Pilot jailed for being over legal drink limit!

No JetSet you are wrong, you are talking 35 millilitres of breath, I clearly stated 80mg, which is in the blood, you won’t get done on the back of a breath test only.

Ooooops….my bad. That clears that up.:rolleyes:

However, its worth remembering that not all pilots are rule breakers. Most follow the rules.

I haven’t seen anyone in this thread doubting for even a nonesecond that’s the case. 😉

Paul

No JetSet you are wrong, you are talking 35 millilitres of breath, I clearly stated 80mg, which is in the blood, you won’t get done on the back of a breath test only.

The “problem” is that the drink/fly limit is a ¼ of the drink/drive limit, that being 20mg instead of 80mg.

Legal Drink drive limit is 35 and not 80. It used to be 80 but was revised a number of years ago.

IMO, it should be zero alcohol, common sense says – DON’T DRINK THE NIGHT BEFORE YOU TAKE TO THE CONTROLS!!!! Pilots don’t work every night and day and like the rest of us, get time off when they can enjoy a drink or 6.

Pilots are supposed to be sensible intelligent and professional people…i know i’ve said in a previous thread that they’re only Human with the same foibles as everybody else …but they have hundreds of peoples lives in their hands and should know that any amount of alcohol should not be in their system before taking to the controls of 500MPH lethal weapon!!!

Dont worry, I agree with what you’re saying that pilots should be more sensible. However, its worth remembering that not all pilots are rule breakers. Most follow the rules. However, this problem with pilots drinking has been going on for a long time. A few years ago it was British Airways pilots that got a mention.. back when I was a kid it was Aeroflot’s pilots..etc. Some just think they can get away with it. However, as mentioned before, its just a case of consuming any amount of alcohol – even one drop and you’re over the limit.

I however do not drink alcohol at all. 🙂

The only way to do that is not to drink.

That would certainly seem to be the sensible option to me. Again, why risk losing your career or killing people for the sake of a few drinks? It doesn’t make any sense!

Paul

The “problem” is that the drink/fly limit is a ¼ of the drink/drive limit, that being 20mg instead of 80mg.

This is a seriously small amount of alcohol, the ruling is no alcohol 10hrs before a duty, but this isn’t enough in my opinion. How “much” alcohol before 10hrs?
Personally after a long day I come home and have a small glass of wine, taking into account my next duty time, I won’t have this if I am within 12hrs of a duty. The problem comes in people’s metabolic rate in ridding the blood of alcohol, you only need 2 pints or so 10hrs before and you could still have 20mg in your blood come duty time. Are you drunk? No, are you mentally impared? No, are you a risk? No, but that’s the rules, and it’s a sensible one.

The only true way of not being over this minute limit is not to drink at all, we know the rules, it’s up to us to ensure we are within the guidelines. The only way to do that is not to drink.

Pilots are supposed to be sensible intelligent and professional people

Unfortunately there isn’t really a link between intelligence and being sensible. The most intelligent people around can be just as stupid as anyone else. That said, I still can’t quite get my head around how anyone can spend thousands and thousands of pounds/dollars/whatever gaining their commercial licence to do what is considered by many to be a dream job, and throw it away for the sake of a few beers. How ridiculous!

Paul

Its up to the pilot not to get carried away when drinking and its a pilots responsibility not to drink before flying.

Not really something you can test for before hiring the pilot.

Pilots are supposed to be sensible intelligent and professional people…i know i’ve said in a previous thread that they’re only Human with the same foibles as everybody else …but they have hundreds of peoples lives in their hands and should know that any amount of alcohol should not be in their system before taking to the controls of 500MPH lethal weapon!!!

Its up to the pilot not to get carried away when drinking and its a pilots responsibility not to drink before flying.

Not really something you can test for before hiring the pilot.

Seem to hear a lot of these incidents in the news lately…aren’t these so-called professional people psychologically profiled before they’re hired???