India
Air India Pilot Tests Positive For Marijuana After Phuket Dive
Did the drug result affect the altitude drop, or is it a separate question?
Did the drug result affect the altitude drop, or is it a separate question?
Aviation safety rules are under scrutiny after an flight from Phuket to Delhi was treated as a and its was pulled into and disciplinary checks. The case matters because regulators are trying to separate a possible substance-use issue from the separate question of what caused the in-flight and the injuries on board.
The AAIB continued its formal investigation into the serious incident, while the and ministry kept the case under . Officials and reporting stressed that and impairment are separate questions, and the cause of the altitude loss still had to be determined from , , and the full probe.
Reports said the second, came back positive for , escalating the case from a preliminary screening issue to a substance-use allegation. Even so, investigators had not said the toxicology result by itself proved the was caused by .
Officials said the ’s sample was forwarded to a for , with the final report still awaited at that stage. The government also said the occurrence had been classified as a and placed under investigation.
Pending the inquiry and completion of the testing process, the removed both flight crew members from the roster. The move reflected a precautionary regulatory response, not a final finding on whether crew impairment played any role in the altitude drop.
The initial screening for the pilot-in-command was described by officials as requiring , meaning it was rather than a final positive finding. That distinction mattered because initial screens can be affected by foods or medications and must be verified by a laboratory test.
After landing in Delhi, both flight crew members underwent the prescribed required after such occurrences. The process is routine in Indian civil aviation safety practice, and the first result for the pilot-in-command did not return a clean negative.
The abrupt drop left passengers and crew injured, with reports citing at least some onboard injuries and after the flight. The human impact increased scrutiny of both the flight handling and the aircraft’s post-event condition.
During , the aircraft reportedly lost about 300 feet of altitude in a sudden dip that triggered the wider investigation. Authorities treated the event as a serious incident rather than routine turbulence, which brought in the and .
Air India flight AI2379, a Phuket to Delhi service, was operating normally before the later in-flight disturbance became a safety incident under review. The and cockpit crew later became the focus of both operational and after the landing in Delhi.