The Delhi High Court on Thursday has directed the Air India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct a disciplinary enquiry against a pilot who did not take a breath analyser test before and after flying, hence risking the lives of the people travelling in the flight from Delhi to Bengaluru.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva also directed that Air India and DGCA should examine the functioning of the Civil Aviation Rules (CAR) to ensure that there is no such violation of rules in the future.
The court also directed that the state-run Air India to identify and fix the responsibility of the officers who are responsible and failed to immediately bring the infraction on the part of Captain Arvind Kathpalia to the notice of Directorate of Civil Aviation and take appropriate action in accordance with law.
“DGCA is further directed to take into account the observations in this judgment with regard to the interpretation and application of (CAR) and consider whether any amendment is required to ensure that objects for enacting CAR are achieved,” the judge said in a 50-page order.
According to the petition filed by the Indian Commercial Pilot Association, on January 19, Captain Kathpalia, then still Executive Director (Flight Operations) of Air India, flew from Delhi to Bengaluru violating the rules of not undergoing the mandatory Pre-Flight Breath Analyser Examination as laid in the directives issued on October 14, 2013 by the national- carrier.
It was contended that the erring pilot not only miss the pre-examination, but also failed to take the post-flight breath analyser examination on his landing to Bengaluru. He further made a false entry in the Pre-Flight Breath Analyser Examination Register on his landing to Delhi.
Following this, DGCA suspended Captain Kathpalia for three months. However, instead of taking stricter action as sought by the petitioner, he was appointed to the post of Executive Director (Special Projects), a post which did not even exist in the recent past.
‘Review loopholes in civil aviation rules’
The court noted that Air India failed to take action against the officers who failed to immediately bring it to the notice of the DGCA that the pilot has skipped the test.
The court said that the incident highlights the loopholes in the Civil Aviation Rules. The court held that the action of Captain Kathpalia acquires serious proportions in the view of the very purpose of CAR ie, the flight safety and safety of passengers, who put their lives in the hands of the pilot.
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