Air India flight to Moscow returns after pilot found Covid-19 positive

A spokesperson for the airline confirmed the incident and said that all the four pilots and 10 cabin crew of the flight have been asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days

In a serious lapse of protocol, state-owned airline Air India was on Saturday forced to call back an aircraft mid way after it was found that one of the pilots operating the plane had tested positive for coronavirus during his pre-flight medical test.

In spite of testing positive for coronavirus, the pilot was rostered for flight, operated the aircraft for almost three hours when an official from the airline’s rostering team, double checking the pilots’ medical records, found that he was positive.

The Airbus A320 aircraft, which departed around 7.15 am for Moscow to bring back a group of stranded Indians under