AirAsia Indonesia has suspended a pilot after he failed a random drug test just a few days after one of the airline’s planes crashed into the Java Sea en route to Singapore, killing all 162 people onboard.
The airline’s president director Sunu Widyatmoko confirmed media reports that a pilot had tested positive for morphine after flying from the Indonesian capital Jakarta to the holiday island of Bali.
"As a consequence, the pilot cannot fly pending further investigation," he said. "The preliminary result from our interview with the pilot was that he had just come out of the hospital.
"He is still consuming Actifed. In that drug test, the cough and flu medication could create a false alarm," he added. Further tests are being carried out today, which Widyatmoko stressed could be negative.
The pilot is a senior captain who has worked for the airline for nine years.
The random drug test carried out in Bali involved 42 airline crew members from which 41 tested negative.
