Proposed Law on Drugs/Alcohol in Aviation
Railways and Transport Bill
The Department for Transport has issued a press release regarding this Bill, which was laid before Parliament on 14 February. The paragraph I have extracted below may be of interest to pilots, controllers and perhaps engineers too. I am not sure what the 'related measures' will be or how far the definition of 'others with safety critical functions in aviation' extends, but perhaps somebody out there may be able to throw more light on these issues?
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"Alcohol limits and related measures would be introduced for crews on water-borne vessels, and for crew members and others with safety-critical functions in aviation. The limits would be enforced in a similar fashion to how drink-drive limits are enforced on the roads, with the police given powers to test individuals if a reasonable suspicion exists that an offence is, or has been, committed. "
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Are we going to see police officers in the future asking pilots questions such as 'is this your aeroplane sir/madam? or 'please can you blow into this bag sir/madam?'