5 PILOTS OF AIR INDIA TEST COVID POSITIVE

Five Air India pilots in Mumbai and two employees from its engineering wing, Air India Engineering Service Ltd, have tested positive for Covid- 19, after undergoing a test on May 8 when the ministry of civil aviation made it mandatory for all airline crew and staff to get themselves checked for the virus before operating repatriation flights. An Air India official said the five pilots who tested positive had operated international cargo flights .

MUMBAI: Five Air India pilots in Mumbai and two employees from its engineering wing, Air India Engineering Service Ltd. (AIESL), have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), after undergoing a test on May 8 when the ministry of civil aviation made it mandatory for all airline crew and staff to get themselves checked for the virus before operating repatriation flights.

According to the ministry’s guidelines, all the operating crew have to undergo a swab test before and after operating a flight. Crew members are tested again after few days and it is only if their second test report is negative that they are rostered for the next flight.

Air India refused to comment. People in the know of the development in the airline said the test reports of the pilots were received on Saturday.

An Air India official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “All crew who have earlier operated international flights after lockdown have been asked to mandatorily quarantine themselves for 14 days. After the five pilots were tested positive for the virus, they were not allowed to fly. All these pilots are based in Mumbai.”

Another Air India official said, “They had operated international cargo flights earlier but it is not sure whether they got infected due to the travel or in Mumbai.”