Air India crew avoids breath analyzer test | Fusion - WeRIndia

Recently, report has come out that over one hundred pilots and four hundred crew members of Air India have been evading the breath analyzer alcohol test, both before and after flights.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (or DGCA) had already issued an ultimatum to the management of Air India beforehand over their violations of alcohol safety regulations.

These safety regulations dictate that all pilots and crew members must take an alcohol breath analyzer test before and after every flight. Aircraft rules also prevent all crew members from consuming any alcoholic drink within twelve hours of the commencement of a flight.

A source revealed that the DGCA gave Air India a notice that one hundred and thirty-two pilots and four hundred and thirty-four crew members have been evading the breath analyzer test.

This significant safety violation will prompt the DGCA to take suitable actions against these pilots and crew members. However, this is a significant portion of the crew of Air India, and grounding all of these members at once would cripple the narrow body operations of the airline.

Therefore, the DGCA has decided to enforce its actions in a phased manner, which will keep the body operations of Air India afloat.

These pilots and crew members who violated the safety regulations will be taken off flying duty for at least four weeks, and will be required to initiate disciplinary proceedings.

Significantly, this is not the first time that Air India has had issues with alcohol safety regulations. Last February, the DGCA suspended the flying license of the executive director of Air India, Arvind Kathpalia, for three months, after he was found guilty of skipping the breath analyzer test himself.

However, the current disciplinary actions of the DGCA against hundreds of Air India crew members may now cause people to think twice before evading a breath analyzer test.

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