New Delhi: India will not rush into ordering a nationwide grounding of Boeing Co.’s 737 Max 8 planes but retains the option to do so, a senior government official said. Civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu met his ministry officials earlier on Monday to take stock of the situation after Sunday’s deadly crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 jetliner of Ethiopian Airlines, followed by China’s grounding of all such planes used by its carriers.
Meanwhile, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued additional guidelines for operating Boeing 737 Max 8 planes. The steps relate to engineering and maintenance of such planes and having experienced pilots. The regulator said in a statement that the steps are “interim safety measures taken with inputs available at this stage”. It will closely monitor the situation and may impose more steps, if needed.
