Boeing jet under scrutiny by India following China crash

India's aviation regulator has placed the country's fleet of Boeing 737 planes under "enhanced surveillance" after a jet crashed in China.

It said it has sent out teams "to monitor flight procedures_ air worthiness and operations".

On Monday_ a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 crashed in southern China with 132 people onboard.

Rescue teams are working at the site but it is not yet known what caused the crash.

The flight was travelling from Kunming to Guangzhou when it plunged to the ground and caught fire. China Eastern Airlines has grounded all its 737-800s.

"Flight safety is serious business and we are closely studying the situation_" said Arun Kumar_ chief of India's Directorate General of Civil Association.

"In the interim_ we are focusing on enhanced surveillance of our 737 fleet." India's SpiceJet_ Vistara and Air India Express all have Boeing 737 aircraft in their fleets.

The BBC has approached regulators in the US_ Europe and China for comment.

US plane-maker Boeing said it was assisting investigations in China and communicating with the US National Transportation Safety Board.

Boeing's chief executive David Calhoun said: "We have been in close communication with our customer and regulatory authorities since the accident_ and have offered the full support of our technical experts to the investigation led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China."

He added that the company would do "everything we can to support our customer and the accident investigation during this difficult time_ guided by our commitment to safety_ transparency_ and integrity at every step".

There are 4_208 Boeing 737-800 passenger planes in service_ according to aviation analytics firm Cirium_ with over a quarter of them based in China.

Investigators are still determining the reason for the crash in a wooded area of the Guangxi hills and will be searching for the plane's "black box" flight recorders for information.

Boeing has been attempting to recover from two fatal crashes involving its 737 MAX aircraft which claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew.

Cai von Rumohr_ an analyst at investment bank Cowen_ said: "Given Boeing's problems with the 737 MAX_ there is some chance that consumers may not want to fly on a 737 until the cause of the China Eastern crash is determined not to be a design or manufacturing issue.

"Hence_ isolating the cause of the crash will be critical."

Boeing's share price fell by 3.5% in New York on Monday.

China Eastern Airlines has set up a hotline for people seeking information about those on board. It expressed "its deep condolences for the passengers and crew members who died". The company's share price fell by more than 6% in Shanghai on Tuesday.