The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on August 26, 2021, lifted its ban on Boeing 737 Max jets. India’s aviation regulator DGCA lifted the ban on Boeing 737 Max jets approximately after two-and-half years. Since the two crashes of the Lion Air in Indonesia in October 2018 and another of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane on March 10, 2019, near Addis Adaba, the DGCA put a ban on all Boeing 737 Max planes on March 13, 2019.
In April 2021, the DGCA allowed the Boeing 737 Max jets to fly but with certain conditions in reference to the ban order dated March 13, 2019. Flying Boeing 737 Max jets for commercial purposes till now was prohibited in India. SpiceJet is the only airline in India that operates the Max jets aircraft model in its fleet.
The DGCA explained in its order lifting a complete ban that 17 regulators across the world have permitted operation of Max jet aircraft and 34 airlines with 345 planes of the Max jet model have been operating with over 2.89 lakh cumulative hours since December 2020 with no report of any untoward incident. However, the Max planes will only be allowed to fly ‘upon satisfaction of applicable requirements for return to service’, added DGCA.
Why was Boeing 737 Max jet aircraft banned?
In October 2018, the 737 Max jet aircraft of Lion Air crashed in the Java Sea right after taking off from Jakarta. In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane crashed near Addis Adaba. Both the incidents left a total of 346 people dead.
Following the second crash, the aviation authorities across the world announced a worldwide ban on the Max jet aircraft model to investigate the cause of these crashes. China was the first country to ban the place and other airline carriers across the world also put a ban on the 737 Max planes in their fleets.
What was the cause of crashes?
The investigations showed that a design flaw in the aircraft model was the main cause of the crashes. The modern Boeing 737 is installed with a Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), that pushes the aircraft’s nose down at elevated Angles of Attack (AoA) leading to aircraft to stall. During such a stall, the aircraft loses speed and crashes from the sky.
In simple terms, the MCAS will read the data from two Angle of Attack sensors to measure the angle of the wings of the plane. As per Boeing, the MCAS will only activate when both sensors are in sync.
In the cases of both crashes, the investigations revealed that the MCAS falsely read the aircraft’s Angles of Attack and commanded the plane’s nose down leading to a crash. The investigations also revealed that Boeing had several shortcomings in the MCAS processes.
Why did DGCA lift the ban on Boeing 737 Max jets?
After the investigations, Boeing took up corrective measures to rectify the MCAS and set up simulators and training centers to train the pilot about the MCAS. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the ban on Boeing 737 Max in November 2020 followed by the UK, Europe, Japan, Canada, the UAE, Brazil, and Australia.
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