Another airline pilot fails dope test; Chopper pilot suspended for 6 months for offshore platform incident during landing – Times of India

NEW DELHI: A pilot of a big Indian airline has failed the dope test, making him the fourth pilot to do so since Indian began conducting these tests on aviation personnel from earlier this year. The pilot was recently subjected to drug test at Delhi Airport and his confirmatory test report received on August 23, 2022, was also non-negative, say Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials. The pilot has been removed from flying duty.
Meanwhile, the DGCA has also suspended the license of a helicopter pilot for six months for an incident while landing on an offshore platform. “The helicopter descended below the desired flight path during approach for landing on the helideck. This was also brought to the notice of the pilot-in-command (PIC) by the first officer. The PIC took corrective action, however in the process, the horizontal stabiliser of the helicopter hit the edge of the helideck. The pilot had exceeded the maximum takeoff weight and maximum landing weight of the helicopter during the operation of incident flight,” say DGCA officials.
Meanwhile, the latest pilot to fail the dope test now takes the number of aviation personnel testing non-negative for using psychoactive substances to four pilots and one air traffic controller (ATCO). India had started testing flight crew and air traffic controllers for psychoactive substance on a random basis starting January 31, 2022. While as per rules aviation personnel failing dope test first time have to be sent for rehab and are then allowed to resume work with a negative dope test result and a fitness certificate, individual airlines and organisations are free to have their own policy like terminate them after they test non-negative for the first time.
Breath analyser (BA) tests to ensure aviation personnel are sober when they report for work have been being conducted for several years. The DGCA had for the first time made dope tests mandatory for pilots, cabin crew and air traffic controllers earlier this year. At least 10% of these personnel in an organisation have to undergo dope test annually.
Those failing the test first time, have to successfully undergo de-addiction/rehabilitation and are then allowed to resume duty. Those failing second time, will have their license suspended for three years. And failing for third time will mean licence cancellation.
All the positive cases have to be reported to the DGCA within 24 hours of detection. A confirmation test will need to be done on those who test positive. The action on positive cases begins with taking that person off duty immediately till a confirmatory report is received. The drugs to be tested for include: amphetamine and Amphetamine type stimulants; Opiates and metabolites; Cannabis (Marijuana) as THC; cocaine; Barbiturates and Benzodiazepine.