Originally Posted by
White Knight
And to add. I'm damn sure I could fly better after a couple of pints of beer than after a restless night, say in Shanghai during Chinese New year, and then looking at the stars for 8 hours before shooting a Cat3 into Dubai after an hour of holding.
FATIGUE is far more of an issue in aviation than booze
White Knight, your post doesn't make any sense at all.
Putting aside the question of whether a "a couple of pints", or about a litre, of a decent full strength brew would leave you fit to fly, surely, both fatigue
and booze are problems?
Sure, a very fatigued pilot may be a bigger risk than a pilot who has imbibed a quiet light beer (and less than 2 pints) some hours before take-off. However, a pilot who has had several drinks prior to a flight will probably be a bigger risk than a a pilot who happened to have a less-than-perfect night's sleep.
Further, let's consider a fatigued pilot whose condition is exacerbated by having a few drinks. That is, one who is both fatigued
and drunk. He would be considerably more dangerous than a pilot who is "merely" fatigued.
It's true that fatigue is a major issue, and a more prevalent problem than alcohol consumption by professional pilots. But to trivialize the severe effect of alcohol consumption on a pilot's aptitude is just plain silly.