An Air India pilot collapsed in the cockpit just moments before he was scheduled to fly. The plane was bound for Delhi from Bengaluru at around 3am on Friday local time, but was delayed due to the medical emergency. According to airline officials, the pilot was about to sign off on pre-flight documents when he lost consciousness in the cockpit.
The pilot was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where he is now reported to be in stable condition but remains under medical supervision. Air India quickly arranged for a replacement pilot, and the flight eventually departed around 4.36am local time. The airline confirmed the incident and emphasised that the health and recovery of the pilot remain their top priority.
Its statement said: “There was a medical emergency involving one of our pilots in the early hours of July 4.
“As a result, the pilot was unable to operate the flight AI2414 from Bengaluru to Delhi, that he was rostered for, and was taken to a local hospital immediately.
“He is currently stable but continues to be under the supervision of doctors at the same hospital.”
This incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of Air India’s crew scheduling practices.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India recently flagged multiple violations related to crew rest and licensing compliance, leading to disciplinary action against senior rostering officials.
Air India voluntarily disclosed that flight crews were scheduled and operated in ways that violated licensing, flight duty time, and rest period regulations.
This comes a few weeks after the deadly Air India crash that claimed the lives of everybody except one passenger on board on June 12. An investigation on the cause of the incident, which also resulted in the death of dozens of people on the ground, is ongoing.