Air India Phuket-Delhi turbulence: Pilot may lose licence if dope test positive, says pilots’ body chief

The pilot of an Air India Phuket-Delhi flight that encountered severe turbulence could face licence cancellation and other penalties if a reported positive dope test is officially confirmed. The pilots’ body urged caution, noting that Air India has not formally released the test results

New Delhi: The pilot of the Air India Phuket-Delhi flight that encountered mid-air turbulence could face cancellation of his flying licence and other penalties if his dope test is officially found positive, the pilot’s body chief said on Sunday.

Captain CS Randhawa, President of the Federation of Indian Pilots said that the airline has not officially released the results of the doping test and that he would not comment on reports claiming that the pilot had tested positive until there was an official confirmation.

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“Currently, the doping test results are not out officially by the airline, so we will wait for the official confirmation. I won’t comment that that test is positive,” he said.

Randhawa said that if the test is found positive, cancellation of the pilot’s licence could be among the repercussions, apart from penalties and other consequences that could affect the pilot’s future. “If the test seems positive, then the license cancellation of the pilot can also take place because of this. The penalty also can be put up on the pilot as well also for the future, also few of the things he can suffer from this, but still I will say we have to wait for the report about the doping test, and then only we can comment on it,” he added.

His comments came amid reports that the captain of an Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi, which encountered severe turbulence and left several passengers and crew members injured, had allegedly tested positive for psychoactive substances.

Air India has said that it conducts regular drug testing of crew members in compliance with civil aviation regulations. The airline, however, said that the results of the post-flight screening test conducted on the pilots had not been shared with it.

The Airbus A320, operating as Air India flight AI2379, encountered severe turbulence while flying over Odisha before experiencing a sudden altitude variation of around 300 feet. The aircraft subsequently stabilised and landed safely at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.