{"id":489087,"date":"2026-01-03T09:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T09:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/489087\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T09:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T09:06:23","slug":"canada-asks-air-india-to-investigate-pilots-removal-from-plane-after-breathalyzer-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/489087\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada asks Air India to investigate pilot\u2019s removal from plane after breathalyzer tests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

An Air India plane takes off in Ahmedabad, India, in June. Two breathalyzer tests conducted by police at Vancouver International Airport showed that an Air India pilot was unfit for duty, according to a source.Amit Dave\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s transport regulator has asked Air India to investigate an incident of a pilot who was removed \u200dfrom a \u200bplane before it was due to take off and found to be under the influence of alcohol, a person familiar with the matter said.<\/p>\n

Two breathalyzer tests conducted by Canadian police at Vancouver International Airport showed the pilot was unfit for duty, the person said on Friday. The incident was labelled as a \u201cserious matter\u201d by Transport Canada in a letter \u2060to Air India and authorities are likely to pursue enforcement action, the person added.<\/p>\n

The person requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Transport Canada did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment outside regular working hours. <\/p>\n

In a statement, Air India said the flight from Vancouver to Delhi on Dec. 23 experienced a \u200clast-minute delay due to the incident, \u200dadding that an alternate pilot was brought in to operate the flight. The airline said Canadian \u200dauthorities raised concerns about the pilot\u2019s fitness for duty but did \u200cnot provide details.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pilot has been taken off flying duties during the process of enquiry. \u2060Air India maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards any violation of applicable rules and regulations,\u201d Air India said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPending the outcome of \u200bthe investigation, any confirmed violation will attract strict disciplinary action in line with company policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aircraft was a Boeing 777, a model that can seat up to 344 passengers, according to the websites of Flightradar24 and Air India.<\/p>\n

The letter from Transport Canada official Ajit Oommen has asked Air India to provide its findings and details of steps taken to prevent \u200bfuture occurrences by Jan. 26, the person familiar with the matter said. <\/p>\n

Air India has been under intense scrutiny since the June 12 crash of a Boeing Dreamliner killed 260 people. India\u2019s aviation regulator has flagged multiple safety lapses at the airline, which was previously owned by the government until 2022.<\/p>\n

Pilots at Air India, owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, have also come under scrutiny. This week, India\u2019s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) sent warning notices to \u2060four Air India pilots, flagging \u201cserious safety concerns\u201d related to regulatory compliance and flight crew decision-making.<\/p>\n

The DGCA said the \u2060pilots accepted an aircraft for operation last year despite prior knowledge of \u201crepeated snags\u201d and \u201cexisting systems degradations,\u201d according to warning notices dated Dec. 29 \u200cseen by Reuters. The aircraft is a Boeing 787 used for long-haul flights, according to Flightradar24. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the DGCA proposed tightened rules on alcohol testing for crew members, including one that would have a pilot lose their license permanently after three positive tests. Current rules require post-flight breath-analyzer examinations for each trip to be carried out at the first port of landing in India.<\/p>\n

Canadian \u200crules state that a pilot cannot operate an aircraft within 12 hours of consuming an alcoholic beverage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: An Air India plane takes off in Ahmedabad, India, in June. Two breathalyzer…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":489088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2147,50,4741],"class_list":{"0":"post-489087","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-pleasemod"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115830376995884612","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}