China plane crash: India puts Boeing 737 fleets on ‘enhanced surveillance’

New Delhi: (Aviation Watch Bureau report) Taking precautionary measures, India has decided to put the Boeing 737 fleets of Indian carriers on 'enhanced surveillance' after a Boeing 737-800 plane of China Eastern Airlines crashed into a mountain, causing a large fire, on Monday. News agency PTI has reported quoting Arun Kumar (IAS), Director General of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that the Boeing 737 fleets of Indian carriers have been put on 'enhanced surveillance'. This comes as a Boeing 737-800 flight from the Chinese city of Kunming to the southern hub of Guangzhou 'lost airborne contact over Wuzhou' in the Guangxi region on Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the tragic China plane crash on Twitter. Expressing grief he said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the crash and their family members." A China Eastern Airlines passenger jet with 132 people on board crashed in the mountains of southern China on Monday, China's Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said.

"Deeply shocked and saddened to learn about the crash of the passenger flight MU5735 with 132 onboard in China's Guangxi. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the crash and their family members", PM Modi's tweet added.

The jet involved in the accident was a Boeing 737 aircraft, however, the number of casualties and the cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained. The disaster prompted an unusually swift public reaction from President Xi Jinping, who said he was "shocked" and ordered an immediate investigation into its cause.

The Boeing 737-800 flight from the city of Kunming to the southern hub of Guangzhou "lost airborne contact over Wuzhou" in the Guangxi region on Monday afternoon, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

"This flight has crashed," the CAAC said, adding the jet was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members.

Hundreds of firefighters were dispatched to the scene in Teng county near the city of Wuzhou, state media reported, as nearby villagers rushed to help the rescue effort. (Aviation Watch Bureau report)

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