India Flying High–Literally

This is not exactly what I wanted to read before hopping on a plane tomorrow morning, but there's no getting around it. Fifty-six pilots working for Indian airlines have failed alcohol tests in the last two years, according to a list issued by the civil aviation ministry, reports the Australian Age. And that's the GOOD news.

What's a few pegs? There's nothing to hit up in the air, right? Besides….

After the discovery that a pilot for Indigo Airlines (my flight tomorrow!) and a pilot for Air India had faked the tests needed to get a license to fly, the civil aviation administration says it needs to scrutinize the licenses of 3,000-4,000 pilots flying in India's fast-growing airline industry, reports NDTV.

Scared now?

According to NDTV, just a few days after Parminder Kaur Gulati, a suspended pilot of Indigo airline, was arrested on charges of faking her marksheet to get a pilot licence, another arrest on the same grounds has been made. This time around, Captain J K Verma, a pilot of the national carrier Air India has been arrested, and the scanner is on two more pilots.

To get a licence, a pilot has to clear three subjects. But in Gulati's case, a probe by the civil aviation body showed she couldn't clear two papers, so she allegedly forged the marksheets.