Air India pilot grounds plane over dirty oxygen mask

April 28, 2015 10:48AM.

Pilot grounds plane over dirty oxygen mask

PILOTS are expected to be meticulous when it comes to pre-flight safety checks, but Air India is investigating whether or not a captain crossed the line from vigilant to petulant when he refused to operate Flight 467 from Indira Gandhi International Airport to Cochin International Airport on Wednesday. 

The reason for the commander’s refusal? A “dirty” emergency oxygen mask in the cockpit. This germaphobe managed to delay the flight for more than three hours and featured in FlyerTalk’s “Worst Passenger Of The Week”.

Airline officials did not consider the dirty air mask a flight-critical issue and suggested that, rather than delay the flight, the disgusted aviator simply clean the mask himself with a sanitising wipe in much the same way flight attendants clean their own equipment. The pilot, however, refused to fly until the mask was replaced.

 

The pilot refused to clean it himself and wouldn’t fly the plane until someone brought him a new oxygen mask. Source: Getty Images

 

In the end, the airline eventually located a replacement for the offending mask and the flight departed three hours behind schedule. Air India has since responded by grounding the pilot while it investigates whether the dirty mask was truly a maintenance issue or if the fussy captain unreasonably delayed the flight.

The pilot’s antics seem to have brought another airline employee down with him, as Air India also grounded the flight engineer who replaced the dirty mask.

Even if company investigators are able to confirm that the oxygen mask was indeed dirty, the pilot may not be out of hot water. Air India says it intends to probe the aviator’s past to determine if there is a pattern of him grounding flights with “specious” excuses.