BackAir India terminates pilot for flying under alcohol influence, says report
Air India takes strong action against a pilot who operated a flight under the influence of alcohol, including termination of services and potential FIR filing
PremiumAir India has terminated the services of one of its pilots who operated a flight from overseas to India under the influence of alcohol, according to a report by Times of India. The incident occurred last week when, upon arrival in India, the pilot tested positive for alcohol consumption on the breath analyser (BA) test. The airline is also looking into filing an FIR against the captain of the flight. The incident happened on the Phuket-Delhi flight, which landed last week.
"We have zero tolerance for these things and have taken very strong action of not only terminating his service but are also planning to file an FIR as operating a flight under influence of alcohol is a criminal act. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been informed," airline sources told Times of India.
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In 2022, DGCA had suspended nine pilots and thirty-two cabin crew for failing their pre-flight breath analyser tests.
Meanwhile, an IndiGo aircraft grazed the wings of an Air India Express plane at the Kolkata airport, leaving the wings of both aircraft damaged, officials said, as reported by PTI. The IndiGo flight was bound for Darbhanga, while the Air India Express plane was scheduled to depart for Chennai. A senior DGCA official said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) launched a probe and de-rostered two IndiGo pilots involved in the incident. The IndiGo flight had 131 adults plus four infants on board, while there were 163 passengers inside the Air India Express aircraft.
On 22 March, the DGCA also imposed a financial penalty of ₹80 lakh on Air India Limited for violating regulations pertaining to Flight Duty Time Limits (FDTL) and the fatigue management system (FMS) of flight crew.
Earlier this month, there were also reports of Air India laying off more than 180 non-flying staff. Speaking on this, an Air India spokesperson said that employees in non-flying functions have been assigned roles based on organisational needs and individual merit as part of the fitment process.
(With inputs from PTI)
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