AI pilot fails breath test, grounded for 3 months

A senior Air India (AI) pilot, who was accused of misdemeanour involving a woman at a five-star hotel last year, has now been grounded. Reason: He was found high on alcohol before operating an international flight.

A senior Air India (AI) pilot, who was accused of misdemeanour involving a woman at a five-star hotel last year, has now been grounded. Reason: He was found high on alcohol before operating an international flight.

HT Image

The pilot, who belongs to erstwhile Indian Airlines, was to operate the Delhi-Shanghai flight on July 22 when he failed the breath analyser test. Sources said the pilot has been grounded for three months. Meanwhile, an AI spokesperson refused to comment.

Aviation experts said such incidents, involving repeat offenders , showed how “indiscipline had become a culture in AI as people manage to get away all the time”.

“The airline and the regulator (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) should take steps against indiscipline, which is not being done at present,” said aviation expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan.

The same pilot was in the news last year in July when his room had to be forced open by the hotel staff after noise of a woman howling for help was heard from his room.

The hotel staff was informed by guests in neighbouring rooms who heard “someone call for help,” amid “sounds of breaking of glass.”

The room was opened using a master key as nobody responded to repeated knocks on the door. The hotel’s note to the airline accessed by Hindustan Times, stated that the security staff could “hear the pilot arguing aggressively with a lady in his room”.

The woman had failed to identify herself. The pilot was asked to have either his guest registered or vacate the hotel after which the woman left.