Flying in Fear with Tipsy Pilots
By Air Marshal (Retd) Ayaz Ahmed Khan
Los Angeles, CA
Mumbai-based “Financial Express” reported on March 11, 2011 that the Directorate General Civil Aviation of India had issued an order that warns that “on second drinking violation Indian Airline pilots are to lose flying license for good”. The regulatory authority - The DGCA India - had issued advisories to all the airlines, but habitual alcoholics refused to comply. Tough action became necessary after the publication of a front page story in “India News” headlined “Fly in fear with tipsy pilots”
Drinking by airline pilots before flights is prohibited by law. Yet drinking by Indian airline pilots is widespread, and many pilots drink intoxicating liquors before flights and are caught frequently. In 2009, 42 Indian Airline pilots were found drunk while reporting for duty. Eight of them were sacked. A handout of DGCA stated that 21 pilots were found drunk at the Delhi International Airport, eleven at the Mumbai Airport and the rest ten at other airports across India. Addicted pilots and cabin crews are unable to desist liquor and pre-flight and mid-flight drinking has become a matter of grave concern in India. The media and the airlines have taken a serious note of this disconcerting trend, but disciplining pilots is not easy.
It is frightening for the passengers to see tipsy pilots emerging from cockpits and indulging into brawls, some times with frightened passengers. All the major airlines in India have out of control pilots, who drink whisky before flying, are found drinking while flying, and are tipsy after landing. Some Indian airline pilots argue that they had been drinking prior to or during flying passenger jets including Jumbos for long, and had caused no accidents or incidents. The argument that they are habitual and chronic drunkards, and their on-board drinking be exonerated, has been refused by all the Indian airlines, including Air India and Indian Airlines. But because very few pilots are punished, the drinking habits of Indian airlines pilots persist.
Indian airline authorities caught 57 pilots exceeding the alcohol limit in random pre-flight checks in the past two years, but only 11 of the pilots found to be under the influence of liquor, between January 2009 and November 2010, lost their jobs, the Times of India repoted on March 11, 2011. Air India and Indian Airlines top the list with 13 and 12 pilots, who were found under the influence of liquor before take off. Kingfisher Airline has the dubious distinction of having the maximum cases of pilots found under the influence of liquor before take off. Seven pilots of Indigo Airlines, six of Spice Jet, and three each of Jetlite, Jet Airways and Paramount Airways were detected “Alco positive” during pre-flight medical examinations conducted by the Indian Civil Aviation Department. Rising alcoholism among pilots, especially over the limit drinking before flight, is a very serious issue in India today.
Airline authorities in India brought in a rule last December grounding first-time offenders for three months and banning repeat offenders from flying. Efforts are being made to change pilots’ behavior and discipline them, with punishments such as dismissals, suspensions, warning letters and fines, but without success.
Reports of Indian passengers complaining of pilot behavior are not uncommon. Two years ago, the national carrier Air India grounded two pilots and two cabin crew members after a four-way brawl in the passenger cabin left the cockpit unmanned mid-flight. There was no one in the cockpit while the brawl was on. This fracas on board the aircraft could have led to a crash, killing hundreds of passengers. Finally, the passengers were able to calm the pilots down and persuaded them to get back into the cockpit. An enquiry was ordered, but findings and action taken by the authorities were kept secret.
Most airline pilots drink moderately, being aware that their jobs would be on line if they are found over the alcohol limit before boarding the aircraft. At London’s Heathrow airport, security vigilance is of a very high order. Sharp eye is kept on aircrews and passengers to ensure that they are sober before boarding aircraft. Few years back a tipsy PIA captain was stopped from boarding the aircraft, when the alcohol test revealed that he was drunk. At Heathrow, pilots and passengers are taken into custody and disallowed from flying if found smelling of liquor. But such tests are not enforced at Indian or Pakistani airports.
Drunk and tipsy airline pilots are not a joke to be shrugged away with a laugh. Airline pilots, captains and first officers are responsible for the lives of hundreds of passengers and have to be responsible and disciplined individuals. Unlike corporate, government and military service, where a person has supervisors and officials who closely monitor behavior and performance, airline captains are on their own, and have unprecedented freedom to do whatever they like. Periodic performance checks do not reveal alcohol addiction and behavioral deficiencies. Airline personnel, especially the aircrew must have not only integrity, but very high self-discipline. They have to exercise abstinence in the interest of flight safety. Air travel becomes dangerous when the aircrew is not fully sober and physically fit.
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