The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that though pre-flight breathalyser tests were mandatory for flight and cabin crew under the Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR), the DGCA was not following these rules properly.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva has directed the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Air India (AI) to ensure this requirement is not circumvented in the future and, if necessary, to consider making amendments to the CAR.
The court was of the view that the tests were not being correctly followed by the DGCA as these were being held at the start of every flight cycle, which comprises several flights, instead of after every flight.
It noted that this practice was being followed on the assumption that after the pre-flight test, before the first flight of the day, the pilots and crew would not leave the sterile area till the end of their duty.
“According to safety regulations under the CAR, it is mandatory for flight and cabin crew to be subjected to pre-flight breathalyser examination prior to each flight. This negates the submission of the respondent [DGCA] that pre-flight breathalyser examination is required to be taken only once during the flight cycle,” it said.
AI pilot under the lens
The observations came on a plea by a pilots’ association, which had sought stringent action against a senior AI pilot, Captain Arvind Kathpalia, for missing a pre-flight breath analyser test in January this year.
The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), in its plea, had contended that the senior pilot had flown a flight to Bengaluru from Delhi without taking the breathalyser test, and then operated the return flight too without taking the test.
Thereafter, he made an ante-dated entry in the pre-flight medical register in Delhi after arriving here, the ICPA alleged.
The DGCA had suspended the flying licence of the pilot for three months. The ICPA had contended that since pre-flight tests were missed before both the flights to and from Bengaluru, the punishment of three months be enhanced to three years.
The court, however, did not enhance this punishment as the DGCA had considered the two flights operated by the pilot as one flight cycle.
It, however, took serious view of the senior pilot’s act of making an entry in the pre-flight test register, saying it “acquires serious proportions in view of the very purpose of CAR — to ensure flight safety and safety of passengers.”