Pre-flight alcohol tests required for 50% of crew members

March 30, 2022 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

Yesterday Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a notification on the pre-flight alcohol test. The notification will be in force for three months.

In this notification, DGCA asked all airlines to make sure that 50 per cent of crew members shall undergo pre-flight alcohol tests daily. The test shall be done randomly. Every day, 50 per cent of the cockpit and cabin crew members undergo the test.

The notification also said that 40 per cent of student pilots are also subject to pre-flight alcohol tests daily. Also, 50 per cent of instructors shall undergo the test in flying training institutes.

These tests are also required for operators or owners of charter planes. So, 50 per cent of their crew members shall also undergo these tests.

Pre-flight alcohol tests were mandatory for all crew members of airlines before COVID-19. These members were required to undergo pre-flight alcohol tests. However, due to COVID-19 protocols, pre-flight tests were suspended for a few months. Later, the tests were resumed, but only for a small percentage of crew members, due to a limited number of flights and operations.

But, now, the number of COVID-19 cases has been receding in the country. Many activities have been resumed. Several airlines resumed their operations. As a result, the volume of air traffic also has been increasing. India resumed the operations of full domestic flights on October 18, 2021, and international flights on March 27, 2022.

All aviation employees, who are reporting for duty, must submit a form stating that they are not under the influence of alcohol. Or their undertaking shall state that they have not consumed alcohol in the last 12 hours before their reporting time for the duty.

All cockpit and cabin crew members shall submit their undertaking in the presence of the medical team. Their undertaking shall be captured on camera as well.

Image from Pxhere (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)