Drunk pilot grounded, flight delayed

Chennai: A pilot of a leading low cost airline was grounded on Thursday after the airline’s medical officer found traces of alcohol in his breath in a pre-flight medical check, leading to a delay in the flight’s takeoff from Chennai.
The issue came to light when passengers of the JetLite flight to Delhi threw a tantrum in the security-cleared area of the airport in the wee hours following an inordinate delay in the flight.
The flight that was to takeoff at 6.20am could do so only at 10.45 am after the airline flew in a replacement pilot from Delhi.
According to the Civil Aviation Requirements (section-5 of Air Safety, seris F, Part-3), it is mandatory for each airline to conduct a pre-flight medical check to clear all crew members of a flight as ‘safe to fly’. After reporting to the medical officer, the crew member signs an undertaking: “I confirm that I am not under the influence of alcohol.”
After the doctor suspected a mild presence of alcohol on the pilot, he was given 15 minutes after which the test was repeated, in accordance with the aviation rules. Though the level was low, the pilot tested positive and was grounded.
24/07/09 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009, JetLite Jul 2009, Safety Jul 2009