Air India says following DGCA rules over breath anaylser test for pilots

New Delhi: The Air India has said that it is in full compliance of all the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms.

The national carrier's statement came after reports said that the DGCA was considering action against 132 pilots and 434 cabin crew of Air India who missed breath analyser test before flights in last one year.

As part of the DGCA's safety regulations, all pilots and cabin crew must undergo breath analyser test before and after flights. Breath analyser test is done to ascertain whether pilots or crew members have consumed alcohol or not.

As per rules, crew members shouldn't take any alcoholic drink 12 hours prior to the commencement of a flight. Guilty are taken off flying duty for at least four weeks and the airline is required to take disciplinary action against them.

After the reports of the DGCA action emerged, Air India issued statement and said, "Air India is in full compliance of all the DGCA norms. We are working with DGCA and will be complying with any directive issued by the DGCA."

It added that "on this present issue, DGCA CAR indicated that - All schedule flights originating from destinations outside India, post flight - BA (Breath Analyser) examination of each flight and cabin crew to be carried out on reaching India. This has been interpreted by the Airline Management as a requirement to carry out post flight medical after completion of their flight which gets over at final destination".