- The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has decided to ground Boeing 737 Max 8 planes till appropriate modifications and safety measures are taken. Several other countries have also decided ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes.
- The decision comes in the backdrop of the recent Ethopian Airlines crash. On 10 March 2019, A 737 MAX 8 aircraft operated by Ethiopian Airlines had crashed near Addis Ababa killing 157 people.
- Recently, DGCA have issued safety guidelines for the operation of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. These include: (a) Pilots should have at least 1,000 hours of flying experience to command these planes (b) engineering departments have been instructed not to release the planes for operations in case of dual failure of autopilot, faults in spoiler system and (c) stringent checks of the aircraft’s autopilot and stall management systems during long-transit stays.
- Directorate General of Civil Aviation is an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation primarily dealing with safety issues
