Air India Captain Reportedly Tests Positive for Cannabis After A320 Drops 300 Feet
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 15
Air India Captain Reportedly Tests Positive for Cannabis After A320 Drops 300 Feet
2 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 15
Summary
An Air India captain was reported by local media to have tested positive for cannabis after a 4 August A320 incident that injured 17 people, though the airline has not confirmed the laboratory result.
India's aviation ministry said both pilots underwent routine post-flight screening, the captain's initial test required confirmatory analysis, and both were removed from flying duties while investigators examine technical, operational, medical and human factors.
The 137-passenger flight from Phuket to Delhi lost about 91 meters, or 300 feet, before landing safely, and officials have not linked the reported drug result to the sudden altitude loss.
Research cited by experts shows cannabis can impair complex piloting tasks for hours and sometimes longer, but a positive THC test does not reliably show when it was used or whether a pilot was impaired during the flight.
Air India has ordered immediate testing of all pilots for banned substances, widening a regime that previously required random screening of at least 10% of pilots.