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New Delhi: Air India pilots will undergo mandatory drug screening starting today, according to an internal memo seen by AFP, after a captain involved in a serious mid-air incident reportedly tested positive for marijuana.<\/p>\nNew Delhi: Air India pilots will undergo mandatory drug screening starting today, according to an internal memo seen by AFP, after a captain involved in a serious mid-air incident reportedly tested positive for marijuana.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, existing rules require airlines to randomly test at least 10 per cent of their flight crew for psychoactive substances each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have decided to undertake a full screening of all Group pilots for any substances or medications that are not permitted under prevailing regulations,\u201d the memo said.<\/p>\n
On August 4, at least 24 passengers were injured when an Airbus A320 lost about 300 feet of altitude shortly after departing from Thailand\u2019s Phuket for New Delhi.<\/p>\n
Local media reports said the main pilot had smoked marijuana and had tested positive in a second confirmatory test. Air India said the results have not been shared with them.<\/p>\n
Indian investigators have not commented on the reports but said they were closely examining evidence linked to the flight.<\/p>\n
The inquiry is being supported by Airbus and France\u2019s civil aviation safety agency, the BEA.<\/p>\n
The incident came as Air India is seeking to overhaul its operations following a string of setbacks.<\/p>\n
Its reputation suffered a major blow in June 2025 when the London-bound Flight 171 crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 people on the ground.<\/p>\n
Last week, the airline appointed former Ethiopian Airlines chief Tewolde Gebremariam as its new chief executive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi: Air India pilots will undergo mandatory drug screening starting today, according to an internal memo seen by AFP, after a captain involved in a serious mid-air incident reportedly tested positive for marijuana. According to Kashmir Media Service, existing rules require airlines to randomly test at least 10 per cent of their flight crew …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":207835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"yoast_head":"\n