An Air India pilot has had his licence suspended after failing two breathalyser tests shortly before a London-bound flight.
Arvind Kathpalia – who is also the airline’s operations director – will not be able to fly a plane for three years, following a ruling from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Reuters reports that Kathpalia failed the tests just before he was due to pilot a flight from New Delhi to London on Sunday.
The pilot initially denied having alcohol in his system, telling the agency: “It was 1.30 in the afternoon, only a bloody stark raving alcoholic is bloody drunk at 1.30 in the afternoon. I am going to contest this.”
He also claimed the test results were related to internal feuding at the airline.
The incident marks the second time Kathpalia has been in trouble for alcohol tests, Reuters added, stating that he was suspended for three months in 2017 for refusing to take a breathalyzer test.
Air India are yet to comment.
India is one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets and more than a million flights left the country last year.
Between 2015 and 2017, a total of 132 pilots in India failed a mandatory pre-flight breathalyzer test, the Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu told parliament in August.
Of these, 112 pilots were first-time offenders and were issued three-month licence suspensions.
Fifteen were repeat offenders, who subsequently had their licences suspended for three years.