Every third shortlisted candidate who appeared for pilot interviews at Air India since December 2015 failed to clear a crucial test to analyse their psychological health.
As per the Air India sources that before failing the psychometric test, the rejected pilots had cleared the technical and simulator exam.
After the co-pilot of a German wings flight crashed his plane into the Swiss Alps in March 2015, the psychometric test was introduced by the most Indian carriers. The co-pilot of a German flight was discovered to have been suffering from psychological issues for several years. 130 candidates out of 413 candidates failed the psychometric test.
But, it was not known that if any of the pilots who are rejected by Air India found employment with any of the private carriers.
An aviation expert said that if a candidate is declared unfit in the psychometric test evaluation by any airline, can he be considered fit for any other flying position?
Last year in the month of March, 36 out of 160 shortlisted candidates who appeared for the pilot interviews had also failed in the psychological assessment conducted by a panel that included a psychologist from the Indian Air Force.
An AI Spokesperson said that Air India gives high priority to safety of operations. There cannot be any compromise on entry standards.
In last year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation mandated regular monitoring of mental health of pilot based on recommendations made by a committee headed by joint Director General Lalit Gupta.
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