On Thursday March 1 official sources from Air India has said that, In the last month February a senior Air India pilot was caught drunk when he was about to operate a flight out of Chennai.As the senior Air India pilot has been dispossessed from his Training Captain status and also he has been discarded from all the administrative duties for about three years.

As the move which came subsequently from Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh who took a firm outlook on the reports which is concerning to drunken pilots and get into particulars from the national carrier on Joseph, who was suspended earlier for three months subsequent to the incident.

Joseph, the airline's Deputy General Manager (Operations) in Chennai, had tested positive on alcohol in a pre-flight medical check on February 3. He was about to operate flight AI-671/672 on Chennai- Madurai-Chennai-Mumbai sector, which was then operated by another commander.

The senior commander, who also held the charge of Flight Operations Inspector with aviation regulator DGCA, was among highest grade pilots in the country. An FOI can carry out sanitisation checks in any Indian carrier and their pilots too. As a Training Captain, Joseph used to hold the status of a check-pilot, examiner and instructor.

Air India has removed him from all these positions for three years following the incident and has reported back to the Minister, the sources said.

Immediately after he tested positive on the alco sensor, Joseph was taken off the roster for three months and later removed from all administrative duties "till further notice", they said, adding that disciplinary action was being initiated against him.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has taken a firm decision against the pilots who drunk, suggesting strong action and recommended to airline authorities ensuring pre-flight checks using improved alco sensors.