DGCA suspends licence of Air India Operations Director Arvind Kathpalia for three years for failing alcohol test

A senior Air India pilot, who failed the alcohol test before his scheduled flight to London on Sunday, won’t be able to fly for the next three years as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended his licence on Monday.

Captain Arvind Kathpalia, who is also the Director of Operations at Air India, was found to have an unacceptably high blood alcohol count shortly before his flight between to London from New Delhi.

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In the case of Kathpalia being detected ‘BA positive’ on November 11, the privileges of his licence have been suspended for a period of three years as per the provisions of applicable regulations, the official said. His suspension was effective from November 11.

This was the second time Kathpalia failed the alcohol test. He was suspended for three months in 2017 for allegedly refusing to take breathalyser tests. He was subsequently removed from the post of executive director, operations.

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Rule 24 of the Aircraft Rules prohibits crew members from partaking any alcoholic drink 12 hours prior to the commencement of a flight, and it is mandatory for him/her to undergo an alcohol test both before and after operating a flight.

The prescribed punishment for such offences under the DGCA rules is a suspension of flying licence for three months in case of the first breach. For violating the norms for the second time, the licence is suspended for three years and for a third time, the licence is permanently cancelled.

Earlier, chief of operations Kathpalia’s flying licence was suspended in 2017 for three months by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for allegedly skipping the breath analyser test before a flight.