Airlines world over make huge investments to hone the skills of pilots in their quest for the maintenance of high safety standards.
It is therefore incomprehensible that an astounding number of pilots of Indian carriers – 181 to be precise, as per statement made in Parliament, failed the mandatory breathalyser test prior to operating flights during the three year period 2015-18.
Pilots, in the course of their exhaustive training, are made to realise the significance of safety; that lives of hundreds of passengers depend on them, etc. Why do some of them then behave so immaturely and irresponsibly so as to fail the mandatory breathalyser test?
It’s a question that has defied a satisfactory response because the number of instances of pilots failing the test hasn’t shown any appreciable decline during the recent years and India’s track record continues to be more abysmal than most other countries.
Even if it is argued that while instances of pilots reporting in a drunken state year after year in absolute number may not have shown a decline, the reality of it going down as a percentage of flights operated cannot be overlooked. This is because the number of flights operated in these years has gone up significantly, as has the number of pilots in various airlines.
What is, however, perplexing is that even the tightening of action by the regulatory agency, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has apparently failed to make the pilots understand the gravity of their lackadaisical approach.
02/01/19 Jitendra Bhargava/DNA
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It is therefore incomprehensible that an astounding number of pilots of Indian carriers – 181 to be precise, as per statement made in Parliament, failed the mandatory breathalyser test prior to operating flights during the three year period 2015-18.
Pilots, in the course of their exhaustive training, are made to realise the significance of safety; that lives of hundreds of passengers depend on them, etc. Why do some of them then behave so immaturely and irresponsibly so as to fail the mandatory breathalyser test?
It’s a question that has defied a satisfactory response because the number of instances of pilots failing the test hasn’t shown any appreciable decline during the recent years and India’s track record continues to be more abysmal than most other countries.
Even if it is argued that while instances of pilots reporting in a drunken state year after year in absolute number may not have shown a decline, the reality of it going down as a percentage of flights operated cannot be overlooked. This is because the number of flights operated in these years has gone up significantly, as has the number of pilots in various airlines.
What is, however, perplexing is that even the tightening of action by the regulatory agency, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has apparently failed to make the pilots understand the gravity of their lackadaisical approach.
02/01/19 Jitendra Bhargava/DNA
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