Regulator issues stiff ones for drunk pilots, crew

Mumbai: Aviation regulator DGCA is tightening the screws on ‘drunken flying’. In the stiffest penalties for pilots and cabin crew who consume alcohol before reporting for duty, the DGCA has ruled that if a pilot or a member of the cabin crew is found drunk before a flight — and is a second-time offender — his/her licence will be cancelled for five years.The first offence would mean suspension of the licence for three months. The DGCA has just notified these guidelines.
These penal procedures will also apply if a pilot or crew member evades the mandatory breath analyser test before a flight. Further, in case a flight instructor or examiner is found drunk, his ratings would be cancelled for three years besides a five-year licence termination in case of second offence.
The regulator has shown leniency only for post-flight medical checks for domestic flights, where it has said that these checks will not be done as a matter of routine and may only be conducted if DGCA or representatives of other safety bodies ask for them.
As per the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) Section 5 on Air Safety issued on Tuesday, the regulator wants all flights originating from India to conduct pre-flight breath anaysis checks on the crew and pilots, every day
06/01/11 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jan 2011