Air hostess-turned pilot grounded for showing up drunk at work
What's the story
An air hostess-turned pilot of Air India was grounded after she was found tipsy during a pre-flight breathalyzer test on Sunday. The guilty party, a co-pilot, was to a operate Bengaluru-Trivandrum flight (AI 583), when her pre-flight tests revealed that she had turned up for work in an inebriated condition, which is extremely risky given the responsibilities of a pilot. Here's more.
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Breathalyzer tests are mandatory for domestic, international flights
All pilots operating domestic flights have to take a pre-flight breathalyzer test to ensure that only sober ones can get inside cockpits. For international flights, pilots have to undergo both pre-flight, and post-flight breathalyzer tests as liquor is available on board international flights.
BA test regulations
Regulations governing grounding of pilots
As per procedure, the pilot in question was subjected to two breath analyzer tests to confirm her inebriated state. According to extant regulations, a pilot is grounded for three months for failing a BA test once. If a pilot repeats such behavior again, they're grounded for three years. On failing a BA test for the third time, a pilot is grounded for life.