After 300 Deaths In Two International Plane Crashes, India Has Banned Boeing 737 Max 8 Aircraft

Following the footsteps of a number of countries across the world, the Civil Aviation ministry has ordered all Boeing 737 Max 8 operating in the country to be grounded by 4 PM today.

The decision was taken on Tuesday by the DGCA following the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines flight which killed all 157 onboard, including four Indian nationals.

The ill-fated flight, a Boeing 737 Max 8 was on its way to Nairobi when it crashed. This was the second high profile mishap involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 in less than six months.

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In October, a Lion Air plane crashed into the sea off the Indonesian capital of Jakarta 13 minutes after take-off, killing all 189 onboard.

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Following the second crash as many as 13 countries including China, Singapore, Oman, UAE and France have all grounded their Boeing 737 Max 8, one of the most popular aircrafts ever built by aviation major Boeing.

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In India, only two private operators have Boeing 737 Max 8 in their fleet, SpiceJet which has 13 and Jet Airways which has five.

Cash-strapped Jet Airways had already grounded its fleet well before the crash, due to the financial troubles.

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SpiceJet which was operating its fleet till Tuesday, said in a statement that it "has suspended Boeing 737 Max operations following DGCA's decision to ground the aircraft."

"Safety and security of our passengers, crew and operations are of utmost importance to us. We will be working with the regulator and the manufacturer to attain normalcy in our operations. We are confident of accommodating the vast majority of our passengers and minimise inconvenience," the statement added.

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Meanwhile, Boeing the American aviation company issued a statement expressing confidence in the safety of the 737 MAX.

The two major mishaps are likely to affect the sales of? the 737 MAX, which according to Boeing is is the fastest-selling airplane in the company's history. As of January 31, 2019, Boeing had orders for 5,011 737 MAX from across the world. There are reports that some of the carriers are already reconsidering their orders.