Canada’s transport regulator is asking Air India to investigate an incident in which a pilot was removed from a Boeing 777 before departure Dec. 23 and found to be under the influence of alcohol. The incident occurred before a flight scheduled to operate from Vancouver to Delhi.
Two breathalyzer tests conducted by Canadian police at Vancouver International Airport showed the pilot was unfit for duty, a source told Reuters. Transport Canada labeled the incident a “serious matter” in a letter to the airline and is expected to pursue enforcement action, Reuters reported.
Air India confirmed the flight experienced a last-minute delay due to the incident and said an alternate pilot was brought in to operate the flight. In a statement, the airline said Canadian authorities raised concerns about the pilot’s fitness for duty but did not provide further details.
“The pilot has been taken off flying duties during the process of enquiry,” Air India said, adding that it maintains a zero-tolerance policy for violations of applicable rules and regulations.
The request from Transport Canada comes as Air India faces heightened scrutiny following a June crash involving a Boeing Dreamliner that killed 260 people. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation has flagged multiple safety lapses at the airline and recently issued warning notices to four pilots over what it described as serious safety concerns related to regulatory compliance and flight crew decision-making. Transport Canada asked Air India to submit its findings and steps to prevent similar incidents by Jan. 26.
16 years ago, I flew, as an expat, in India. All expat flight crews and cabin crew were required to sign in for duty prior to accomplishing the BAC. The violating crewmember, if tested positive was grounded with a suspension. On the other hand, the Indian Crews accomplish their BAC, prior to signing in for duty. If tested positive, then they had the privilege of calling in sick. Big difference.
When we overnighted, a medical officer was onboard the outbound flight from India, or contracted to conduct the BAC. In either case, the BAC would be conducted upon arrival back to base in India if none were available. I was assigned to the B-737 fleet so in most cases, a medical officer was onboard the outbound flight from India. Alcohol content is dissipated with Ultra Long Haul Flights of 16 hours, plus an additional 3 hours prior to flight. So you are talking about 19 - 20 hours if the test were conducted upon arrival in India.
That said, where was the pilot nabbed? Was it in the cockpit or in the concourse? I’d be curious if, and how, this pilot made into the cockpit.
SimpleFlying blog reports that Duty Free shop reported the offender.
RCMP are the police in YVR.
I guestulate that shop staff would try to dissuade the perp but not be able to stop him, certainly would call security even though he was probably past security, and call police whose number they must have.
YVR.ca has terminal map showing where security begins, but does not show location of duty free shops - PLUS crew may have more direct access though years ago YVR tightened on flight crew after an incoming crew were tailed and nabbed for having narcotics to sell.
Map does not show which gates are used for international flights, I guess 29-52 from number of gates and spacing, believing quite a few international flights. (And smaller wings with close spacing probably for some short domestic flights, others depart from south terminal.)
You can’t open the map pdf directly, trying to downloads it to somewhere on your computer such as /Documents or /Downloads.
Oh, right-click on Connections Map listing to download it, gives paths to connect between flights - which suggests D concourse which has gates 48-78 though may not all be for international flights.
(YVR like many airports grew like Topsy, my last venture into the terminal was not good experience, decades ago.)