Raising serious concerns over air safety, an Air India pilot with extreme mood swings risked the lives of 200 passengers on board a flight. A senior Air India executive commander prone to sudden, psychotic mood swings carried out an extremely unsafe manoeuvre onboard a Delhi-Paris flight on April 28 putting the Boeing 787 and the lives of passengers and crew at risk. There are serious concerns over such an incident involving an Air India flight especially after the Germanwings plane crashed in March last year when a pilot, reported to have suicidal tendencies, crashed the aircraft into the French Swiss Alps killing more than 140 people. The airline has grounded the pilot after the co-pilot reported the issue to the authorities, while the matter is also being investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The flight commander steered the Boeing 787 plane to a higher elevation beyond the stipulated permissible safety levels, raising serious concerns over air safety. He reportedly tampered with the onboard flight software and steered the plane to altitude levels where loss of control was possible. The co-pilot noticed the abnormal flying manoeuvre and then made the commander bring back the aircraft to normal altitude, sources added. Air India has also referred the pilot's case to its medical board since it involves "psychological issues at the individual level". The pilot would be asked to undergo detailed psychological assessments, sources said.