Five pilots of Air India have tested positive for coronavirus, airline sources said on Sunday.
Now, Air India, which is operating flights to evacuate Indians stranded in foreign countries, have asked its pilots to undertake coronavirus test before they operate such flights, the sources said.
"Five Air India pilots have tested positive for coronavirus. These pilots were tested one after one. We suspect it could be a case of faulty testing kit as well," one of the sources told PTI.
The five pilots flew Boeing 787 planes, another source said.
Air India spokesperson, however, did not comment anything on the matter so far.
A senior airline official said the five pilots had not operated any flight in the last three weeks.
"These pilots had operated cargo flights to China prior to April 20," the official said.
Earlier, an Air India flight from London with 329 passengers landed at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai on Sunday morning, officials said.
Following the directive by the Government of India, CSMIA welcomed the first repatriation flight that landed from London in the early hours of Sunday.
According to airport sources, CSMIA ensured safety and wellbeing of the passengers, right from the time the flight landed at the airport and passengers disembarked the aircraft till they left the terminal building.
The flight AI-130 repatriated the 329 Indians stranded in London during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
