China plane crash: India not looking to ground Boeing 737 fleet, awaits MU5735 preliminary investigation result

India is not looking to ground any of the Boeing 737-800 fleet in the country at this point and is rather on a 'wait and watch' mode regarding the investigation into the aircraft crash in China, senior government officials told CNBC-TV18.

In one of the worst air disasters in China, a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft nosedived, descended at a rate of nearly 31,000 feet per minute and crashed in a mountainous region of Southern China on March 21 with 132 people on board. The aircraft was enroute to Guangzhou from Kunming.

While one of the black boxes has been found, the investigation team of China is yet to release any preliminary investigation report or ascertain a specific reason for the crash, officials added.

"India is not looking to ground this aircraft type at this point in India... There are different theories but the regulators and investigation team have not come to a conclusion yet, even a preliminary report is yet to be finalised... It is not proper to ground an aircraft without a verified justification... India is on a 'wait and watch' mode as or now," a senior official said, adding that the country is also awaiting feedback from global regulators on the MU5735 accident.

Simultaneously, the country's aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is conducting more checks on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft in India with surprise audits and the focus is on adopting a precautionary approach, assessing airworthiness manuals of 737s and do more checks, officials said.

Around 50 out of 64 Boeing 737-800 aircraft are currently in operation in India with Air India Express, Vistara and SpiceJet as operators. While in China, there are more than 1000 of such narrow body aircraft in operation, out of which around 100 have been grounded by China Eastern Airlines as per information available so far.