Tipsy pilots now face 1 yr jail, 5L fine

New Delhi: Reporting to work drunk would now mean more than just cancellation of licence for pilots and cabin crew. It will now also invite anywhere up to one year in jail and up to Rs 5 lakh in fine for tipsy pilots and crew.
The aviation ministry's move by amending the Aircraft Act will make its recent change on punishing drunk pilots foolproof. It had two years back decided to suspend licences of tipsy pilots caught drunk for the first time for three months. And commercial pilot licence of pilots caught drunk for the second time would get suspended forever. This means, such a person would never be able to fly as a pilot ever again in any Indian carrier.
"However, there was one major lacuna in these stringent changes. Pilots caught drunk while reporting to operate a flight or those who came to airports in an inebriated state but fled after finding that breath tests are going on argued that their licence could not be suspended as they did not actually operate a flight. Since they did not break any law, they argued no action could be taken against their licence and that only airlines may take some disciplinary steps," said highly placed sources.
Realizing that this argument was blunting their "zero tolerance" on the issue of drunk flying - something that directly affects safety of passengers, - the government decided to make even an attempt to operate a flight in a drunk condition a legal offence with criminal culpability.
20/11/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Nov 2011