Mumbai, Feb 17: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has made significant revisions to the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) regarding breath analyser (BA) examinations for flight crew by relaxing the treatment of the first violation for up to 0.009% of blood alcohol content, with counselling, which was earlier dealt with a three-month suspension.
The revised air safety CAR for the pre-flight breath analyser test introduces a more nuanced approach for very low alcohol readings. It overall tightens the leash on repeat offenders, including the permanent revocation of flying privileges for certain violations.
Leniency for very low first-time readings
For the first time, the regulator has introduced a provision for extremely low readings for first-time offenders. According to the updated rules, for a BA reading of up to 0.009 gm/100 ml of blood, the violation will not be endorsed on the crew member's licence, allowing them to return to duty after counselling without a permanent black mark. The move is considered to bring leniency in the norms, as the same violation earlier attracted suspension for three months.
According to the DGCA, the counselling should be carried out by the scheduled operators’ Chief Medical Officer and the Chief of Flight Safety, whereas in the case of non-scheduled operators, the Accountable Manager and the Chief of Flight Safety shall carry out the counselling.
Stricter action for repeat offenders
The regulator stated that any repeat BA positive case shall be considered as a first violation and can attract enforcement. The rest of the norms, including enforcement, continue to remain the same, with the first-time BA positive attracting three months’ licence suspension, three years’ suspension for the second time and cancellation of licence on the third time.
The rules for foreign pilots operating in India under Foreign Aircrew Temporary Authorisation (FATA) continue to remain absolute. A single positive pre-flight BA test leads to the immediate cancellation of their FATA and the pilot will be barred from seeking future authorisations to fly in Indian airspace.
Airlines’ internal policies remain stringent
Notably, many of the Indian airlines, including Air India and IndiGo, follow a stricter version of terminating a pilot for a BA violation of above 0.020 gm/100 ml and three-month suspension. Whereas, a BA recording below 0.020 gm/100 ml attracts a three-month suspension without pay.
The post-flight violations and attempts to evade testing also continue to attract the same enforcement actions. If a crew member misses the pre-flight BA for the first time and is found negative in the post-flight BA after the first landing, it will attract only a warning and is considered as the first violation.
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However, if the crew misses the pre-flight BA for the second time, or missed the first-time pre-flight BA and the post-flight BA is not conducted immediately after the first landing, the crew is penalised with suspension of licence for three months. The second instance of missing pre-flight BA attracts three years of licence suspension.
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