No pilot tests positive for drugs, cabin crew alcohol shows revival in 2022

In just the first four months of this year, 41 pilots and cabin crew showed traces of alcohol, of which nine were pilots. In all of 2021, some 59 tested positive, 19 wer pilots

Even as the Indian Pilots Guild and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) battle it out in court over the regulator’s rules for random testing of psychoactive substances, the entire process is slowly taking off.

The rules, which kicked in on the midnight of January 31, require airlines to conduct random drug testing on pilots and other aviation safety personnel and submit results to DGCA.

Figures shared by DGCA under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with Business Standard show that between January 31 till the middle of May, some 92 pilots were tested for six psychoactive substances. These include marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine, opiates, barbiturates and benzo­diazepine. None of them tested positive for any of these substances. Two air traffic control officers (ATCOs) were also tested during this period with both turning out negative results.

This is for the first time in Indian aviation history that the regulator has mandated testing for narcotics among certain aviation personnel. According to the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) that came into force in January, pilots and certain other personnel are subject to random urine sample collection. At least 45 millilitres of urine are collected from the chosen individual by the airline or the organisation they are employed with and sent to approved laboratories for testing for any of the six proscribed substances.

In its RTI replym DGCA said, “In case of confirmatory positive for the first time, the concerned employee shall be referred by the organisation to a specialised doctor/counsellor/de-addiction centre for a de-addiction or rehabilitation programme in consultation with the medical review officer.”

If any pilot tests positive for the second time, her license would be suspended for three years. Testing positive for a third time would lead to a life ban.

While drug tests haven’t yet yielded any results, information also shows that alcohol use among pilots and cabin crew is on the upswing in 2022, as more planes take to the skies in the post-pandemic revival of the aviation industry.

In just the first four months of this year, 41 pilots and cabin crew have returned positive breath analyser tests. Nine of these were pilots. In the whole of 2021, only 59 pilots and cabin crew tested positive for alcohol. Of these, 19 were pilots. It is to be noted that while the domestic flight schedules were slowly being restored in 2021, much of the international flying still remained restricted. India itself approved the opening of scheduled international passenger services from March 27.

In 2020, when almost all domestic planes were grounded for two months between March 23 and May 24 before being gradually re-opened, 83 personnel returned positive breath analyser tests. Of these, 27 were pilots. Most of the international flying during the year was limited to ‘Vande Bharat’ mission repatriation flights and later, highly-restricted international flights via bilateral air-bubble agreements between India and various nations were allowed.

In the pre-pandemic years when the whole industry was in full swing, many more personnel tested positive for alcohol. Some 215 personnel had tested positive in 2018 of which 55 were pilots. In 2019, the last pre-pandemic aviation year, the number declined marginally to 211. Of these 54 were pilots.

While both pilots and air hostesses are subjected to breath analyser tests, cabin crew are exempt from testing for psychoactive substances. Most pilots in the West generally follow the ‘bottle to throttle’ rule which involves abstaining from alcohol for at least eight hours before their scheduled flight. Despite abstaining, small traces of alcohol remain the body and throw up positive results on the breath analyser. In India DGCA has mandated abstinence from alcohol by pilots and cabin crew at least 12 hours before the flight.  

Like with drugs, two separate tests are conducted. The pilot or air hostess is allowed to wash her face or rinse her mouth after the first test. First-time violation rules are much stricter for alcohol than for narcotics. While a first-time positive test for psychoactive substances requires the airline to refer the pilot for medical counselling, a first-time positive for alcohol leads to immediate suspension of license for three months. But like with narcotics, a second-time positive alcohol test leads to suspension for three years, while a third positive grounds pilots and cabin crew for life.

Year	No. of pilots tested breath-analyzer positive	No. of cabin crew tested breath-analyzer positive
2018	55	160
2019	54	157
2020	27	56
2021	10	40
2022   (Till 30th Apr, 22)	09	32