Alcohol and flying
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 4,729
Likes: 0
From: 75N 16E
....or a flying holiday in the USA with your mates....
I got an email before christmas with a photo attached of me and two mates and this girlie in a bar in California. It was addressed to the "BA Pilots"
I don't remember a thing about that night but we obviously made an impression. Next time I'm in Fort Lauderdale, I'll be sure to stop by and visit Katrina as invited....whoever she is....
I got an email before christmas with a photo attached of me and two mates and this girlie in a bar in California. It was addressed to the "BA Pilots"
I don't remember a thing about that night but we obviously made an impression. Next time I'm in Fort Lauderdale, I'll be sure to stop by and visit Katrina as invited....whoever she is....
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,486
Likes: 7
From: Darwin
My personal limit is nothing in the 12 hours before flying, but then im never a heavy drinker. If I ever did drink far more than usual, I would plan to not fly at all the following day.
On a related note.. a couple of friends I went flying with in the states would often partake in smoking weed in the evenings - though not if they intended to fly the following morning. They treated weed with the same approach as to drinking before flying, which i guess makes sense. Does anyone have any figures on how long the imparing effects of this stay around in the body?
(and tangentially to this - it would show up in a class 1 medical renewal, wouldnt it? I dont know whats involved for the class 1, never done one)
On a related note.. a couple of friends I went flying with in the states would often partake in smoking weed in the evenings - though not if they intended to fly the following morning. They treated weed with the same approach as to drinking before flying, which i guess makes sense. Does anyone have any figures on how long the imparing effects of this stay around in the body?
(and tangentially to this - it would show up in a class 1 medical renewal, wouldnt it? I dont know whats involved for the class 1, never done one)
PPRuNe Handmaiden
Joined: Feb 1997
Posts: 4,914
Likes: 184
From: Duit On Mon Dei
THC is a fat soluble substance and tends to hang around where there's a lot of fatty stuff. One place is the brain. (Fat= energy in simplistic terms and the brain uses a lot)
Hence it hangs around the body for a lot longer than alcohol. (Alcohol is metabolised in the liver and broken down by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase)
Depending on usage rates, the brain can be affected in decreasing amounts for up to a week. THC can be detected in hair for up to 3 months.
At the moment, there is no specific test for THC in the class 1 but I am sure it will be tested for in the future.
Hence it hangs around the body for a lot longer than alcohol. (Alcohol is metabolised in the liver and broken down by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase)
Depending on usage rates, the brain can be affected in decreasing amounts for up to a week. THC can be detected in hair for up to 3 months.
At the moment, there is no specific test for THC in the class 1 but I am sure it will be tested for in the future.
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 716
Likes: 7
From: London
I think if you smoke a lot, it can have a mental effect that has quite some inertia - as opposed to booze where you are pretty much mentally clean within 48 hours or so.
Whilst the herbal cigs don't do much for me, some friends who've done regular smoking (i.e. most nights) said they started to get a bit woolly after awhile.
Personally, given the choice, I'd rather fly with a heavy drinker who'd abstained the night before, rather than a heavy toker who'd done the same.
Obviously it's all relative. I doubt the occasional smoke is going to be much trouble, kept at a suitable distance from flying.
Whilst the herbal cigs don't do much for me, some friends who've done regular smoking (i.e. most nights) said they started to get a bit woolly after awhile.
Personally, given the choice, I'd rather fly with a heavy drinker who'd abstained the night before, rather than a heavy toker who'd done the same.
Obviously it's all relative. I doubt the occasional smoke is going to be much trouble, kept at a suitable distance from flying.
