ATC staff too will face random breath tests

Mumbai: The overworked air traffic control (ATC) personnel at the Indian airports will soon have to brace themselves for random alcohol tests. To make air travel safer, the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) is working on guidelines that will make breath analyser tests mandatory for all ATC officials reporting to work.
"The ATC officials play an important role in air safety as they are the ones who guide the pilot and the aircraft. So, we have decided to bring them too under the gambit of alcohol detection tests," said a DGCA official.
Confirming the move, a civil aviation ministry official said that the DGCA is working on the guidelines for ATC licensing and will incorporate this requirement in it.
Currently, these tests are performed only on pilots and cabin crew.
25/03/09 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Mar 2009, Safety Mar 2009