PTI
New Delhi
The pilot-in-command of Air India’s Phuket-Delhi flight that suddenly lost 300 feet in altitude last week has tested positive for a psychoactive substance in the confirmatory test, sources said on Tuesday, as Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu and senior officials met with the Air India CEO and other executives to discuss the incident.
While there was no official statement from the airline or the authorities, the sources said the pilot has tested positive for marijuana, a psychoactive substance.
On August 4, Air India’s Airbus A320 aircraft with registration VT-EXO, operating the flight AI 2379 from Phuket to Delhi, experienced a sudden altitude variation of approximately 300 feet during cruise. The aircraft, which had 145 people onboard, subsequently stabilised and landed safely in
the national capital.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is being assisted by French agency BEA and Airbus in the probe, said 20 passengers and four cabin crew members were injured in the incident.
Pending completion of the investigation and testing process, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken both flight crew members
off the roster.
As the AAIB probes the serious flight incident that happened on August 4, leaving at least 24 people injured, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, along with other senior executives, met Naidu, Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha and other officials.
After the meeting, Naidu said safety in aviation is the top most priority and there should not be any compromise from any side. The sources said the pilot has tested positive for psychoactive substance in the confirmatory screening test.
After the incident, both pilots of the flight underwent the prescribed psychoactive substance screening test.
“The screening test in respect of the Pilot-in-Command (PIC) indicated a result requiring confirmatory testing. Samples have accordingly been sent to the designated laboratory for confirmatory analysis, and the final report is awaited,” the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement on August 9.
With respect to the use of psychoactive substances, Naidu said the issue was being taken very seriously and that the ministry was ready to tweak regulations if needed. “We are continuously studying it (the issue) and DGCA also, we have asked updates on that… We are taking it very very seriously. If we feel that present regulations are not up to the mark… Then, we will respond very seriously… Improve whatever needs to be done,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Under the norms of aviation watchdog DGCA, if a pilot or an aviation personnel is tested positive for drugs, the person is referred for a rehabilitation programme. In case the same person is tested positive in the test, then the person’s licence is suspended for three years. If the violation happens for the third time, then the person’s licence is cancelled.
On Monday, sources said the plane experienced multiple technical glitches and hydraulic failures as well as turbulence.
Meanwhile, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson, Executive Advisor to Air India Chairman and former Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, and the airline’s Head of Flight Safety Deepak Joshi attended the meeting.
Apart from the civil aviation secretary, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Director General Vir Vikram Yadav and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) Director General G V G Yugandhar, among others were present at the meeting that was chaired by the minister.
The sources said the airline executives were called for a meeting by the civil aviation ministry in the wake of the August 4 incident involving the flight AI2379.
