Originally Posted by
tdracer
Coke isn't like alcohol - you don't simply 'sleep it off'. In fact, it's a terrifically powerful stimulant to the point where 'sleep' is next to impossible. The 'high' is fairly short lived, but the stimulant effects mean that sleep in the next 12+ hours is very, very unlikely. I've heard of people going on coke benders that didn't sleep for multiple days.
So, best case, the pilot in question would have been heading out on a long-haul flight horribly fatigued.
Thanks for the expert opinion but has anyone seen mention anywhere of evidence that he was actually impaired when he rocked up to work?
ie. was he flicking every switch, dancing around the flight deck talking bollocks at a thousand words per minute so the Capt booted him off.
He’s been a very naughty silly boy and if he takes it on the chin and jumps over the hurdles that are quite rightly put in front of him, I can see him getting back into the flight deck in a few years once the dust has settled. No need to throw him to the wolves just yet - see how he bounces back. There’s a few pilots out there with a history still flying around that this group would have burned at the stake.
It was only a few years ago the flight deck were smoking away and having landing drinks before getting stuck into Deirdre and her mates down route for a few days. Not sure airline pilots can be described as Saints and claim the moral high ground as this thread would have us believe. How many have second or third wives a lot younger than them that were CC with a bit of a cross over period.
I would also suggest the reason BA haven’t instigated drug testing of every pilot in the company ASAP is they don’t want to see the results. A minority will fail as they would in any airline and that’s only more bad headlines.
To err is human and to forgive devine. (If he earns the forgiveness)