Airline
pilots are routinely checked for alcohol (ethanol) content in the breath. Any BAC
(breath Alcohol Content) reading above 0.08% (0.08 g in 100 g of blood) is
taken as “Under the influence of alcohol” and they are not allowed to fly
aircraft and putting so many lives at risk. However, there are a lot of factors
that affect BAC such as body weight, fatigue and stress factors.
The
public understand that many a times pilots fail this test. What happens after
testing positive is anybody’s guess!
I have
a few queries:
Ø Whether
due to acute shortage of senior or junior pilots, the “drunk” pilots are
allowed to fly?
Ø What
are the responsibilities of the regulators in such cases?
Ø What
happens if the regulators are hand-in-glove with the operation staff?
Only
way to safeguard the safety of passengers is to ensure that the regulators are
beyond corruption, and provide incentives to the young Indians to take the
profession of airline pilots so that at any given time we have enough number of
pilots available for recruitment by airlines.