Don't drink and fly

Pilot Breath Tests
The Times

Police are to be given the power to breathalyse airline pilots for the first time under new government air safety regulations.

The rules will cover all UK airports and pilots of any nationality.

Until now, pilots have been subject to a £5,000 fine or five years in jail for drinking, but only if employers could prove that they had been consuming alcohol. Now police will be able to intervene if there is any suspicion that flight-deck crew have been drinking.

The Home Office is testing breathalyser devices designed to pick up alcohol levels above 20mg per 100ml of blood, which will be the limit for airline staff and is a quarter of the limit for driving. It amounts to about a quarter of a pint of beer. Officials, however, say the 20mg level amounts to a ban on alcohol consumption.

The government action follows concern over drinking among air crew and comes after two British Airways pilots were arrested in Oslo under Norwegian anti-drinking laws.

The incident last month ended with Captain William McAulliffe and First Officer David Ryan resigning after a tip-off that their cockpit smelt of alcohol. The flight was cancelled.

Pilots who fail a breath test will be dismissed and will face a withdrawal of their licence by the Civil Aviation Authority. They could be grounded for a time or even banned for life.

Rules for aircrew in Britain say they should not have drunk alcohol eight hours before turning up for flight duty.

Airlines welcomed the police involvement which is expected to start in February once the test kits have been evaluated.