Air India Express suspends 8 crew over post-flight breathalyser deadline
Crew suspended for missing post-flight alcohol test deadline by 35 minutes
Air India Express has suspended eight crew members for three months after they failed to complete a mandatory post-flight breathalyser declaration within the required two-hour window following an international flight, media reports said.
The crew was operating a Dubai-Amritsar flight on August 2. They were required to complete the declaration within two hours of landing at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport in Amritsar.
However, the declaration was submitted 2 hours and 35 minutes after landing, 35 minutes beyond the prescribed deadline.
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Crew removed from duty
The airline reported the violation to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and removed all eight crew members from duty before imposing the three-month suspension.
According to ANI, all eight crew members tested negative for alcohol.
The action was taken over the failure to meet the prescribed testing deadline, rather than a positive alcohol test.
Move follows Air India flight incident
The disciplinary action comes weeks after an Air India Phuket-Delhi flight experienced a sudden loss of altitude of around 300 feet during cruise.
The incident prompted renewed scrutiny of psychoactive-substance testing among airline crew.
Both pilots underwent prescribed screening after the incident. The pilot-in-command’s initial screening result required confirmatory testing, after which the DGCA took both pilots off the roster pending further investigation.
Air India expands pilot testing
Following the Phuket incident, Air India announced mandatory psychoactive-substance screening for all pilots across the Air India group, including Air India Express.
The expanded programme goes beyond the existing regulatory requirement for random testing of at least 10 per cent of flight crew annually.
Testing began on August 13 and was planned at multiple locations, including during training, after flights and at designated base locations.
India weighs annual testing for pilots
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said in August that the government was considering a system under which all pilots would undergo a dope test once a year.
The proposal would replace the existing system requiring random testing of at least 10 per cent of pilots annually.
