NEW DELHI: With India joining the nations suspending the use of Boeing 737 Max 8 planes on Tuesday, pilots in India feels that the controversial aircraft in which 157 people lost their lives on Sunday in Ethiopia for the time being should be inspected thoroughly for the absolute safety of passengers and crew.
Pilots TNIE got in touch with said that until the manufacturer- Boeing Co is able to find the exact cause of the malfunction and comes with a solution, the plane deserves to remain on the ground.
A Pilot with a leading airline who has the first-hand experience of flying Max planes said that there is certainly some sensor issues with the elevator (the rear part) of the aircraft which affects the signals that is to be received in the cockpit's onboard computer.
He added that the issue is much more serious than glitches faced by Airbus A320 Neos and there are many reasons to suspend the aircraft until Boeing comes up with a permanent solution.
At present, only Jet Airways and SpiceJet have Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in their fleet. While Jet said its 5 Max planes are on the ground, SpiceJet which has 12 similar jet on Tuesday said that the Boeing 737 Max is a highly sophisticated aircraft.
The budget carrier also claimed of having already implemented all additional precautionary measures as directed by aviation regulator DGCA on Monday.
Several pilots, however, feels that the precautionary measures issued by the regulator which includes minimum 1,000 hours of flying for pilot-in-command in not enough.
"While it is good to have experienced pilots handling the Max jets, it is not the most desirable thing to do now given that many countries with experienced pilots have put the safety on top," said a pilot who has flown Boeing planes throughout his career.
"It is not like car accidents where chances of your survival are very high. Planes crashes should be taken seriously with no compromise on the safety part," he said.
Group Captain Sandip Mehta said that it is not a good thing if pilots do not feels confidence in the machine.
"Two deadly accidents in the span of 5 months tell that there is a gap. Until these gaps are filled by the plane-maker, the planes should remain on the ground," Mehta said.
An Indonesian aircraft that crashed in October, killing everyone on board, was also of the same make.
As the exact cause of both the accident is yet to be known, many nations in the last two days have grounded the Max fleet over safety issues.
While Ethiopia, Indonesia and China were the first one to halt the use Max planes, United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, and Mexico among other nations have also grounded the Max fleet.