Air India Pilot Tests Positive for Marijuana After 300-Foot Altitude Drop

The flight, carrying 137 passengers, three infants, and eight crew members aboard an Airbus A320 registered as VT-EXO, ran into severe difficulties when the aircraft abruptly lost approximately 300 feet of altitude during its journey to Delhi. While initial reports from the airline attributed the plunge entirely to turbulence, subsequent mandatory screening procedures revealed drug test complications for the flight crew.

Mandatory Psychoactive Screening Confirms Positive Results

Following the safe landing of the aircraft in Delhi, both pilots underwent mandatory screening for psychoactive substances. According to people familiar with the developments, the pilot-in-command returned an initial non-negative screening result. Authorities subsequently sent the sample for confirmatory laboratory testing, which verified the positive finding for marijuana. CNN-News18 quoted a source that both the pilots went for mandatory psychoactive substance screening after the incident. A government official told Hindustan Times that the pilot tested positive for marijuana in the subsequent testing process. However, this doesn’t confirm if the drug use has any role in aircraft’s loss of altitude. Now investigators will find other evidence from the flight also with this test result.

Sources cited in reporting noted that both pilots were tested as part of standard protocol after the emergency landing. While the initial laboratory tests confirmed the positive finding, investigators emphasize that the drug test result does not automatically establish a direct causal link to the aircraft’s abrupt altitude loss or the concurrent technical malfunctions.

Technical Failures and Cockpit Challenges on Flight AI2379

The flight deck experienced multiple cascading system anomalies as the aircraft encountered severe turbulence on August 4. Reports indicate that the autopilot disconnected during the journey, forcing the co-pilot to take manual control of the Airbus A320. A flight-control stall message briefly appeared on the displays, and several indicator switches reportedly went off for time, then the aircraft also faced turbulence and other technical issues before the crew somehow balanced and made a safe landing in Delhi.

Few passengers and cabin crew members faced injuries during the incident, with a total of 13 passengers and four crew members injured. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed that two crew members who suffered spinal injuries were also hospitalised. In response to the severity of the onboard events, this aircraft incident has been taken as a ‘serious incident’ and being investigated by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, with the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder secured for investigation.

Regulatory Action and International Investigation Support

Regulatory and governmental bodies have intervened sharply following the incident. The Civil Aviation Ministry has summoned Air India’s outgoing CEO and Accountable Manager Campbell Wilson for the incident. Meanwhile, the pilots have been taken off the roster pending completion of the investigation, and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had earlier said further action would be taken based on the investigation and testing results.

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Airbus is also sending specialists for investigation assistance, while France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety will also support the investigation. The final investigation result will tell whether this altitude loss was technical problems, turbulence, crew actions or negligence, as authorities continue to examine whether the drug-test finding had any connection with the circumstances surrounding the flight’s sudden loss of altitude.