New Delhi: Two more Air India pilots could not clear the preliminary drug test ordered by the airline following the incident on the Phuket-Delhi flight that left many injured.
The two pilots have been de-rostered and the results of the final test are awaited, sources told NDTV.
The Tata-owned airline had ordered all its pilots to undergo drug tests, as part of new standard operating procedure (SOP), after the pilot-in-command of the Phuket-Delhi flight failed two urine tests he underwent after the plane landed. Marijuana was detected in his system.
So far, nearly 300 Air India pilots have gone through the test process. The results of the final drug test usually take 24-48 hours to come, sources said.
The Phuket-Delhi flight involved an Airbus A-320Neo aircraft. It violently dropped 300 feet, indicating there was a total and simultaneous loss of key control surfaces, including the elevators and ailerons, for four seconds. The spoilers also lost control as a consequence of the same hydraulic failure.
The elevators and ailerons of the A-320Neo drifted on their own without any pilot command following multiple failures of the jet’s three hydraulic systems during those four seconds. This is unprecedented in operations of this type of aircraft.
A cabin crew member aboard the flight was believed to have submitted a complaint alleging the pilot had earlier smoked “pot”.
Pilots said that hydraulics are critical to the operation of flight control surfaces, namely the elevators which pitch the nose up or down, the ailerons which roll the aircraft left or right by tilting the wingtips, and spoilers which reduce lift, add drag to help the aircraft descend or slow down (including braking on landing).
While it has not been established that the pilot was anyway responsible for the failure, it is clear that a person in his state would not be able to handle an emergency caused by systems failure.