Chennai: Despite the aviation regulator of India mandating alcohol tests for pilots and cabin crew before they get on to the flights, due to lack of strict enforcement airlines openly flout the rule, say former pilots.
“It is a case of gross indiscipline when a pilot turns up for a flight under the influence of alcohol. The reason that it happens frequently in India is due to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the airlines, both, turning a blind eye to the incidents,” said Captain A. Ranganathan, a former pilot and an aviation expert.
The DGCA, regulatory body governing the safety aspects of civil aviation in India, mandates by Rule 24 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, that crew aboard a flight and the pilots undergo a breath-analyser examination before the operation of flights in India as well as outside India.
Captain Ranganathan added that the airlines want to keep the flights going so they don’t take action against erring pilots. “DGCA introduced breath analyser tests for pilots and crew, after the Airbus 300 accident in Chennai in September 1988. Despite the rules, the tests are done randomly and the number of pilots turning up drunk has not seen a decline in the past two decades. This shows how poorly DGCA has enforced the rules,” he added.
“International airlines don’t allow drunk pilots to board the flight, as allowing a drunk on-board invites punishment like imprisonment,” he continued. “Due to strict regulations, in international airlines, a small fraction of pilots fails the test compared to Indian pilots.”
Former DGCA officials, however, refused to accept that the regulator takes the tests lightly. “Indian rules are stricter than those of the Federal Aviation Administration, which allows a blood-alcohol content of less than 0.04 whereas in India, there should be 0 trace of alcohol,” said A.K. Chopra, former joint director general of civil aviation.
He refuted data that over 43 pilots were tested positive for alcohol last year, and insisted that most of the defaulters are cabin crew. “In the domestic flights, Alco tests are compulsory but in international flights, as we need to send aviation doctors to those countries, they are done randomly,” Chopra said.
When asked about tests after flights on pilots and crew of international flights that land in India, he said: “Sometimes tests are done but if the pilot has been already drunk and the flight has now landed, there is not much use of testing the alcohol content.”
‘Keep 18 hours gap between peg and plane to pass test’
In August this year, a Jet Airways pilot who flew from Abu Dhabi to Chennai was grounded after he tested positive during a post flight check at Chennai airport. A report was sent to DGCA and his license was suspended for four years by the DGCA, industry sources said.
He was just one of the 151 pilots who got their licenses suspended as on October 31, this year. The authorities have made it mandatory for international flights to test the pilots for alcohol. Despite stringent checking and suspension of licenses some pilots still find it difficult to stay away from alcohol. “Most of us who drink make sure there is at least a 18 hour window before we get into the cockpit after a few drinks. For excessive drinkers, the 18 hour gap may not enough. We drink a lot of water and sweat it out in the gym in the morning before we go for evening flight after attending a drinking session on the previous evening,” one pilot noted. Otherwise, they report sick, so that the administration can find a replacement through the existing standby system, in which airlines keep few pilots in standby mode to handle emergencies.
Aviation sources say that Indian system of checking for drunken pilots is very strict. “Only because the checking is very strict, so many pilots are caught, their licenses are suspended,” sources added. In India, pilots are suspended for three months after the first violation, three years after the second and their licenses stand cancelled if caught for the third time. DGCA regulations make screening mandatory for the crew of Indian carriers before every flight departing from an Indian airport and after every flight arriving into the country.
If a pilot is tested positive during an alcohol test at the airport before he gets into the aircraft, he will be given one more chance at the breath analysing equipment after 15 minutes. In between, the doctor who conducted the test on the pilot will demonstrate that the equipment is working properly by using the equipment himself. If the pilot fails for the second time as well, the doctor sends a report to the DGCA.
Airlines had been claiming that they were taking steps to enhance sensitisation towards the ill effects of alcohol in internal training sessions. In cases of non-compliance, the airlines are supposed to take appropriate disciplinary action after requisite investigations as per company policy besides informing the DGCA.
