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A total of 57 pilots from some of India's most popular airlines were spotted with excessive alcohol levels in random blood tests carried out between January 2009 and November 2010.

The news delivered by India's aviation minister Vayalar Ravi  to members of the Indian parliament raised serious concerns about flight safety.

Even more worrying is the discovery that only eleven of those pilots were dismissed, some were suspended for three months, and the rest were simply fined or received warning letters.

The problem is not exclusively Indian. UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) disclosed in 2009 that in 2008 they were informed of eight commercial pilots who had been convicted of drink driving and that they had to attend CAA's Alcohol Misuse Clinic.

Of the eight pilots, four were self employed, one worked for British Airways, one worked for Virgin Atlantic, one worked for Eastern Airways and one for Cathay Pacific.

In addition to those cases, 12 offences were also notified to the CAA Personnel Licensing team during 2008, concerning pilots not employed by an airline.

According to Noviche Bioscience, which provides international drug testing and phlebotomy services, pilots show impairment in their ability to fly an instrument landing system or to perform instrument flight rules operations while under the influence of alcohol, regardless of individual flying experience.

The company says that the number of serious errors committed by pilots dramatically increases at or above concentrations of 0.04% blood alcohol. Some studies have shown decrements in pilot performance with blood alcohol concentrations as low as 0.025%.

Even a hangover, produced by alcoholic drinks after the intoxication has worn off, may be just as dangerous as the intoxication itself. A pilot with hangover symptoms would certainly not be fit to safely operate an aircraft, they add.

The Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 states that a person who performs an aviation function

at a time when the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit, shall be liable on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, to a fine or to both.