NEW DELHI – Fifty-six pilots working for Indian airlines have failed alcohol tests in the last two years, according to a list issued by the civil aviation ministry. Ten pilots were fired after they failed tests, including one who was found over the limit on two occasions, according to the list released by Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi in parliament on Thursday. The fifty-six pilots worked for the state-owned national carrier Air India, as well as private airlines Jet Airways, Indigo, SpiceJet, GoAir, and Kingfisher.
Twenty-three pilots from India’s top airline company Jet Airways failed their tests, but the airline did not sack any of them, putting them on suspension and subjecting them to a pay cut instead. The list of pilots was issued a day after two pilots were found flying passenger planes with forged qualifications, deepening concerns about safety on India’s booming airlines. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) drafted regulations recently, stipulating that pilots arriving to work drunk would be grounded for three months for a first offence and lose their flying licence after a second. No more such cases have emerged since the DGCA’s regulations came into effect in December 2010.
