Business
11 Aug, 2026
Air India's Phuket-Delhi flight pilot tests positive for psychoactive substance: Sources
Business To Business, New Delhi, 11 August 2026: The pilot-in-command of Air India's Phuket-Delhi flight AI2379 has tested positive for marijuana, a psychoactive substance, in a confirmatory screening test, sources said on Tuesday.
The development follows the flight's mid-air turbulence incident on August 4, when the Airbus A320 suddenly lost around 300 feet of altitude during the journey to Delhi.
Flight incident
- Flight: AI2379, Phuket–Delhi
- Aircraft: Airbus A320
- Date: August 4
- Altitude loss: Around 300 feet
- People onboard: 145
- 137 passengers
- 8 crew members
- Injuries: At least 17 people
The pilot had earlier undergone an initial psychoactive-substance screening after the incident. That test required further analysis, following which a
confirmatory test reportedly returned positive for marijuana.
The result is expected to be examined by the aviation authorities as part of the investigation into the incident and the pilot's fitness to operate the aircraft. A positive screening result, by itself, does not establish that substance use caused the aircraft's altitude deviation.