An Air India pilot, who tested positive on
the breath analyser, came clean when the airline failed to report his test or
take any further action on it.
A breath analyser test (BA Test) is a
mandatory requirement for all crew before they take a flight to analyse the
alcohol content in the body.
This incident occurred on June 12 in
Mumbai, in which a senior executive pilot reported to his duty for flight AI864
to Delhi.
On being tested for alcohol, he was found
positive. Capt Sunil Saxena was not reported to the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA), neither was any report made on the incident.
Capt Saxena, a management pilot, was
supposed to operate the Delhi flight and his transport slip showed that he had
gone to the airport but didn’t operate the flight.
“I think there is a massive cover-up and
reason quoted is he had gargled Listerine before doing the BA Test,” said an
Air India source who was aware of the hush up.
The Air India spokesperson failed to
comment on the issue neither did the DG Bharat Bhushan respond to a SMS query.
The DGCA has been coming down hard on
pilots found positive on the BA Test.
Earlier this year, as many as 15 people
were caught positive on a new alcho-meter equipment that the DGCA used on crew
of a particular line in a surprise visit to the airport.
Subsequently, a senior management pilot of
the national carrier was stripped of his position following a positive alcohol
test.
The executive pilots of Air India can not
be spared especially now when the airline is depending on them for operating
the Air India international flights, as 400 pilots of the erstwhile Air India
have called in sick to duty and have not been operating flights for over 50
days.
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