26-year-old pilot prone to seizures from brain TB still flying

Meet SpiceJet captain Abhishek Poyekar (26). The gentleman has not only kept his medical condition hidden from the airline management, but has been flying planes for the past six months against doctors’ advice.

Would you like to fly in an aircraft piloted by someone who had recently suffered a seizure and was diagnosed with brain tuberculosis? The answer would be an emphatic NO.

Meet SpiceJet captain Abhishek Poyekar (26). The gentleman has not only kept his medical condition hidden from the airline management, but has been flying planes for the past six months against doctors’ advice.

Poyekar was first diagnosed with tuberculosis at Mumbai’s Hinduja hospital in mid-May this year. While under treatment, he kept flying and within ten days of diagnosis, he had a seizure hours after landing a Mumbai-Amritsar-Srinagar-Amritsar-Mumbai flight! He was then taken to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, where it came to light that the infection had spread to his brain and that he was now having tuberculosis of the central nervous system (CNS TB). The jerky movement of Poyekar’s right hand and his seizure on May 25 were attributed to the CNS TB that he was having.

In the hospital’s neurology department, he was kept under observation for three days, during which the doctors carried out different tests on him, including MRI scans. Poyekar’s discharge report, a copy of which is with dna, clearly states that he left the hospital on May 28 against medical advice. And, where did he go from there? Straight to the airport.

Before entering the cockpit, Poyekar had obviously decided not to reveal his medical condition before anyone. He was also lucky because his next routine medical check-up was scheduled for February 2016. Hence, even the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regulator, is clueless about it.

SpiceJet, too, is in the dark. “We are not aware of any pilot or co-pilot suffering from this condition and flying. However, if it is true, then necessary action will be taken against the pilot,” said Ajay Jasra, general manager of corporate affairs, SpiceJet.

When contacted, Poyekar told this reporter, “I am not in town and would like to meet you in person… I can’t give my comments over the phone. If you can wait, it is OK, else go ahead with your report.”

Dr PP Ashok, neurologist, PD Hinduja Hospital, said: “A pilot with such medical condition should not be allowed to fly. Having lesions means there are chances of the seizures resurfacing. People who suffer from epilepsy or have a history of seizures, we advise them against driving cars or riding bikes. So, flying a plane is out of question. Such people belong to the high-risk category and should take precautions.”

A pilot flying with an international airline, who did not wish to be named, said: “We tend to take things lightly in India. In West Asia, where I am working, if you have a lesion on your lungs, you are not allowed to fly. So, flying with lesions on the brain is completely ruled out. Sadly, in India, we make tall claims, but the fact is that life is treated cheap here. You should not be surprised if tomorrow we get to see many other pilots flying with such conditions.”

A senior DGCA official, on condition of anonymity, said: “It is the pilot’s moral responsibility to come forward and inform his company about his health condition. However, pilots go through regular medical check-ups, during which such conditions should be detected. If not, then it will definitely call for some changes to the existing set of medical testing.”