The Directorate General of Civil Aviation in Indian is proposing to ban flight crew from using perfumes, medicines, and dental hygiene products that contain alcohol to prevent them from testing positive in breathalyzer tests.
The draft amendment also includes requirements for crew members undergoing medication to consult with the company doctor before flying.
DGCA proposed to amend, “procedure for medical examination of aircraft personnel for alcohol consumption” by bringing in several such new requirements like the bar on alcohol-containing perfumes.
“No crew member shall consume any drug/formulation or use any substance such as mouthwash/tooth gel/perfume or any such product which has alcoholic content. This may result into positive breath analyser test.
“Any crew member who is undergoing such medication shall consult the company doctor before undertaking flying assignment,” says the draft of the DGCA’s proposed amended procedure for checking alcohol consumption.
For years, several pilots who failed BA tests have blamed the same on the alcohol in after shave lotion or perfumes they use or even homeopathic medicines that they take.
Crew members who fail or miss their pre-flight BA test for the first time face licence suspension for three months.
When the same person is found BA positive for the second time, the licence suspension is for three years. And being found tipsy for the third time leads to licence suspension as per current rules.
The other changes proposed by the DGCA in its draft rule include: “Before each test, the Doctor/Paramedics/EMT shall obtain a reading of 0.000 on the instrument. The Doctor/Paramedics/EMT shall also carry out a control test on daily basis and keep a record of printout to ensure serviceability of both the BA equipment and the printer….
If the BA examination result is positive, a repeat test shall be carried out after an interval of maximum 20-25 minutes”.
