A random drug test led to a cancelled flight on Singapore Airlines, underscoring what could be a much broader problem.
Singapore Airlines flies from Melbourne, Australia to Wellington, New Zealand, known as the airlines’ Capital Express Route. On Saturday, Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) officials randomly tested the crew for alcohol and drugs in their blood.
The pilot had flown in from Singapore a couple days earlier and had been relaxing in Melbourne before the continuation of SQ 247.
Upon failing the sobriety test, he was instantly suspended pending further investigation. Sadly for the passengers onboard, another pilot could not be located and the flight was cancelled. Many passengers onboard were headed to a rugby match in Wellington and were unable to reach it. The return flight was also cancelled.
https://twitter.com/M_iikun/status/1040757097208508421
How Big A Problem Is This?
One random drug test, one pilot unfit to fly. First, let’s concede that the pilot may have been “sober” in the sense that the alcohol had no effects on his speech, vision, and ability to fly the plane. Sometimes alcohol in blood can linger long after the physical effects of that alcohol have passed. I’d like to give him the benefit the doubt and hope that was the case.
But pilots should know they are held to a higher standard. The mindset should not be “how much I can get away with” but understanding the solemn responsibility of taking the lives of hundreds of people into their hands.
I hope news stories like this will cause pilots to think twice about having that third beer or second glass of wine, even if it leads to no discernible changes in behavior.
image: Transport Pixels / Wikimedia Commons
“First, let’s concede that the pilot may have been “sober” in the sense that the alcohol had no effects on his speech, vision, and ability to fly the plane. Sometimes alcohol in blood can linger long after the physical effects of that alcohol have passed. I’d like to give him the benefit the doubt and hope that was the case.”
Are you serious???
I am. It doesn’t excuse his conduct in the least. He should be fired either way: I just hope he didn’t KNOW he was intoxicated…
That’s the line used by every drunk driver — “sure I technically had a BAC over the limit, but it didn’t affect my speech, vision or ability to drive a car.” It is frankly beyond inexcusable, whether he knew his BAC or not.
Schubert stated that this is the first time, to his knowledge, that a Singapore Airlines pilot has ever failed a sobriety test. Both CASA and Singapore Airlines did not comment further on next steps for the pilot.