. Both the flights have grounded its fleet due to financial issues. 

On March 10, a 737 MAX 8 aircraft operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed near Addis Ababa killing 157 people, including four Indians. This was second such crash involving the 737 MAX 8 aircraft in less than five months. 

On October 29 last year, 189 passengers and crew died when a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia shortly after takeoff.