To ensure that aviation safety is not compromised due to the consumption of alcohol by pilots, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued revised guidelines for breath analyser tests on the cockpit and cabin crew members.
As per the guidelines, 50 per cent cockpit crew members and cabin crew members will be subjected to random preflight ‘breath-analyaer’ test on daily basis to show that they are not under the influence of alcohol. In the case of flying training institutions, at least 50 per cent of instructors and 40 per cent of students shall be subjected to pre-flight breath-analyser test on a daily basis.
The airlines’ operators should be ensured that all operation bases are covered for random preflight breath-analyser examination.
The cockpit crew, cabin crew will submit the undertaking in presence of medical staff and the same will be captured on the camera. The breath-analyser test to the extent feasible will be carried out in a bigger and an open area which has CCTV coverage or camera recording.
The guidelines said that the above directions/arrangement (as mentioned in preceding para) is purely a temporary measure in view of current Covid-19 situation and shall be in force for a period of three months from the date of issue.
“Every aviation personnel covered under CAR Section-5, Series-F, Part-Ill, who is reporting for duty, is required to submit an undertaking in respect of the fact that he/she is not under the influence of alcohol and that he/she has not consumed alcohol in last 12 hours from the time of reporting for the duty,” it said. If any person is detected with Covid symptoms, the person shall be exempted from the BA test and be removed from duty. The person doing the Breath-analyzer test should use a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Kit.