Mumbai: 'Make pilots flying drunk a crime’

In the absence of any punishment meted out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA airlines pilots in India are drinking on duty A Right to Information RTI report revealed that at least 55 pilots tested positive for blood alcohol via breathalysers in the past 11 monthsIf a deterrent like clipping the career progression of drunk pilots is not put in place by the regulatory body such cases of bottletothrottle aircraft will never be stoppedCivil aviation experts accused the DGCA of succumbing to the pressure of airlines who are already facing a severe shortage of pilots if drunk pilots are permanently banned experts said the airlines will incur major lossesA total 55 pilots were found positive for blood alcohol from January to November 2023 Representation PicA civil aviation expert and retired instructor pilot Captain Mohan Ranganathan told midday that a drunk pilot has to face criminal charges in foreign countries ldquoA pilot who drinks on the job falls in line if she is flying an aircraft in foreign countries where she has to be jailed as it is considered a criminal offence there But in India a drunk pilot is banned for one or three months from flying an aircraftrdquo said Captain Ranganathan who was also a member of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory CouncilldquoThe council was dissolved in 2014 because the members had been pinpointedly raising too many loopholes and failures in the airlinesrdquo he addedlsquoAnother shockerrsquoRTI activist Ajay Bose based in Amravati district sought information related to pilots who were found positive for breath analyser BA tests ldquoI randomly thought of getting the details from the authority concerned as loco pilots too have to undergo BA tests to run a train It was really shocking for me to receive the information through RTI as a total of 55 pilots were found positive from January to November 2023rdquo he saidldquoWhen I made a phone call to the DGCA office in New Delhi to learn what action had been taken against them I was told that their licences were suspended for one month This was another shockerrdquo Bose addedlsquoOffenders canrsquot be trainersrsquoCaptain Ranganathan told midday that unless the DGCA ensures that the tipsy pilots never hold a training position at least for five years the practice will continue and they will never be disciplined ldquoThe DGCA makes rules but they never enforce them as far as the breathalyser is concerned There have been many events when the chief flight operations inspectors and others failed breathalysers The regulatory body must make a rule to ensure that drunk pilots never hold training positions for five years It is not only dangerous if pilots are coming to fly an aircraft drunk but they may have a young trainee pilot or a copilot with them who would not know how to deal with any potential emergencyrdquo he saidRevised rulesRecent media reports revealed that the DGCA has revised its rules for alcohol testing to enhance the safety of aircraft operations In light of these changes pilots and crew members from all airlines have been told by the DGCA to refrain from using mouthwash or tooth gel before operating a flight According to the media reports this precaution is necessary as mouthwash or tooth gel may lead to a positive result in alcohol testsldquoSuggesting that pilots not use mouthwash and tooth gel is not the solution as their breathalyser test report may come positive on the alcosensor but itrsquos the blood or urine test that will confirm whether the pilot is positive or notrdquo said Captain RanganathanlsquoAirlines conceal detailsrsquoldquoIt is the airlinesrsquo pressure that is preventing the DGCA from taking a deterrent action When a pilot is found positive for alcohol for the second time it makes ground for permanent grounding but the airlines donrsquot report it to the DGCA indeed they make the pilots resign and then she joins somewhere else and the whole issue is covered up And thatrsquos how it has been going on for several years because there is a severe shortage of pilots So the airlines come under pressure and they donrsquot report to the DGCArdquo Captain Ranganathan saidldquoDrunk pilots must be permanently banned from being training captains Monetary or other kinds of punishment will not affect them The DGCA must hit a drunk pilot on his career progressionrdquo he addedHe added that he had seen many instances when a pilot was found drunk but the case was hushed upDGCASpeakA senior DGCA official told midday that action is taken against drunk pilots as per the procedure prescribed in Civil Aviation Requirements CAR ldquoThey are punished as per Section 5 Series F Part IIIrdquo said the officialSection 5 talks about lsquoAir Safetyrsquo while Series F speaks about lsquoPrevention of Accidents Incidentsrsquo and whereas Part III states the lsquoProcedure for Medical examination of aircraft personnel for alcohol consumptionrsquo which was amended on October 26When told that the licences of 55 drunk pilots were suspended only for one month the official said ldquoI would not remember But in the first BA positive case it is suspended for three months in case of preflight and one year for postflight tests The period of suspension increasescancellation is affected depending on the number of times a crew is detected positive in prepost flight BA testrdquo