DGCA to test all pilots for drugs after captain of Air India Phuket-Delhi flight sacked for being under the influence on duty | Today’s news
India’s civil aviation authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has asked airlines to conduct a one-time drug screening of all pilots by July next year, a government official said, amid a series of recent incidents involving crew members allegedly found under the influence of drugs.
The testing process has already begun across airlines, an official told reporters in New Delhi on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement by the DGCA.
Air India Phuket-Delhi incident
The directive comes after an unusual incident involving an Airbus SE A320 operated by Air India in which all three hydraulic systems reportedly failed simultaneously. Such a failure is considered extremely rare given the aircraft’s multiple layers of redundancy. The malfunction resulted in autopilot disengagement and a loss of about 300 feet of altitude.
After the flight from Phuket landed in India on August 4, the captain tested positive for illegal drugs. The investigation did not determine whether the pilot’s condition contributed to the mid-air crash, but an interim report released last Friday by India’s Air Accidents Investigation Bureau (AAIB) described the drug use findings as “serious concerns” and urged the regulator to urgently take “appropriate action”.
“Confirmation of the use of a psychoactive substance is a serious concern and the AAIB recommends appropriate action by the DGCA as a matter of priority,” it said.
Air India sacked the pilot after he tested positive for a psychoactive substance.
“The senior pilot of the Phuket-Delhi flight tested positive for a psychoactive substance. In line with Air India’s zero-tolerance approach to violations of safety, fitness or regulatory requirements, the pilot’s employment has been terminated with immediate effect,” the airline said in a statement.
According to the report, the 34-year-old captain held a valid transport pilot’s license and had accumulated about 5,055 hours of flight experience, all on the A320. The 32-year-old co-pilot held a commercial pilot’s license and had flown approximately 1,394 hours of total flight experience, including the A320.
Both pilots had almost 22 hours of rest before starting the flight.
Air India Ltd. previously said it would conduct a one-time drug screening of all its pilots following the incident.
What did Minister Rammohan Naidu say?
Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu told reporters in Delhi that the draft rules for “revised pilot drug testing rules” are expected to be finalized by the end of this month.
Naidu did not provide details on the proposed changes. But the changes are expected to introduce stricter requirements for screening pilots for psychoactive substances and expand the rules to cover the airline industry more comprehensively.
Meanwhile, the aviation regulator is working with airlines on proposals to tighten existing rules governing drug tests. In a separate development, Malaysia Airlines introduced mandatory drug screening in August after a cockpit crew member was arrested on charges of smuggling narcotics.
