New Delhi, Aug. 11 -- The confirmatory drug test of the pilot-in-command (PIC) of an Air India Phuket-Delhi flight that plunged around 300 feet during cruise and injured 24 passengers and crew members on 4 August has returned positive for a banned substance, according to two people aware of the development.

Air India and the civil aviation ministry are yet to officially confirm the result.

The confirmatory test was conducted after the pilot's preliminary drug screening returned a "not-negative" result, according to an earlier statement by the ministry. The preliminary test was conducted after the flight landed in Delhi on 4 August.

The development comes as Air India's outgoing chief executive Campbell Wilson met officials at the civil ...