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Headlines

India to ground Boeing 737-MAXs at 4 p.m.: Ministry

New Delhi/Mumbai, March 13 

The government on Wednesday made it clear that operations of all Boeing 737-800 MAX aircraft will be suspended at 4 p.m.

Late on Tuesday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation tweeted: "DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has taken the decision to ground the Boeing 737-MAX planes immediately. 

In a continuation to its Tuesday's call to ground the B737 Max operations, the Ministry on Wednesday added: "B737Max operations will stop from or to all Indian airports. 

"Additionally no B737 Max aircraft will be allowed to enter or transit the Indian airspace effective 1600 hours Indian time or 1030 UTC."

In India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways operate 17 Boeing 737-800 MAX aircraft. While SpiceJet has 12 aircraft, Jet has five planes of this type.

On Tuesday the DGCA tweeted: "These planes will be grounded till appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations."

"The timeline is to cater to situations where aircraft can be positioned at maintenance facilities and international flights can reach their destinations."

The suspension came after several countries including the UK, Australia, Italy, Singapore restrained their airlines from operating the aircraft type.

Globally many countries have banned the operations of the aircraft after an Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737-800 MAX flight crashed on Sunday killing all 157 people on board. It came just months after an Indonesian flight met with the same fate.

On Tuesday, the EU joined a number of other countries in banning Boeing 737 Max planes from operating in or over its airspace.