DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed Air India Express, Akasa Air and SpiceJet 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." The regulator issued this directive as an "abundant precautionary measure" following an Alaska Airlines B737-9 Max saw a mid cabin emergency exit assembly and portion of the plane's fuselage blow out shortly after take off in the US. No Indian carrier operates the B737-9 variant of the Max yet but they have the B737-8 Max in their fleets
"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, we have directed all 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," said a senior DGCA official.
An Alaska Airlines B737-9 Max had made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after a window and a portion of the plane's fuselage blew out shortly after take-off. Following the incident, Alaska Airlines has grounded all of its Boeing 737-9 aircraft
The three Indian carriers have 42 B737 MAX in their fleet as of now — Akasa (20); SpiceJet (12) and AI Express (10).
This is the second trouble for the aircraft with a chequered history in recent days. On December 31, 2023, Boeing had asked MAX operators globally to carry out safety checks on this aircraft after finding a loose bolt in one of the planes. Boeing has asked operators to inspect specific tie rods that control rudder movement for possible loose hardware. Among other things, rudder basically helps an aircraft turn left or right.
The MAX troubles are mounting at a time when another about 35 Airbus A320 neo family of planes with Pratt & Whitney’s snag-ridden GTF engines are set to be grounded for checks following the latest concern regarding these engines of metal powder contamination. Already about 50 IndiGo A320neos are grounded for months due to PW’s inability to supply replacement engines. If the MAX troubles worsen, along with PW’s unending GTF engine issues, India is staring at yet another capacity crunch that could mean fewer flights and higher airfares — something that’s seen last summer when GoAir had collapsed