New Delhi: All pilots of Indian carriers may have to undergo dope tests once every year. These tests will be conducted randomly.
The Centre is mulling this after the August 4 incident in which Air India flight AI2379, an Airbus A320neo flying from Phuket to Delhi, suddenly lost about 300 feet (91 metres) in altitude during cruise. The aircraft was carrying 145 people, including 137 passengers and eight crew members. At least 24 people were injured in the incident.
The flight’s pilot-in-command tested positive for marijuana in a confirmatory drug test. While it is not yet known whether his condition had anything to do with the incident, questions have been raised about whether a pilot under the influence of drugs can handle a mid-air emergency.
Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said that the idea of annual dope tests had been proposed to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for consideration.
“There are multiple ways of approaching this dope test. Right now, the rule says 10 per cent across the overall pilot network. But just like I said, DGCA is engaging, and one of the opinions from our side is that everyone has to go through it in the year at a random time. We have to see how all the stakeholders are going to respond to this because one is the safety aspect of it, one is to maintain the safety impact, and the second thing is the operational impact, which also has to be taken into consideration,” Ram Mohan Naidu said, as reported by ANI.
On the investigation into the Air India flight fiasco, the aviation minister said: “AAIB is presently taking up the investigation and because the data recorder and everything is intact, the plane has also been in its position so I believe that we can expect some preliminary report very early from now but more importantly in terms of the substance use and everything, DGCA is also having stakeholder consultation right now on what the regulation says today and how do we ensure there is a strict policy around this in the future also. This consultation is going on right now.”
Two more Air India pilots failed the initial drug test earlier in August as their results came “non-negative” and their samples have been sent for confirmatory tests, PTI had reported, citing a source.
On August 13, Air India and Air India Express started mandatory psychoactive substance testing of all their pilots, expanding checks beyond regulatory requirements.
Psychoactive substance tests have been completed for around 400 pilots of the Air India Group so far, a source told PTI.