Fliers in India should be worried about not only the state of their aircraft but the status of the pilots as well.
India’s Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) disclosed in response to a Right to Information filed by a media organization that between 2009 and February 2014, 165 pilots were found to have high blood alcohol levels during checks.
The scary part is that since the DGCA is understaffed it’s unable to verify if airlines are conducting mandatory blood alcohol checks of pilots before every flight.
Sadly, DGCA has not disclosed the names of the airlines where the drunk pilots work.
Aircraft rules in India prohibit pilots and cabin crew from consuming alcohol 12 hours before the start of a flight.
For the first offense, a crew member’s license will be suspended for three months.
A two-year suspension for the second offense and five-year suspension for the third offense are the penalties.
Delhi Pilots Top Drunks List
Delhi had the dubious distinction of having 50 pilots reporting for duty with alcohol in their system.
Mumbai was a close second with 47 pilots arriving at the airport with a high blood alcohol level.
Kolkata took the third spot with 18 pilots reporting for work after sipping the cup that cheers.
The Southern city of Chennai had 17 pilots coming after consuming liquor.
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