Sick leaves rise slightly among Air India pilots post crash: Govt

There was a minor increase in instances of Air India pilots going on sick leave across all fleets after its London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people, the government told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Air India reported a minor increase in sick leaves reported by pilots across all fleets in the aftermath of the AI-171 accident. On 16.06.202, a total of 112 pilots reported sick, comprising 51 Commanders (P1) and 61 First Officers (P2)," minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in a written statement in response to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party's Hardoi MP Jai Prakash.

The MP had asked the government about remedial measures such as holding post-trauma mental health workshops to mitigate the stress of pilots and cabin crew in view of the air crash.

To be sure, the minister told parliament on March 20 this year that Air India has a total of 3,280 pilots.

Mohol said the DGCA has already issued a medical circular regarding mental health of flight crews and air traffic controllers (ATCOs) on 22 Feb 2023, which lays down guidelines for operators (scheduled and non-scheduled) and DGCA-empanelled medical examiners."

He added that the guidelines include "quick and effective methods to assess mental health that can easily be performed by the DGCA-empanelled medical examiners during the Class 1/2/3 medical examination."