Five Air India pilots, who had undertaken cargo flights to China, have tested positive for coronavirus during the pre-flight Covid-19 test, are currently asymptomatic and are based in Mumbai.
In addition, a technician and a tow-tug operator/driver working with the Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) at the aircraft hangar in Mumbai have also tested positive for the coronavirus on May 7.
“Five Air India pilots have tested positive for Covid-19. These pilots were tested one after one. We suspect it could be a case of faulty testing kit as well,” sources said.
According to sources 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,” sources said.
Regarding two staff of AIESL testing positive for coronavirus, the non-scheduled operator had informed the company in a recent e-mail. As per the e-mail, seen by PTI, the operator said outsourced MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) personnel attending its aircraft are also tested for coronavirus infection.
“AIESL personnel are also being tested in a phased manner. The results of tests conducted on May 7 have been received and two AIESL personnel have tested Covid-19 positive,” the engineering head of the operator said in the e-mail to AIESL CEO.
“We request you to kindly take action as per your company policy. You are requested to note that these personnel shall not be allocated to our aircraft till they are cured and not without our concurrence,” the e-mail said.
Meanwhile, 572 people landed at Mumbai airport in two flights - one from United Kingdom with 329 people and another from Singapore with 243 people on Sunday. Another Air India flight carrying 243 passengers from Manila is scheduled to land at Sunday late night.
The first repatriation flight from the United States took off from the San Francisco International Airport on Sunday, with around 200 people on board. On the other hand, Air India Express flight that was scheduled to fly out with 181 Indian citizens stranded in Doha has been called off for now because of some technical reasons. It was to travel to Doha from Kozhikode around 1 pm and land in Thiruvananthapuram around 10.45 pm.
The Indian Navy ship INS Jalashwa, carrying 698 Indians stranded in Maldives due to international travel restrictions owing to coronavirus lockdown, arrived in Kerala’s Kochi port on Sunday.
The warship had started its journey from the island on Friday night. Out of these evacuees, 440 are from Kerala, 110 from Tamil Nadu and 45 from Karnataka. “OP# Samudra Setu #Jalashwa with 698 Indian citizens embarked from Maldivesat Kochi, Kerala,” a spokesperson of Indian Navy tweeted.