Pilot loses licence failing breath test

A veteran pilot had his flying licence revoked yesterday after failing a breath test moments before captaining an Air India plane to London, India’s aviation regulator said. 

Arvind Kathpalia, a pilot and senior executive with the national airline, blew positive for alcohol before entering the Dreamliner jet’s cockpit for the nearly 10-hour flight to the United Kingdom on Sunday.

“He failed the breath analyser and as per rules we have decided to cancel his licence for three years with immediate effect,” an official with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.