The pilot in command of an Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi that encountered a sudden loss of altitude last week was on medication for “sleep difficulty”, as per the airline’s internal flight safety report accessed by NDTV.
The pilot, Sudeep Vashistha, who has tested positive for marijuana in a drug test twice, said that the “sleep did not come easily” to him during the layover.
The aircraft, AI-2379, carrying 137 passengers and eight crew members, had suddenly lost about 300 feet of altitude while it was flying from Phuket to Delhi on August 4.