5 Air India Pilots, 2 Staffers Test Positive For COVID-19: Reports

They were tested positive during the pre-flight COVID test.

Image used for representational purpose.

(Photo Courtesy: Reuters)

Five pilots, an engineer and a technician of Air India have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said on Sunday, 10 May.

They tested positive during the pre-flight COVID-19 test, which is carried out 72 hours before they are rostered for flight duties.

“All of them are asymptomatic and based in Mumbai. They had undertaken cargo flights to China,” ANI reported quoting Air India sources.

(Catch all the live updates on coronavirus pandemic and lockdown here).

The five affected pilots have been operating Boeing 787 Dreamliner, according to NDTV. The last time any of them operated a flight was on 20 April.

The national carrier has been operational during the lockdown and was used in rescuing Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit nations, including Iran and Italy.

One of India’s biggest evacuation exercises amid the coronavirus lockdown was launched on 7 May, with several Air India and Air India Express flights leaving the country to bring back stranded Indians across the world. Out of these, two flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi landed in Kerala on 7 May.

The phased rescue-op started from 7 May and the airline is expected to operate 64 flights in the first week to bring back around 15,000 Indians.

On Sunday, which is day 4, around 1,850 Indians will be flown from Doha to Trivandrum, Singapore, Washington and Abu Dhabi.

(With inputs from ANI, NDTV)