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 months.

If a deterrent like clipping the career progression of drunk pilots is not put in place by the regulatory body, such cases of bottle-to-throttle aircraft will never be stopped.

Civil 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 losses.

A total 55 pilots were found positive for blood alcohol from January to November 2023. Representation Pic

A civil aviation expert and retired instructor pilot, Captain Mohan Ranganathan, told mid-day that a drunk pilot has to face criminal charges in foreign countries. "A pilot [who drinks on the job] falls in line if s/he is flying an aircraft in foreign countries where s/he 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 aircraft," said Captain Ranganathan, who was also a member of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council.

"The council was dissolved in 2014 because the members had been pin-pointedly raising too many loopholes and failures in the airlines," he added.

‘Another shocker'

RTI activist Ajay Bose, based in Amravati district, sought information related to pilots who were found positive for breath analyser (BA) tests. "I 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 2023," he said.

"When 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 shocker," Bose added.

‘Offenders can't be trainers'

Captain Ranganathan told mid-day 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. "The 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 co-pilot with them who would not know how to deal with any potential emergency," he said.

Revised rules

Recent 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 tests.

"Suggesting that pilots not use mouthwash and tooth gel is not the solution, as their breathalyser test report may come positive on the alco-sensor, but it's the blood (or urine) test that will confirm whether the pilot is positive or not," said Captain Ranganathan.

‘Airlines conceal details'

"It is the airlines' 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 don't report it to the DGCA; indeed, they make the pilots resign and then s/he joins somewhere else and the whole issue is covered up. And, that's 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 don't report to the DGCA," Captain Ranganathan said.

"Drunk 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 progression," he added.

He added that he had seen many instances when a pilot was found drunk, but the case was hushed up.

DGCASpeak

A senior DGCA official told mid-day that action is taken against drunk pilots as per the procedure prescribed in Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR). "They are punished as per Section 5 Series F Part III," said the official.

Section 5 talks about ‘Air Safety' while Series F speaks about ‘Prevention of Accidents/ Incidents' and whereas Part III states the ‘Procedure for Medical examination of aircraft personnel for alcohol consumption' which was amended on October 26.

When told that the licences of 55 drunk pilots were suspended only for one month, the official said, "I would not remember. But, in the first BA positive case, it is suspended for three months in case of pre-flight and one year for post-flight tests. The period of suspension increases/cancellation is affected depending on the number of times a crew is detected positive in pre/post flight BA test."