New Delhi: In a bid to reduce human errors in aviation sector, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is shortly going to issue orders to bring aircraft maintenance engineers, flight dispatchers, Air Traffic Control officials (ATCOs), all machine operators and vehicle drivers working at airports under Breath Analyser (BA) tests.
“All such personnel are critical for the safety of aircraft operations. They act as the support system for the flight crew. Any failure on their part can imperil safety,” said DGCA chief Arun Kumar.
As of now, the DGCA conducts 100 per cent BA tests on pilots and cabin crew. BA test is also mandatory for off-duty pilots traveling in the cockpit as additional crew members.
However, despite the pre-flight and post-flight BA tests being mandatory, the number of pilots and crew cabin failing the test is high in India. Senior officials said that on an average the number of crew members failing BA test is between 250-300 while nearly 50-60 pilots fail BA test every year. There are 8,441 transport pilots and 15,983 commercial pilots operating in India. The number of cabin crew is 16,000. There are 14,541 aircraft engineers, 672 flight dispatchers and about 3,000 ATCOs.
As per International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommendations, the level of blood-alcohol compatible with safe flying is ‘zero’. And even when the blood alcohol levels are zero in the body, there could be some effect of hangover, which is mainly due to congeners which may take 15 to 18 hours to get dissipated and may cause ill-effects for up to 36 hours. Even 12 hours after a bout of drink, when blood alcohol level remains zero, there would be a decrement in task performance.
09/09/19 Vineeta Pandey/Deccan Chronicle
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“All such personnel are critical for the safety of aircraft operations. They act as the support system for the flight crew. Any failure on their part can imperil safety,” said DGCA chief Arun Kumar.
As of now, the DGCA conducts 100 per cent BA tests on pilots and cabin crew. BA test is also mandatory for off-duty pilots traveling in the cockpit as additional crew members.
However, despite the pre-flight and post-flight BA tests being mandatory, the number of pilots and crew cabin failing the test is high in India. Senior officials said that on an average the number of crew members failing BA test is between 250-300 while nearly 50-60 pilots fail BA test every year. There are 8,441 transport pilots and 15,983 commercial pilots operating in India. The number of cabin crew is 16,000. There are 14,541 aircraft engineers, 672 flight dispatchers and about 3,000 ATCOs.
As per International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommendations, the level of blood-alcohol compatible with safe flying is ‘zero’. And even when the blood alcohol levels are zero in the body, there could be some effect of hangover, which is mainly due to congeners which may take 15 to 18 hours to get dissipated and may cause ill-effects for up to 36 hours. Even 12 hours after a bout of drink, when blood alcohol level remains zero, there would be a decrement in task performance.
09/09/19 Vineeta Pandey/Deccan Chronicle
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