Alaska Air crash fallout: DGCA orders Indian airlines for urgent checks on Max aircraft

New Delhi: Indian aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday (jan 6) directed Akasa Air, Air India Express, and SpiceJet to conduct a “one-time inspection” of emergency exits on all Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft in their fleet by Sunday (Jan 7) noon as an “abundant precautionary measure” following an incident involving an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX-9 in the United States (US). 

At present, over 40 Boeing 737 MAX-8 planes are in operation across these three carriers in India, while there are no 737 MAX-9 aircraft in the fleet of any Indian airline.

“Pursuant to the Alaska Airlines incident involving Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft, there have been no inputs/guidance from Boeing so far. None of the Indian air operators have Boeing 737-9 MAX as part of their fleet yet. However, as an abundant precautionary measure, DGCA has directed all the Indian air operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet,” a top DGCA official said. The DGCA asked for the inspections to be held during the aircraft’s night halts so that flight schedules are not affected.

The carriers said that they are in touch with Boeing to get more information on the Alaska Airlines incident. They said that they will comply with the DGCA’s directive on the one-time inspection of emergency exits.

On Friday (Jan 5), an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX-9 plane operating a flight between Portland and Ontario (in California) made an emergency landing soon after take-off after a mid-air window blowout that led to a section of the fuselage also breaking away, causing decompression in the cabin. All the 171 passengers and six crew on board the aircraft returned safely. 

Following the incident, Alaska Airlines has temporarily grounded all of its 737 MAX-9 aircrafts.