NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is mulling mandatory drug testing for all pilots of all airlines in light of the flight captain of the Phuket-Delhi flight testing positive for marijuana, sources said. In a separate development related to the same issue, Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the government would finalise new guidelines regarding pilot testing.
Air India subsequently terminated Captain Sudeep Vashistha, who was piloting flight AI 2379, which suffered a triple hydraulic failure mid-air on August 4, injuring 24 people on board.
India has 25,001 pilots, of whom 13,989 are employed across the six domestic airlines, the Aviation Ministry informed the Lok Sabha in February this year. Existing regulations permit testing of 10 per cent of pilots on a random basis.
A government source said that due to the persistent push from the Aviation Ministry to make drug testing of cockpit crew more stringent, the DGCA was working out the details.
“No official order has been released yet. It would take some time for the regulator to lay down the terms and conditions in black and white. But this is the direction in which they are working.”
Naidu has repeatedly stressed that the government wants 100 per cent testing of pilots for psychoactive substances to ensure safety in the aviation sector. On September 3, he told newspersons that while pushing for the move, “Public safety and the logistics involved for airlines both need to be balanced.”
Briefing newspersons after an event in Delhi, Naidu said, “Regarding the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) draft on the pilot testing, the DGCA is still having discussions with different stakeholders, but hopefully, I would say that before the end of this month, we would be able to finalise what the new guidelines should be regarding the pilot testing.”
However, pilot bodies continue to reiterate that 100 per cent testing would not be possible due to the shortage of pilots, particularly flight captains. They feel that 25 per cent testing is a possibility.