Jeff Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 FAR Part 120 becomes effective on July 31, 2009. It outlines drug testing requirements for aviation employees and employers. Look it over and see what you think. Is drug use a big problem among pilots? I'm thinking the FAA went overboard on this one. ~Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin DBC Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 (edited) FAR Part 120 becomes effective on July 31, 2009. It outlines drug testing requirements for aviation employees and employers. Look it over and see what you think. Is drug use a big problem among pilots? I'm thinking the FAA went overboard on this one. ~Jeff I don't see anything wrong with it from what I've read. I don't think the issue is that there are lots of pilots going out and smoking crack or shooting heroin before flights, but rather people being careless with prescription medications. I've also heard of quite a few people making dumb decisions regarding alcohol pre-flight. Either way, it is just another deterent that will keep everyone safer. I have heard the argument that drug testing produces false positives, but I have honestly never seen this happen in 8 years of being in the military and we are drug tested frequently. The only thing I can really see being an issue is that some of this cost is probably going to fall on the employers, but I think this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that it ensures more productive and repsonsible employees. I had a difficult time finding current statistics on alcohol/drug related accidents. The latest one I could find ended the study in 1999. In that year, there were a total of 14 with 12 (85.7%) being fatal. The average alcohol/drug related accident rate for the 5 year study was 28. That shows the accident rate going down, but I was literally only able to find a paragraph and this was from 10 years ago. While the numbers are relitively low, I feel that more stringent drug/alcohol testing is worth it if it saves even one life. Is it an inconvenience? Yes. Are there problems with it? Yes. Do I like trying to take a leak in a small cup that I know is going to end up spilling while some guy looks at my wang like I'm some kind of criminal? Hell no! But hey... This kind of thing comes with the territory doesn't it? J- Just my $0.02 Edited July 9, 2009 by Justin DBC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick1128 Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 From what I see, it is really nothing but the FAA cleaning up some of the regulatory clutter that they have created. Nothing really has changed overall. I see some clarification of the matter also. Not a big deal from my view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted July 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Well, I for one do not do drugs. So for me to go pee in a cup every so often is a very minor inconvenience at most. Two things about this bother me: 1) It pretty much includes all commercial flight activities that includes someone besides the pilot in the aircraft, plus support personnel. I'm glad that all these people are more likely to be drug free, but I'm not crazy about the government making more regulations for something that historically hasn't been a problem (that I know of). 2) I am a private contractor. I free-lance instruct to aircraft owners, and I contract with two different flight schools (one helicopter, one airplane). See the potential confusion? Do I have to be on three different drug programs, or will one work? If one is okay, can it be one of the flight schools' or does it have to be my own? I guess we'll have to wait and see how it works out ~Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin DBC Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 2) I am a private contractor. I free-lance instruct to aircraft owners, and I contract with two different flight schools (one helicopter, one airplane). See the potential confusion? Do I have to be on three different drug programs, or will one work? If one is okay, can it be one of the flight schools' or does it have to be my own? I guess we'll have to wait and see how it works out ~Jeff If it made complete sense, it wouldn't be an FAR J- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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