Pilot was walking strangely, claims flyer on turbulence-hit Air India flight

A passenger on the Air India flight that encountered severe turbulence and a sudden loss of altitude while flying from Phuket to New Delhi has claimed that one of the pilots appeared intoxicated during the journey. The claim came after sources on Sunday, August 9, said one of the two pilots of the flight had failed a dope test after the mid-air scare.Hours after the news reports, the government had said that the result returned by the pilot-in-command's post-flight psychoactive substance screening required confirmatory testing.Shrikant Jha, a Jaipur resident who experienced the terrifying episode, has said that one of the pilots had a gait that "did not look right.""We actually had strong suspicions about this because of the pilot's demeanour and appearance... His gait didn't look right, and the way he spoke after the turbulence made it seem like he was intoxicated," he told news agency ANI. He said that the passengers lodged a complaint with Delhi airport officials after the aircraft landed safely."It is highly irresponsible... This is a systemic failure. A pilot felt emboldened enough to fly while intoxicated, knowing he could potentially slip through the airport unnoticed... He knew he could get away with it here... However, we lodged a strong complaint with Ravishankar Gaur, the head of Terminal 3, urging the authorities to conduct dope and blood tests, which revealed the truth." He also called on the country's top aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Airports Authority of India, and Air India to take responsibility for the incident.Meanwhile, Renu Raniwala, another passenger of the international flight, said a fellow flier had pointed out during the flight that one of the pilots was "not even walking straight.""The person sitting ahead of us had already said that the pilot wasn't even walking straight... When the flight started dropping, I was most worried about the children. My grandson was sitting next to me, so I grabbed him tightly and fastened his seatbelt. In the process, the handle dug into me, injuring two of my ribs... A three-year-old girl was flung all the way to the back," she was quoted as saying by ANI."You run such a massive company—you really need to be more responsible. There was no care shown even after we landed. No one attended to us for two or three hours. Even when we were taken to the hospital, there was no one there to look after us," Raniwala stated, in remarks directed at Air India's management.PILOT'S SAMPLES SENT FOR FURTHER ANALYSISThe claims surfaced after the Centre on Sunday revealed that the pilot-in-command of the Air India flight had undergone confirmatory testing after an initial psychoactive substance screening indicated that the result required further analysis.The Airbus A320, operating flight AI2379 from Phuket to Delhi on August 4, lost about 300 feet in altitude during cruise before stabilising and landing safely in Delhi.At least 17 people, including four cabin crew members, were injured during the incident. There were 137 passengers and eight crew members onboard the plane.Both pilots underwent mandatory psychoactive substance screening following the incident, as required under standard operating procedures. The pilot-in-command's (PIC's) sample was sent to a designated laboratory for confirmatory analysis, with the final report awaited, the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement.The incident has been classified as a serious incident and is being investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).The two pilots have been de-rostered by the DGCA pending completion of the probe into the incident. Further action will be based on the investigation findings and confirmatory test results, the ministry said.Following news reports about anomalies detected in the dope test, Air India had said it was in no position to comment as findings of the screening had not been shared with it."We are aware that a post-flight screening test was conducted on the pilots in accordance with applicable protocols. However, the results of the test have not been shared with Air India, and we are therefore not in a position to comment on any findings," a spokesperson for the airline had said.- Ends(With inputs from agencies)Published On: Aug 10, 2026 11:05 IST