Air India Express suspends 8 crew members over delayed breathalyser test
Air India Express has suspended eight crew members for three months after they failed to undergo a mandatory post-flight breathalyser test within the prescribed two-hour window following an international flight, sources said.
The crew members of the Dubai-Amritsar Air India Express flight on 2 August were required to undergo the mandatory post-flight declaration within two hours of landing at the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport in Amritsar. However, they were delayed by 35 minutes and submitted the declaration after 2 hours and 35 minutes.
The airline subsequently reported the violation to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and removed all eight members from duty before suspending them for three months.
All eight were tested negative for alcohol, news agency ANI reported.
The action comes weeks after the Air India Phuket-Delhi flight incident, in which an Airbus A320 experienced a sudden loss of altitude of around 300 feet during cruise, which triggered renewed scrutiny of psychoactive-substance testing among airline crew.
Both pilots of the flight underwent prescribed psychoactive-substance screening after the incident. The pilot-in-command's initial screening result required confirmatory testing, following which both pilots were taken off the roster by the DGCA pending further investigation.
The captain subsequently tested positive for marijuana in the confirmatory test The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) was investigating the Phuket-Delhi incident, which had been classified as a serious incident.
Following the Phuket incident, Air India announced mandatory psychoactive-substance screening for all pilots across the Air India group, including Air India Express, going beyond the existing regulatory requirement for random testing of at least 10 per cent of flight crew annually.
The expanded testing began on August 13 and was to be conducted at multiple locations, including during training, after flights and at designated base locations.
The Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu had earlier said in August that the government was considering a system under which all pilots could undergo a dope test once a year, instead of the existing requirement covering at least 10 per cent of pilots through random testing annually.- EndsPublished By: Ajmal Published On: Sep 18, 2026 08:14 IST
