DGCA's additional safety directives for B737 Max planes

India's civil aviation regulator on Monday reviewed the safety compliance issues related to the Boeing 737 Max plane and issued additional safety instructions to SpiceJet and Jet Airways who operate the aircraft type.

The direction comes a day after a 737 Max aircraft, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, crashed, killing 157 people.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed the two airlines to ensure that the pilot commanding the B737 Max aircraft has at least 1,000 hours of flying experience and the co-pilot has 500 hours of experience on the aircraft type.

The DGCA made it clear that the instructions to the two airliners were “interim” in nature and its review of the 'Daily Defect' and 'Daily Incident' reports contained defects of routine nature and no significant concern was observed.

“The DGCA will continue to closely monitor the situation and may impose/take any other operational/maintenance measures/restrictions based on the information received from accident investigation agency/FAA/ Boeing,” the regulator said in a statement.

The DGCA also asked the airlines to ensure that various requirements are complied with by engineering and maintenance personnel with respect to 737 MAX planes.

The operators have to ensure that no B737–8 MAX aircraft in their fleet is operated without compliance with DGCA's latest directions with effect from 1200 hours on March 12, the statement said.

At present, Spicejet has 12 B737 Max aircraft while Jet Airways has five planes in its fleet.