Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 20, 1990 TAG: 9007200561
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A/8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's not to say he or she is flying drunk. Many alcoholics are able to separate their drinking hours from their working hours. And federal rules forbid a pilot to drink alcohol within eight hours of flying.
But of course, the rule is broken. In a notorious case, three pilots for Northwest Airlines were arrested March 8 after their Flight 650 landed in Minneapolis. Federal authorities were tipped the three had been drinking. One was said to have fallen out of his barroom chair and been unable to find his motel room the night before.
The trio goes on trial July 25. Operating a common carrier while under the influence of alcohol or drugs is a felony, punishable by as much as 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Northwest fired the three; given the apparent flagrancy of the violation, that is understandable. But it raises a broader question of what else can be done about commercial fliers with drinking problems.
Northwest itself used to have a stern policy. It did not permit its pilots to drink during the 24 hours before they flew. Those who broke the rule were grounded for two years. But a year ago, the airline decided the policy was so harsh that it worked to prevent discovery of pilot alcoholism. Northwest then joined a government-run rehabilitation program that treats pilots with the aim of returning them to the cockpit.
There is an economic as well as humanitarian motive for airlines: Through rehabilitation they protect their investment in training, which runs into millions of dollars per pilot. The program, supported by the pilots' union and most of the industry, has treated about 1,200 airline pilots since it began 15 years ago.
That still leaves an undetermined number of pilots who would be candidates for the program but haven't been detected - either by revealing their own problem or being turned in by co-workers or others. "For every pilot I treat," said Dr. Joseph A. Pursch, director of the Addiction Institute in Costa Mesa, Calif., "there are five more who just sneak into early retirement." While those keep flying, they pose varying degrees of danger to their passengers and fellow crew members.
Dennis Price, an industrial-safety specialist and Virginia Tech professor, would like to see a 24-hour proscription on pilot drinking rather than the eight hours now in effect. But if some are violating the eight-hour rule, they are not likely to be more conscientious if the limit is 24 hours. The federal government conducts random tests for drugs such as marijuana and cocaine; Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., wants to extend that to random tests of pilots for alcohol.
That would not be unreasonable, but it still would not detect all problem drinkers in the cockpit. The shock caused by the arrest of those three Northwest pilots was therapeutic; afterward, several other pilots entered the rehabilitation program. But making an example of a few offenders is not the solution, either. Alcoholics typically deny their problem, and experts say this is especially true among pilots, who are supposed to be steely nerved.
Preflight testing of every pilot is, of course, impossible, so there can never be a guarantee to passengers that the skies they fly are both friendly and drug-free. For optimum safety, airlines should screen prospective pilots more carefully to detect any personality profile or other signs of a drinking problem. The industry and unions should also join to spread the word among employees that it's not ratting to turn in a pilot for drinking. A career can be salvaged while lives are protected.
by CNB