UK air crew face tough new alcohol limits

Pilots, cabin crew and air traffic controllers who drink on duty will now face police breathtesting under strict new Government alcohol limits which take effect today.

Pilots, cabin crew and air traffic controllers who drink on duty will now face police breathtesting under strict new British government alcohol limits which take effect today.

Professional mariners will also be subject to legal limits, while the question of limits for leisure seafarers is to be put out to consultation.

Aviation personnel will be subject to a limit of 20 milligrams (mg) of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood – four times more strict than the current road user alcohol limit of 80mg.

Licensed aircraft maintenance engineers will be subject to an 80mg limit, as will professional mariners.

The stringent new rules were welcomed by the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa).

Existing aviation legislation already makes it an offence for pilots and other members of the crew of an aircraft, air traffic controllers or licensed aircraft maintenance engineers to carry out their duties while impaired through alcohol or drugs.

From today, powers exist for the police to test suspected offenders and take action if they have more than the prescribed level of alcohol in their bodies.

Aviation personnel and professional mariners exceeding the limits could face fines of up to £5,000 (€7,476) or two years in prison.

Aviation minister Tony McNulty said: “This is an important safety initiative that will enhance the already high safety standards currently applied to aviation within the UK.

“Today’s announcement establishes a maximum permitted blood/alcohol limit and gives police the power to test suspected offenders.

“The action we have taken today has brought aviation into line with other modes of transport, which have had legal alcohol limits for many years.

“Those working within the industry recognise the danger of attempting to fly whilst impaired and most aviation organisations already operate a zero tolerance policy towards alcohol consumption by staff while on duty.”

The new limits will apply to all aviation personnel within the UK – regardless of nationality – and to the crews of UK-registered aircraft anywhere in the world.

No distinction will be drawn between the commercial and leisure sectors and the limits will apply to anyone who is flying or working with aircraft in their free time.

Graham Fowler, Balpa’s director of flight safety, said: “The law restates the existing legal limit of 20 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood - the equivalent of less than half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine.

“Pilots, however, go further than this. They abstain from any alcohol at all in the eight hours before a flight and most pilots don’t drink at all 24 hours before a flight.

“What is new in the regulations announced today is that police can breath-test a pilot or other member of safety-critical personnel like cabin crew and engineers if – and only if – they believe they may be over the existing limit. We welcome this.”

Balpa called for British government support for a scheme it had been promoting, under which pilots with a problem are temporarily taken off flying and offered support.

“They would neither lose their job nor seniority,” he said. “Such a scheme has worked extremely successfully in the USA for many years.”

Shipping Minister David Jamieson said legislation for alcohol limits on professional mariners would make it easier to secure prosecutions of offenders.

“Our ports and shipping lanes are busy places where one wrong move can put lives in danger,” he said.

“Mariners, like drivers, need to have a clear head and I hope these new limits will make mariners think and not drink.

“I believe that by introducing these limits we will make our seas safer for everyone who uses them.”

Marine officials have been given powers to detain vessels pending the arrival of the police if they have reason to suspect that an offence is being committed. It is the police who will conduct the tests.

The law will apply to professional mariners on UK registered vessels around the globe and to those serving on foreign vessels while in UK waters and on un-registered vessels in UK waters.

The British government will now consult on the introduction of an 80mg limit for leisure mariners – asking them who they think should be included in the new regulations.

When introduced, the limits will only apply to recreational mariners when their vessel is under way and then only to those who are navigating the vessel. The limits will not apply to passengers.

Today’s announcement followed a recommendation made by Lord Justice Clarke to introduce alcohol limits and tests for mariners.

Lord Justice Clarke made his recommendation in his Thames Safety Inquiry and endorsed it in his report into the 1989 Marchioness Thames riverboat disaster which claimed 51 lives.

In his report, Lord Clarke was critical of Captain Douglas Henderson, the master of the dredger Bowbelle, which collided with the pleasureboat Marchioness.

Captain Henderson had drunk about six pints of lager the afternoon before the disaster.

Although it was reckoned that Captain Henderson would have had no alcohol in his bloodstream at the time of the collision, the Clarke report added: “We cannot stress too strongly how much we deprecate Captain Henderson’s conduct in drinking so much before returning to the vessel as master.”

As well as recent high-profile cases of airline pilots consuming alcohol before flights, the issue of alcohol misuse amongst pilots was highlighted in a 1991 Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report into a fatal accident involving a light aircraft that crashed near Boreham Wood in Hertfordshire.

A sample of the pilot’s blood indicated an alcohol content of 325mg per 100ml.

The AAIB report recommended that the air navigation regulations in existence at the time be amended to require aircrew suspected of an offence under its provisions to submit a sample for analysis.