Air India to test all pilots for banned substances

Air India is to test all of its pilots for banned substances, starting immediately.

It comes after one of its planes suddenly lost altitude last week, with a number of passengers injured.

Existing rules require airlines to randomly test at least 10 per cent of their flight crew for psychoactive substances each year.

NEW DELHI: Air India pilots will undergo mandatory drug screening starting Thursday (Aug 13), according to an internal memo seen by AFP, after a captain involved in a serious mid-air incident reportedly tested positive for marijuana.Existing rules require airlines to randomly test at least 10 per cent of their flight c

Air India will begin mandatory substance testing for all pilots on Thursday, expanding checks beyond regulatory requirements days after a pilot involved in a serious mid-air incident tested positive for marijuana, according to an internal memo.

Air India expands drug testing to all pilots after captain tests positive for marijuana  Reuters

Air India's mandatory dope test for all its pilots comes amid a row over a captain of its Phuket-Delhi flight testing positive for marijuana.

The testing will be conducted alongside pilot training at Air India’s Gurgaon Academy or post flight at airports or other locations conveyed by various bases.

RAVEENDRAN / AFP via Getty Images The captain of an Air India flight that plunged nearly 300 feet in midair tested positive for cannabis. Flight AI379 was traveling from Phuket to Delhi on August 4 when it suddenly lost altitude, injuring at least 24 passengers before landing safely. Both pilots underwent mandatory dru

India probes flight plunge as pilot faces drug test scrutiny  Dawn

Confirmatory dope test of the pilot-in-command the flight last Tuesday has also come positiveNEW DELHI: The confirmatory dope test of the pilot-in-command (PIC) operating Air India's Phuket-Delhi flight last Tuesday has also come positive, say sources. His screening test done on arrival was "non negative" and then as p