Unprescribed Medicines May Have Affected Pilot: Kerala Air Crash Report

2020 Air India Express crash: In summary, the report said the probable cause of the crash was non-adherence to standard operating procedure by the pilot flying the aircraft

The report into the crash of an Air India Express aircraft in Kerala last August has indicated the possibility of a medical factor regarding the pilot in charge, which could have had a role in the aviation disaster. Twenty-one people, including both pilots, were killed after the Air India Express Boeing 737 from Dubai carrying 190 people skidded off a runway in heavy rain and broke into pieces at Kozhikode airport on August 8 last year. The aviation accident report that came over a year after the crash has, among other factors like landing beyond the safe touchdown zone despite a go-around call, mentioned that an anti-diabetic drug that the pilot in charge or PIC had been taking may have "caused subtle cognitive deficits". "The PIC was taking multiple un-prescribed anti-diabetic drugs that could have probably caused subtle cognitive deficits due to mild hypoglycaemia," says the final investigation report by the Civil Aviation Ministry.