DGCA orders one-time inspection of emergency exits on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft

In the wake of Alaska Airlines' midair window blowout incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered all the Indian airlines to immediately carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet.

The announcement comes a day after an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aeroplane made an emergency landing after its window panel blew out after takeoff on Friday. After the incident, US Airlines grounded all its Boeing 737 Max 9 aeroplanes for safety inspections.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released a statement on Saturday, saying, "Under the Alaska Airlines incident involving Boeing 737 -9 Max aircraft, there have been no inputs /guidance from Boeing so far. None of the Indian air operators have Boeing 737-9 Max as part of their fleet yet. However, as an abundant precautionary measure, DGCA has directed all the Indian air operators to carry out a one-time inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet."

The DGCA's statement came after US-based Alaska Airlines grounded all its Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes over an incident, wherein a flight with 177 people onboard made an emergency landing in the state of Oregon, with passengers saying a window panel blew out after takeoff.

After the accident, Chief Executive Officer Ben Minicucci said that the airline is taking the “precautionary step” to temporarily ground the fleet of 65 planes until completion of full maintenance and inspection. 

The temporary grounding is likely to impact tens of thousands of customers with canceled flights. The grounding will involve almost 30% of Alaska Air’s 227 Boeing 737 family aircraft. Alaska Air is the second-biggest operator of the 737 Max 9 variant, behind United Airlines Holdings Inc.

Flight 1282 was carrying 171 passengers and six crew from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. Nobody was injured in the incident. The incident received a sharp response from different nations. 

China's aviation regulator is conducting an emergency meeting to consider a response to the incident and even a possible grounding of the fleet in the country, reported Bloomberg citing sources. However,  Chinese carriers do not operate the Boeing 737 Max 9 variant.

The grounding by a loyal Boeing customer marks the most severe response to an incident since the manufacturer’s entire fleet of Max aircraft was temporarily taken out of service in 2019 following two deadly crashes. The 737 Max is by far Boeing’s most popular aircraft and its biggest source of revenue, with single-aisle aircraft like the Max and the corresponding Airbus SE A320 neo family, used as the most widely flown shorter routes.