New Delhi: For the first time, India has proposed to conduct marijuana tests randomly on pilots, cabin crew and air traffic controllers (ATCOS).
Aspiring pilots may be needed to undergo a test for psychoactive substances before entering the flying school.
If flight personnel test positive for the second time can cause a suspension of licenses for three years and the third positive test can mean the cancellation of the license.
Drugs to be tested include amphetamines, methamphants, marijuana, cocaine, opioids, inherited, benzodizipine and mdma or ecstasy.
The flight crew members and other major flight personnel in the operation were mandator with the target of breath testing to ensure they were not drunk when reporting to work.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of Arun Kumar, on Wednesday, published a design rule of ‘procedures for inspection of flight personnel for the consumption of psychoactive substances’ which will soon be resolved and made mandatory for airports and airport operators.
At least 5% of Members of the Airlines and ATCOS crew need to be subject to randomized tests every year.
Regulators have also been ‘encouraging’ maintenance and improvement of organizations and flight training organizations (FTO) to carry out this random test on the pilot trainee.
ATC members or flight crew refuses to undergo this test must undergo a test within three days.
This failure, the license “must be deferred for a period of one year and the person involved will undergo a rehabilitation process before returning to the active task.” Tests will be carried out on urine samples collected from randomly selected employees.