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Air India orders substance screening of about 5,000 pilots after 24 injured in midair altitude loss

India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is examining the August 4 flight from Phuket, in which the aircraft dropped about 300 feet; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 12, 2026, 7:53 a.m. ETUpdated Aug 17, 2026, 4:53 a.m. ET
Developing · checked 2h ago

This is a developing story. Details reported early are provisional and are frequently revised. Where sources disagree, both readings are given.

We last searched for new coverage of this at Aug 18, 2026, 7:09 a.m. ET — checked 2h ago.

An flight dropped about 300 feet (90 meters) suddenly in midair after from , , on August 4, 2026, injuring passengers and crew, according to reporting by the Economic Times. The aircraft later stabilized and landed safely in New Delhi. The flight was carrying 137 passengers, including three infants, and eight crew members, the Economic Times reported. The New Indian Express identified the flight as and reported that the sudden loss of about 300 feet of altitude occurred over Odisha. Sources differ on the aircraft type: the New Indian Express reported an , while the Economic Times reported an . The cause has not been determined. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is conducting an independent investigation, reviewing flight data, aircraft systems, maintenance and operational records and medical information, and conducting interviews, with France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) and Airbus assisting, according to the Economic Times. The New Indian Express reported the same arrangement, with Airbus and the BEA assisting the AAIB. On Wednesday, August 12, India's aviation ministry said it was awaiting drug test results for the captain, the Economic Times reported. The New Indian Express reported that the captain's post-flight psychoactive-substance screening returned a non-negative result, that a confirmatory test is said to have tested positive for marijuana, and that a separate inquiry was initiated over the non-negative screening. Local media reported that the captain may have tested positive for marijuana in a follow-up drug screening, according to the Economic Times. Those accounts have not been confirmed by an authority, and no finding has been made about what caused the aircraft's descent. Both pilots have been removed from flying duties pending the inquiry. ordered a one-time substance screening of all of its roughly 5,000 pilots, including Express pilots, the New Indian Express and the Economic Times reported. The aircraft involved has not been identified. Registry records list 82 aircraft under ; those records describe the operator's fleet and are not an identification of the aircraft in this event. The AAIB investigation, with the BEA and Airbus assisting, is continuing.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Terrain elevation
522 ft
Nearest aerodrome
6.6 miles SSW of Phuket Airpark (VTSW)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 217 Aug 2026, 08:53current

    Adds flight number AI2379, the Odisha location of the altitude loss, the A320neo/A320 type discrepancy, the confirmatory-test and separate-inquiry details and Air India's one-time screening of about 5,000 pilots; corrects the fleet figure to the 82 aircraft on the registry and drops the 'developing' framing.

  2. Version 112 Aug 2026, 12:46

    First published.

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