New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, found 57 pilots with alcohol levels above the permissible limit in medical tests that are mandated in India and considered one of the strictest globally.
The breath analyser tests have to indicate zero level of alcohol. None of the pilots was allowed to fly immediately after failing the pre-flight tests.
The finding is based on breath analyser tests done before takeoffs. The spot-checks were carried out at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Goa and Ahmedabad in 2009-10, aviation minister Vayalar Ravi told Parliament on Thursday.
Jet Airways, together with its low-fare arm JetLite, had 23 pilots with above-permissible alcohol limits before flights, followed by IndiGo’s 11, Kingfisher’s 8, SpiceJet’s 7, Air India’s 6 and GoAir’s 2.
DGCA data shows different airlines took different corrective actions.
Jet derostered most of these pilots for three months without pay or allowances. IndiGo terminated four pilots and kept the other seven from flying for up to four weeks. Kingfisher, too, terminated three of its pilots and kept the other five off duty for three months.
SpiceJet terminated four pilots and derostered another two for four weeks with the exception of a captain who was allowed to fly with a 50% salary cut for three months and breath analyser checks before each flight.
Air India kept all the pilots that violated the norm from flying for one month and GoAir for two months.
11/03/11 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint
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