Air India director who was to pilot Delhi-London flight fails alcohol test
Manju.V@timesgroup.com
Mumbai:12.11.2018
About an hour before he was to operate a flight to London, Air India director (operations) Capt Arvind Kathpalia tested positive for alcohol during the mandatory pre-flight breath-analyser test in Delhi on Sunday. This is the second time in less than two years that Capt Kathpalia has been under the scanner for an alcohol-related safety violation.
The 56-year old Capt Kathpalia, who is also on AI’s board of directors, was to command the Delhi-London Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight AI-111, scheduled for a 2.45pm departure. “At 1.29 pm, the Air India medical service department in Delhi airport terminal 3 took the first breathalyser reading and it showed positive for blood alcohol,” said a source. Documents with TOI show the second test was taken after the mandatory 15-20 minutes wait, at 1.50pm. It too showed positive for alcohol. Keeping with the norm, two witnesses took the test on the same breathalyzer instrument and the printouts of their readings, which showed negative for alcohol, were recorded along with their signatures. Meanwhile, AI-111 departed at 4pm with another commander at the controls.
Being the director (operations), Capt Kathpalia is in charge of overall management of AI’s flight operations. He is in charge of ensuring safe and efficient flight operations. He was promoted to this post in March last year, while only a month before that, in February, the India aviation regulator had suspended his pilot licence for three months for skipping a breathalyzer test and tampering with medical records. Air India did not respond despite repeated requests.
Co-pilot skips test, flight called back
About 10 minutes after taking off, an Air India Delhi-Bangkok flight was asked to return to Delhi after it was found that the first officer hadn't undergone the mandatory pre-flight breathalyser test. The officer was grounded on return. The flight finally took off seven hours behind schedule late on Sunday morning. AI spokesperson did not comment on the issue.
Capt Kathpalia’s brush with alcohol began a year ago
Reporting for flying duties with alcohol in blood is considered a criminal offence in several countries. Early this month, on November 1, Japan Airlines issued a public apology after one of its co-pilots failed the alcohol test minutes before operating a London-Tokyo flight. The co-pilot was placed under arrest by the London metropolitan police under the British aviation law.
Every year, about 20 flight crew fail the breathalyzer test in India. While drunk driving is a criminal offence in India under the Motor Vehicles Act, reporting for flying duty with alcohol in blood isn’t a criminal offence under the Indian Aircraft Act.
In India, the relevant Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) air safety norm states that “the level of blood alcohol compatible with safe flying is ‘Zero’, which is also recommended by International Civil Aviation Organization.”
“Even 12 hours after a bout of drink, when blood alcohol level remains zero, there is decrement in task performance. Alcohol present in body even in small quantities jeopardises flight safety,” the DGCA norm states. But the enforcement action is suspension of licence for three months for a firsttime offender and suspension of licence for three years for a second-time offender. Pilot licence is cancelled after the third time.
Capt Kathpalia’s brush with alcohol cases began over a year ago. On August 24, 2017, on the directions of additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Delhi, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), an Air India pilots’ union, had filed an FIR with the IGI police against Capt Kathpalia and former joint director general, DGCA, Lalit Gupta, for allegedly helping Capt Kathpalia.
The matter pertained to the Delhi-Bengaluru flight AI-174 that Capt Kathpalia operated on January 19, 2017. Neither did he undergo the mandatory preflight breathalyser test in Delhi nor did he agree to a post-flight breathalyzer test in Bengaluru, the ICPA alleged in a letter sent last year to then civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.
When he landed in Delhi later in the day, he went to the AI pre-flight medical examination room and made a false entry in the pre-flight breath-analyzer examination register for the flight he had operated, the ICPA letter alleged, adding it had gathered CCTV footage as evidence of the act.
Full story in www.toi.in
Manju.V@timesgroup.com
Mumbai:12.11.2018
About an hour before he was to operate a flight to London, Air India director (operations) Capt Arvind Kathpalia tested positive for alcohol during the mandatory pre-flight breath-analyser test in Delhi on Sunday. This is the second time in less than two years that Capt Kathpalia has been under the scanner for an alcohol-related safety violation.
The 56-year old Capt Kathpalia, who is also on AI’s board of directors, was to command the Delhi-London Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight AI-111, scheduled for a 2.45pm departure. “At 1.29 pm, the Air India medical service department in Delhi airport terminal 3 took the first breathalyser reading and it showed positive for blood alcohol,” said a source. Documents with TOI show the second test was taken after the mandatory 15-20 minutes wait, at 1.50pm. It too showed positive for alcohol. Keeping with the norm, two witnesses took the test on the same breathalyzer instrument and the printouts of their readings, which showed negative for alcohol, were recorded along with their signatures. Meanwhile, AI-111 departed at 4pm with another commander at the controls.
Being the director (operations), Capt Kathpalia is in charge of overall management of AI’s flight operations. He is in charge of ensuring safe and efficient flight operations. He was promoted to this post in March last year, while only a month before that, in February, the India aviation regulator had suspended his pilot licence for three months for skipping a breathalyzer test and tampering with medical records. Air India did not respond despite repeated requests.
Co-pilot skips test, flight called back
About 10 minutes after taking off, an Air India Delhi-Bangkok flight was asked to return to Delhi after it was found that the first officer hadn't undergone the mandatory pre-flight breathalyser test. The officer was grounded on return. The flight finally took off seven hours behind schedule late on Sunday morning. AI spokesperson did not comment on the issue.
Capt Kathpalia’s brush with alcohol began a year ago
Reporting for flying duties with alcohol in blood is considered a criminal offence in several countries. Early this month, on November 1, Japan Airlines issued a public apology after one of its co-pilots failed the alcohol test minutes before operating a London-Tokyo flight. The co-pilot was placed under arrest by the London metropolitan police under the British aviation law.
Every year, about 20 flight crew fail the breathalyzer test in India. While drunk driving is a criminal offence in India under the Motor Vehicles Act, reporting for flying duty with alcohol in blood isn’t a criminal offence under the Indian Aircraft Act.
In India, the relevant Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) air safety norm states that “the level of blood alcohol compatible with safe flying is ‘Zero’, which is also recommended by International Civil Aviation Organization.”
“Even 12 hours after a bout of drink, when blood alcohol level remains zero, there is decrement in task performance. Alcohol present in body even in small quantities jeopardises flight safety,” the DGCA norm states. But the enforcement action is suspension of licence for three months for a firsttime offender and suspension of licence for three years for a second-time offender. Pilot licence is cancelled after the third time.
Capt Kathpalia’s brush with alcohol cases began over a year ago. On August 24, 2017, on the directions of additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Delhi, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), an Air India pilots’ union, had filed an FIR with the IGI police against Capt Kathpalia and former joint director general, DGCA, Lalit Gupta, for allegedly helping Capt Kathpalia.
The matter pertained to the Delhi-Bengaluru flight AI-174 that Capt Kathpalia operated on January 19, 2017. Neither did he undergo the mandatory preflight breathalyser test in Delhi nor did he agree to a post-flight breathalyzer test in Bengaluru, the ICPA alleged in a letter sent last year to then civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.
When he landed in Delhi later in the day, he went to the AI pre-flight medical examination room and made a false entry in the pre-flight breath-analyzer examination register for the flight he had operated, the ICPA letter alleged, adding it had gathered CCTV footage as evidence of the act.
Full story in www.toi.in
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