Air India pilot found on cockpit floor after 300ft plunge, struggled to stand: Report

New Delhi: The pilot commanding an Air India flight that suddenly plunged 300 feet was reportedly found sitting on the cockpit floor after a stall warning and later struggled to stand after landing — fresh allegations that have deepened concerns over an incident in which more than 20 passengers and crew members were injured.

The pilot of flight AI-2379 from Phuket to Delhi subsequently tested positive for marijuana in two separate dope tests, NDTV reported, citing sources.

The pilot has denied consuming any psychotropic substance.

The latest disclosures provide a disturbing new account of events surrounding the August 4 flight, which was carrying 137 passengers and eight crew members when it suddenly lost around 300 feet during the cruise phase.

At least 20 passengers and four crew members were injured. Two crew members suffered spinal injuries around the tailbone and neck, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said.

According to NDTV, the pilot in command was found seated on the cockpit floor when the stall warning occurred during the sudden loss of altitude.

The report cautioned that his position on the floor could itself have resulted from the impact of the aircraft’s abrupt descent.

Fresh details have also emerged about his condition after the aircraft landed in Delhi.

Sources told NDTV that the pilot was unable to stand straight. An investigator from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau allegedly told him that he was under CCTV surveillance and had to help him sit down.

The AAIB official also reportedly physically assisted the pilot while he provided a urine sample.

That sample became crucial to the investigation.

As reported earlier, the pilot subsequently failed two dope tests.

Sources had initially said that a post-flight screening in Delhi detected psychoactive substances. A second test conducted later also returned positive, with sources saying marijuana had been detected.

The second result was significant because it appeared to reinforce the initial screening finding.

However, the pilot has denied consuming marijuana or any other psychotropic substance.

Investigators will therefore have to establish not merely whether the substance was present but what bearing, if any, it had on the events aboard the aircraft.

Both pilots and members of the cabin crew are being questioned by the AAIB.

NDTV has also reported new details about what allegedly happened during the crew’s layover in Thailand.

According to sources, the pilot took crew members to a party in Phuket during a layover of less than 24 hours.

The gathering reportedly followed an incident aboard the earlier Delhi-Phuket flight.

When the pilot left the cockpit to use the bathroom, protocol required a cabin crew member to temporarily occupy his seat. Sources said the crew member had difficulty operating the pilot’s seat and was reprimanded by him.

The pilot later wanted to make amends and took the crew to a party in Phuket, according to NDTV.

On the return flight to Delhi, the same cabin crew member reportedly asked to work at the rear of the aircraft because she did not want to be near the cockpit.

NDTV also reported that at least one cabin crew member has filed a complaint against the pilot alleging that he smoked marijuana.

Another unusual detail concerns the moments after the sudden altitude loss.

After the aircraft dropped 300 feet and passengers and crew were injured, the pilot reportedly entered the passenger cabin to check on them.

Sources told NDTV that he asked passengers not to film him.

He was also reportedly missing a shoe and sock on one foot when he entered the cabin.

Investigators have not publicly established whether any of these circumstances were connected to the aircraft’s sudden loss of altitude.

Despite the increasingly troubling allegations, crucial questions remain unanswered.

Authorities have yet to publicly establish what caused AI-2379’s sudden 300-foot altitude loss, what triggered the stall warning, what the two pilots were doing immediately beforehand, and whether the reported drug-test results had any connection with the incident.

The pilot’s denial also remains part of the investigation.

For the AAIB, the task now extends beyond reconstructing the aircraft’s sudden plunge. Investigators must determine what happened inside the cockpit, examine the crew’s actions before and during the flight, and establish whether the allegations surrounding the pilot played any role in an incident that left dozens of people injured.