NEW DELHI, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Air India suspended for three years the licence of a senior pilot on Monday, after he failed the breath analyzer test ahead of take off, officials said.

The decision to suspend the pilot's licence was taken by India's aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

"In the case of Kathpalia being detected breath analyser positive on Nov. 11, the privileges of his licence have been suspended for a period of three years as per the provisions of applicable regulations," an official quoting the DGCA statement said.

On Sunday, pilot Arvind Kathpalia failed a mandatory breath analyser test before he was to command a New Delhi-London flight AI 111 scheduled to depart at 2:45 p.m. (local time). The flight was delayed after Kathpalia failed the test.

The 56-year-old pilot Kathpalia was found to have an unacceptably high blood alcohol count shortly before he was scheduled to fly the plane.