The civil aviation ministry is considering mandating at least one random dope test every year for all commercial pilots, following an incident involving an Air India flight in which the captain allegedly failed a psychoactive substance test.
Under the existing rules, dope testing is required for 10% of the overall pilot network. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is now reviewing the framework and examining whether testing can be expanded to cover every pilot at least once a year, at a random time.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Tuesday that the DGCA was examining different approaches to expand the scope of testing.
“There are multiple ways of approaching this dope test. Right now, the rule says 10% across the overall pilot network. DGCA is engaging, and one of the opinions from our side is that everyone has to go through it in the year at a random time,” Kinjarapu said.
The minister said the government would have to balance safety considerations with the operational impact of introducing 100% testing of pilots.
“We have to see how all the stakeholders are going to respond to this because one is the safety aspect of it, and the second thing is the operational impact, which also has to be taken into consideration. So we are going to balance both of them,” he said.
“If we were to implement 100% testing—where every pilot has to undergo a dope test at least once a year—what impact would that have? The DGCA is strategising that,” he added.
The proposed expansion comes after the Air India Phuket-Delhi flight incident earlier this month. Air India flight AI2379, operating from Phuket to Delhi on August 4, suffered a sudden 300-foot altitude drop over Odisha, leaving 20 passengers and four cabin crew members injured. The flight captain allegedly failed a dope test following the incident.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating the incident. Kinjarapu said a preliminary report could be expected soon as the aircraft and its flight data recorder are intact and in the possession of the investigating agency.
“AAIB is presently taking up the investigation, and because everything is intact, the data recorder and everything is intact, the plane is also in their possession. So, I believe that we can expect some preliminary report at a very early stage from now,” he said.
The investigation is expected to shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the sudden altitude loss and the events leading up to it.