Air India orders drug tests as Treasury exemption draws fire

Air India ordered a one-off screening programme for more than 5,000 pilots across Air India and Air India Express after the captain of flight AI2379, from Phuket to Delhi, returned a positive confirmatory test for marijuana, according to reporting citing people familiar with the matter. The Airbus A320 lost about 300 feet of altitude on 4 August and landed safely in Delhi, but 24 passengers and crew members were injured. Both pilots were removed from flying duties while India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau examined flight data, aircraft systems, maintenance, operational records and medical information. The airline’s testing order went beyond the regulator’s requirement for annual random testing of at least 10% of flight crew and covered prohibited substances and medications.

The reported test result did not establish the cause of the altitude loss. India’s civil aviation ministry said laboratory findings and their possible effect on the captain’s response would form part of the investigation, while Airbus and France’s BEA were assisting the Indian inquiry. Separately, the government asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to review the country’s psychoactive-substance testing rules. I could not find credible reporting linking this aviation event to a Treasury exemption or criticism of one; that element of the supplied headline appears unsupported or may refer to a separate story.