Originally Posted by
late developer
Sounds like you may be extolling the virtues of a promise of a soft landing for the few, EI. I only wish it were so simple. How about the message to the many who on one day (or two, then three ... ) will have a bad day on the flightdeck with a hangover, or maybe just a little bit of performance lag?
Or have I got the many and the few mixed up?
Sounds like random breath-testing might be part of a solution.
I appreciate your concern, and I apologize if I may be misunderstanding your meaning, but I do not believe that anyone who has
really read and absorbed the message in this thread will see us as advocating that an understanding of the problems of alcoholism at the management level will serve as permission to enter the flight deck with a hangover (or under the influence) in the knowledge that a "soft landing" will result if they have a performance lag (or worse). It has been pretty universally stated that any intent to fly in such a state is worthy of immediate suspension of one's flying priveleges, with reinstatement only after management is satisfied that there won't be a repeat performance.
Personally, I would have no problem with random breath testing, but it would be a rather expensive waste of resources, IMHO. There is simply not enough evidence to suggest an endemic problem among pilots which could justify the cost. The vast majority of pilots arrive at work in a state which would not result in a positive breath test. Are there exceptions? Yes, without a doubt. I admit to having stepped over the line a time or two in the past. Not any more, I can assure you. There is a far more effective and less expensive prevention method is available. It starts with education so that pilots gain a true appreciation of the hidden effects of alcohol on cognitive ability. Such effects do not require a significant level of alcohol saturation to become prevalent and we all need to appreciate that when we're on the way to work. Like understanding that busting weather minima can put our careers (or our lives) in jeopardy, it's pretty hard to justify having alcohol in the bloodstream at work once you know the consequences.