Two more Air India pilots have failed preliminary drug tests ordered by the Tata-owned airline following a high-risk operational incident on a Phuket-to-Delhi flight that left several passengers and crew injured. The two pilots have been de-rostered pending the final results of their screenings, which are expected to take between 24 and 48 hours to process.
The airline mandated comprehensive drug testing for all its flight crew under a new standard operating procedure. This action was prompted by the commander of the Phuket-Delhi flight testing positive for marijuana in two separate urine tests administered immediately after landing. The initial investigation followed a formal complaint from a cabin crew member, who reported that the pilot had smoked cannabis prior to the flight.
The aircraft involved, an Airbus A320neo, experienced a violent 300-foot drop during the journey. Hard data retrieved from system logs later revealed that the drop was caused by an unprecedented simultaneous loss of control across key flight control surfaces, including the elevators, ailerons, and spoilers, lasting for four seconds due to a failure across the aircraft's three hydraulic systems. During those four seconds, the control surfaces drifted without pilot input before recovery was established.
While early reports attributed the sudden altitude loss to severe turbulence, the extraction of flight data prompted deeper scrutiny into both technical factors and crew fitness. Air India maintained that it routinely conducts regular drug testing of crew members in compliance with civil aviation regulations, independent of specific operational incidents, but confirmed that over 300 pilots have undergone testing under the heightened monitoring protocol.
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