NEW DELHI, AUGUST 17: Two pilots of the Air India Group have returned “non-negative” results in initial screening for psychoactive substances, with their samples now sent for confirmatory testing, sources said on Monday.
The development comes days after Air India and Air India Express began mandatory psychoactive substance testing of all their pilots, going beyond the existing regulatory requirements.
According to a source, screening has so far been completed for around 400 pilots across the Tata Group-owned airlines. “The initial screening test results have come ‘non-negative’ for two pilots,” the source said.
The identities of the two pilots and the substances detected in their initial screening could not be immediately ascertained. Air India did not offer an official comment on the development.
The mandatory testing was introduced on August 13, following an August 4 incident involving an Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi that experienced a sudden loss of altitude during turbulence.
The pilot-in-command of flight AI2379, an Airbus A320neo, initially returned a “non-negative” result for a psychoactive substance. A subsequent confirmatory test identified marijuana, according to sources.
The aircraft had suddenly lost around 300 feet (91 metres) in altitude while cruising from Phuket to Delhi. The flight was carrying 145 people, including 137 passengers and eight crew members, with at least 24 people reported injured.
The latest screening drive covers substances as well as medications prohibited under prevailing aviation regulations and is being conducted across the Air India Group.
The two airlines together have more than 5,000 pilots, meaning the testing programme is expected to cover a substantially larger pool in the coming days.
Under the screening process, an initial “non-negative” result does not by itself establish that a pilot has consumed a prohibited substance. Samples are subjected to confirmatory testing to determine whether a banned substance is actually present.
The move to expand testing followed heightened scrutiny of pilot fitness after the Phuket-Delhi incident and the subsequent confirmation of marijuana in the captain’s sample.
