Air India pilot sacked from the top post for failing alcohol test

Arvind Kathpalia, the Air India’s Pilot has been sacked as a Director of Operations for failing alcohol test. This came after the Indian Commercial Pilot’s Association had earlier demanded his immediate termination because he was a “repeat offender who endangers the lives of passengers”.

On Monday his flying licence was revoked after failing a breath test moments before captaining an Air India plane to London, India’s aviation regulator said.

Before entering the Dreamliner jet’s cockpit for the nearly 10-hour flight to the United Kingdom on Sunday, his result blew positive for alcohol.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation had earlier said: “He failed the breath analyser and as per rules we have decided to cancel his licence for three years with immediate effect.” This was the second instance of the senior pilot failing the breathalyzer test. In January 2017, he was grounded for three months for skipping the test before a flight.

All pilots and crew are barred from consuming alcohol in the 12 hours before their flying duties and are subject to regular breath tests.