'Breathalyzer test mandatory for pilots'

New Delhi: Festive season cheer may have set in, but pilots better beware from getting too high. Following several cases of pilots found inebriated before operating a flight, whenever special drives were launched around festivals and New Year Eve, aviation ministry is now planning to make 100% breath analysis test mandatory for pilots before every flight.
Airlines will be made responsible for conducting these tests and penalized if they fail to do so.
‘‘We have intensified our surveillance programme and cockpit and crew inspection will be its integral part. Once we make these tests mandatory for all flights, pilots would be asked to produce the pre-boarding certificate. If they fail to do so, we will take action,’’ said a senior ministry official. When contacted, Directorate General of Civil Aviation chief Nasim Zaidi confirmed the plan — the drive is reported to be his brainchild. ‘‘We are planning to make alcohol tests mandatory and the onus could be on airlines,’’ he said.
Since hundreds of flights operate in India daily, and the tests could only be random, the local wings of DGCA will be made a part of the breath analysis tests to ensure airlines do not hide cases of pilots being caught drunk.
26/09/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Sep 2009, Safety Sep 2009