I’m not Up in the Air like George Clooney, I don’t have 10 million frequent flyer miles—or even a million miles—but as someone who spends a considerable amount of time traveling by air, this topic scares me. A lot. I only hope that if such a travesty were to occur, Denzel Washington is the pilot of my Flight.
On May 22nd, Flight Training Blog posted an article aimed at individuals presumably considering a career as a professional pilot. The topic was pilot sobriety. Flight Training posed two scenarios about how future pilots might handle the following during an interview situation.
Assuming wheels up at 7AM the next day:
- Scenario A: You come back to the hotel at 8 p.m. and see your captain in the bar having what is clearly not his first drink.
- Scenario B: Here is a twist, one to muddy the waters a bit. Again, you and the captain head off in different directions after arriving at the hotel. You return that evening and go to bed, not having seen hide nor hair of anyone else from your crew. The next morning, you watch the captain come out of the elevator, and it is clear that not only has he been drinking, but he is also either suffering a pretty good hangover or may even still be a bit tipsy. Now what do you do?
Now before you formulate your own answers, let’s first look at what the Federal Aviation Administration has to say about pilot sobriety. Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 91.17 stipulates that no person may operate or attempt to operate an aircraft:
- Within 8 hours of having consumed alcohol
- While under the influence of alcohol
- With a blood alcohol content of 0.04% or greater
Although the FAA has an 8 hour timeframe from “bottle to throttle,” most major airlines have a more restrictive rule, usually requiring at least 12 hours. The FAA also acknowledges that problems can occur with BAC levels of 0.04%, citing problems in pilot performance where BAC concentrations are as low as 0.025%.
Unfortunately both scenarios have a common denominator working against them.
Time!
While coffee, sleep, aspirin, and even the best greasy cheeseburger may make a hangover “feel better,” the unfortunate fact remains that even after complete elimination of alcohol in the body, there are undesirable effects—hangovers—that can last 48 to 72 hours following the last drink. The majority of adverse effects produced by alcohol relate to the brain, the eyes, and the inner ear, all three of which are crucial to a pilot.
Recently the UK reported that more than half the drunk driving arrests were taking place the morning after drinking, highlighting the little-understood fact that alcohol takes hours to eliminate from your system.
So, ready to put your tray tables in the upright and locked position for that flight to the beach this summer?
I joke!
The sky is not falling, nor are the planes. The fact of the matter is that the number of pilots involved in aviation accidents from 2000 to 2007 that had a history of alcohol offenses accounted for 9% (215 of 2391) of the aviation accidents during that time period Alcohol-Related Aviation Accidents. This is because everyday men and women of the aviation industry chose to do the right thing and show up sober and ready to transport us to our final destination, wherever that may be. And I thank you!
If you were an aspiring pilot, how would you answer the above scenarios? Also, knowing the immense responsibility that pilots carry, how has this made you look at society? Are we too relaxed and too confident with our ability to operate a car under the same circumstance?
Just saw the film with my husband (who is in the N/A Program). The plot opened up a great discussion about society’s attitudes about problem drinking. Much of the audience found humor at certain points when Denzel overdid it, but they applauded the film’s ending and his decision to come clean. I’d heard before that a considerable number of pilots are on coke to stay sharp. That gives me the shivers…