Air India directs pilots to maintain ‘sterile’ cockpits amid safety violations

Air India on Tuesday directed its pilots to keep the cockpits “sterile”, days after the aviation regulator issued notices to the airline’s top officials for not reacting fast enough to a violation of safety norms by one of its pilots who entertained a female friend in the cockpit.

The violation by the Air India pilot in the Delhi-Dubai AI 915 flight on February 27, first reported by HT, came to light after a member of the flight’s cabin crew complained about the incident, in which a female friend of the pilot allegedly spent over an hour in the cockpit, to the airline on March 3 .

On April 21, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) off-rostered the entire crew of the flight pending investigation.