New Delhi: The global commercial airline sector has witnessed two major tragedies in the last five months, which resulted in the death of 346 people.
The first incident happened on October 29, 2018 when a Lion Airlines Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea within 12 minutes of takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia. All 189 on board were killed. Similar tragedy struck again after Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 to Nairobi crashed on Sunday instantly after the takeoff, killing all 157 on board.
Since the latest crash, 737 Max 8 planes manufactured by Boeing have started facing a huge backlash across the global commercial aviation industry as the same model was involved in the respective tragedies both times. And in India, things are no different.
India has a fleet of 17 Boeing 737 Max 8 fleets. Of them 12 are operated by SpiceJet and five by Jet Airways. The two have placed an order for 335 new fleets of 737 Max 8 planes. Hundred and ninety three of them are for SpiceJet and 142 for Jet Airways. Air worthiness of these planes manufactured by Boeing has come into question post the recent tragedies. The worldwide ban forced India to suspend its operations late on Tuesday evening.
Jet Airlines had already suspended its operations. However, SpiceJet continued operating till the official ban was announced by airlines watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) yesterday. India has also decided to ban similar Boeing fleets from its airspace from this evening.
A News18 analysis shows that the majority of the operators of this type of aircraft were from China with overall fleet size of 91. China has 91 Boeing 737 Max 8 fleet and rest 329 orders for new fleet of same variant which is highest among the all countries. Overall 346 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes are operated across the world by 52 different operators and Boeing has 2370 new fleet orders from 60 operators.
Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, UAE have already banned the operation of Boeing 737 aircraft in their airspace. The move also forced Fiji Airlines to suspend its operations as the majority of its service was to these countries.
On Wednesday morning, Russian and Oman agencies also requested the operators to suspend the operations involving similar aircraft. One of the three operators of 737 Max 8 planes in Canada also suspended the operation. However, as of now there is no official ban from Canadian agencies with other two of its prominent operators still flying despite facing objection from the crew and passengers.
The countries which are yet to ban the operation are United States, Canada, Panama and Mauritania. Mauritania just has one fleet of 737 Max 8 planes. These accidents, involving technologically advanced fleets manufactured by Boeing for commercial aviation, demand immediate contingency measures and new standards for civil aviation to avoid such happenings in the future.
China, Indonesia and Ethiopia were the first ones to act by grounding all the 737 Max 8 planes after the latest tragedy.
Additionally, some commercial airline companies from China, Indonesia, Singapore and Nigeria also decided to keep the purchase of similar new planes on hold till further scrutiny. Thereafter, other countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Cayman Lands, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Singapore, Turkey have also grounded and suspended operation of 737 Max 8 model planes from Boeing as a precautionary measure.
Interestingly, pilots in Argentina refused to fly even before official grounding of 737 Max 8 model came into effect. Similar action was also taken by European Aviation Safety Agency yesterday evening leading to its halt across all European countries.
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