The government has reportedly decided to increase surveillance on Boeing 737 Max that fly in the country following a snag in an engine of one of these planes on December 9.
According to a report in the Times of India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given SpiceJet — the only Indian airline operating the Max 737 aircraft — an elaborate list of preventive measures that involve monitoring aircraft and engine performance data.
“So far seven Boeing 737 Max (of SpiceJet) were flying in India post their return to service (last month). One has been grounded following an engine snag. The other six will fly under increased regulatory surveillance. SpiceJet has been given a list of parameters to observe very closely and report to us immediately if any deviation from accepted levels like oil temperature, pressure and engine vibration are noticed,” the publication quoted DGCA chief Arun Kumar as saying.
It may be noted that on Thursday (December 9) a Boeing 737 Max had taken off from Mumbai for Kolkata as SG-467. One of its CFM LEAP-1B engines developed a snag and the pilots switched it off inflight. The aircraft returned to Mumbai safely on one engine.
SpiceJet, which had 13 Max in India when they were globally grounded in March 2019, had so far seen seven of those return to service (RTS) after carrying the required modifications. The initial probe into Thursday’s engine snag indicates a metal chip in it had broken, the daily mentioned citing people having knowledge of the matter. Boeing and CFM are together working to examine the exact part from which the chip broke.
The chip sample has been sent to a Bengaluru lab, Global Technical Centre India.
