DGCA to conduct safety assessment of B737 MAX planes operational in India: Prabhu

The direction comes a day after a 737 MAX aircraft, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, crashed killing 157 people.

Jet Airways and SpiceJet have 737 MAX aircraft in their fleet.

In a tweet on Monday, Prabhu said he has directed officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to undertake "safety assessment" of Boeing 737-MAX planes being flown by domestic carriers.

"Safety of the passengers is our utmost concern. Directed Secretary and DGCA to take appropriate action immediately," Prabhu said in a tweet.

The incident on Sunday was the second time in less than five months that a 737 MAX 8 plane crashed. In October 2018, an aircraft operated by Lion Air crashed killing over 180 people in Indonesia.