Gotta love the headline writers...
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Drunken pilots the latest air-scare
Growth in the number of airline pilots failing sobriety tests has led the US government to tighten procedures to keep those caught drunk out of the cockpit.
Last year 22 commercial airline pilots in the US tested positive for alcohol use, up from nine in 2001, and nine pilots have tested positive so far this year, according to a report in The Australian.
That's only a fraction of the about 75,000 US airline pilots but enough to cause the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish new procedures for dealing with drunk pilots.
The jump in numbers has led the FAA to change its policy so that pilots who failed sobriety tests immediately have both their medical and airman's certificates revoked. Both certificates are required for a pilot to fly. Previously only the medical certificate was revoked in cases of drug or alcohol use.
An increasing number of pilots caught drunk while on duty does not necessarily mean more intoxicated pilots are trying to fly planes, according to a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, the largest pilots' union. “It may mean more are getting caught.”
19 June 2003
http://www.hospitalitymagazine.com.a...2/0c017872.asp
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A similar headline from politically correct CNN (where a rioter is labeled a 'community activist' and an illegal alien is now an 'undocumented migrant'):
FAA tightens policies for drunk pilots
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/06/18/drunken.pilots.ap/