Mumbai, November 12: A senior pilot of Air India was grounded for three years after he was found drunk before he was scheduled to command AI-111, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, on a flight between New Delhi and London on Sunday. Captain Arvind Kathpalia, who is the director of Air India’s flight operations, failed a mandatory breath analyser (BA) test. The Lond0n-bound flight was delayed following the revelation.

Captain Arvind Kathpalia was declared unfit for flying after he was found to have an unacceptably high blood alcohol count shortly before the flight. As per the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the level of blood alcohol compatible (BAC) with safe flying is ‘zero’. Kathpalia had 007 per cent BAC. His license has been suspended for three years. Air India 332 Delhi-Bangkok Flight Returns After Co-Pilot Fails Breath Analyser Test, Senior Pilot Arvind Kathpalia to Fly DEL-LON AI-111 Declared ‘Not Fit to Fly’.

This is the second time in three months when Kathpalia failed breath analyser test. Kathpalia was grounded for three months in January 2017 when he was found to have alcohol in his bloodstream. He had commandeered the Delhi-Bengaluru flight AI 174 without going through the mandatory breath analyser test. He had refused to appear for the test even after landing.

Following a complaint by the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association, the Delhi police registered an FIR against him for violating aviation rules, tampering with evidence and intimidating a doctor employed by Air India.

In an unrelated incident, another Air India pilot was grounded for three months for skipping pre-flight breath analyser test. A Bangkok-bound Air India Dreamliner - AI-332 - was called back after it was found that a co-pilot didn't appear for the test. The flight took off again at 8:40 pm, after a delay of seven hours.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 12, 2018 01:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).