Now Reading: Air India to drug-test all pilots after marijuana incident
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Air India to drug-test all pilots after marijuana incident
Air India and Air India Express will begin mandatory psychoactive substance testing for all 5,000-plus pilots from Thursday, following a pilot testing positive for marijuana after a flight incident. The decision comes…
The Story in Brief
Air India and Air India Express will begin mandatory psychoactive substance testing for all 5,000-plus pilots from Thursday, following a pilot testing positive for marijuana after a flight incident. The decision comes after the pilot-in-command of a Phuket-Delhi flight on August 4 was found positive in a confirmatory screening test.
The Airbus A320 carrying 145 people suddenly dropped 300 feet in altitude amid turbulence, injuring 24 passengers. Rediff.com reports the airlines will conduct testing at training centres, flight briefing points and offices to proactively ensure safety standards and passenger reassurance.
The Indian Opinion
This one-off incident is being used to paint all Indian pilots with the same brush, but blanket drug testing is a blunt tool. The real test is whether airlines will now also address fatigue, inadequate rest and mental health pressures that pilots routinely face. How many pilots will actually fail these tests, and what rehabilitation support will follow? A zero-tolerance policy without a safety net merely swaps one risk for another.
Source: rediff.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
