Air India flight AI2379, operated with an Airbus A320 registered VT-EXO, suffered the sudden altitude loss during cruise before stabilising and continuing safely to Delhi. The aircraft was carrying 137 passengers, including three infants, and eight crew members — two pilots and six cabin crew. Several passengers and cabin crew members were injured during the disturbance.
Both flight crew members underwent mandatory psychoactive-substance screening after landing as part of procedures triggered by such an occurrence. The pilot-in-command’s screening produced what authorities described as a result requiring confirmatory testing. Samples were consequently sent to a designated laboratory, with the final findings awaited.
The distinction is significant because an initial screening result is not considered definitive proof that a prohibited substance was consumed. Screening procedures can identify samples requiring additional laboratory analysis, where more specific testing determines whether a substance is actually present and, where applicable, at what level. Further regulatory action will therefore depend partly on the confirmed laboratory result.
Air India has said the screening was carried out but indicated that the definitive findings had not been provided to the airline. Earlier reports describing the captain as having failed a dope test went beyond what authorities had formally established by Sunday. The government subsequently clarified that confirmatory testing remained pending.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has classified the event as a “Serious Incident”, placing the circumstances of the altitude loss under a formal safety investigation. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has taken both flight crew members off the roster pending completion of the prescribed process and the investigation.
Investigators are expected to reconstruct the flight using cockpit and aircraft data while examining weather conditions, pilot actions, aircraft behaviour and the injuries sustained inside the cabin. Flight recorders were secured after the aircraft landed, providing investigators with information needed to determine how the aircraft entered the altitude deviation and how the crew responded.
A central question is whether the approximately 300-foot loss of altitude resulted solely from atmospheric turbulence or whether aircraft handling or another operational factor contributed to the severity of the event. Authorities will also assess the decision to continue to Delhi rather than divert after people aboard were injured.
Passengers described being thrown upwards and into parts of the cabin as the aircraft encountered the violent movement. At least 17 passengers and crew were reported injured in early accounts of the incident, although descriptions of the number and severity of injuries varied as medical assessments were completed. Some passengers required hospital treatment after landing.
The investigation is also likely to examine whether seat-belt warnings were active and whether passengers were seated and restrained when the aircraft encountered the turbulence. Unrestrained occupants face a substantially higher risk of injury during sudden vertical movements because turbulence can produce strong accelerations with little warning.
The scrutiny of the captain’s screening adds a separate regulatory dimension to what began as an investigation into an airborne safety occurrence. Aviation rules governing psychoactive substances are designed to ensure that personnel performing safety-sensitive functions are not impaired while on duty, and positive findings can trigger disciplinary and regulatory action after prescribed confirmation procedures are completed.
(IPA Service)
