Air India has suspended a first officer after a positive pre-flight alcohol test at Zurich Airport forced the removal of flight AI151 from the Zurich-Delhi schedule on 6 September. The co-pilot was taken off duty before departure, later sent back to India as a passenger and remains under suspension while the final medical report and investigation are completed.
Ground staff at Zurich reportedly detected the smell of alcohol and alerted local authorities, who carried out a preliminary breathalyser test that returned positive. A secondary test was also conducted, with its result still awaited in some reports. The flight could not operate as planned because no spare crew was available.
Swiss aviation authorities and India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation were both involved in the case, which now sits with the airline’s home regulator for follow-up. The incident comes amid renewed scrutiny of crew fitness-for-duty standards and follows another recent substance-related case involving an Air India pilot.