Two Jet Airways, Air India pilots suspended for being drunk

This is a serious violation and aviation regulators has written to chief of Jet Airways and Air India to register the FIR

Two pilots, of Air India and Jet Airways, have been suspended for four years by DGCA after they were found drunk on arrival of their overseas flights in India, while both airlines have also been directed to register FIRs against the two.

Sources said a cabin crew member of Air India has also been slapped with one-year suspension after post flight checks found traces of alcohol.

Considering the seriousness of the violations, the aviation regulator has written to the chiefs of Jet Airways and Air India to register FIRs (First Information Report) against the pilots concerned, sources said.

Both incidents, involving overseas flights, have been reported this month, they added.

This is possibly the first time that pilots have been tested positive for alcohol during tests conducted soon after operating a flight. As normal practice, pre-flight checks are conducted on pilots.

A Jet Airways spokesperson said the airline has terminated the services of the pilot concerned, while there was no immediate response to queries sent to Air India.

Sources said both the pilots had earlier also tested positive for alcohol but that was during pre-flight examination.

On August 10, the pilot of Air India's Sharjah-Calicut flight tested positive for alcohol during post flight examination, while the pilot of Jet Airways' Abu Dhabi-Chennai flight was found drunk on August 3.

The two pilots have been suspended for four years while a cabin crew of Air India has been suspended for one year, sources added.

Jet Airways said the airline has terminated the services of the cockpit crew member "who had tested positive during a breath analyser test conducted on August 3, 2016".

The airline has zero tolerance towards any action of its crew that contravenes safety standards mandated in its operating manual approved by DGCA, it said in a release.

According to the release, this is clearly mentioned in the prescribed service conditions for crew and is adequately emphasised during internal training sessions.

"In case of non-compliance, we take disciplinary action after due investigation as per company policy," it added.

Further, Jet Airways said that while other countries have random alcohol testing policy, DGCA regulations mandate 100 per cent screening for crew of Indian carriers before every flight departing from an Indian airport and after every flight arriving into the country.