What is the problem?
The use of over-the-counter (OTC), prescription, and illicit drugs is
increasing in the U.S. Many drugs have impairing side effects, and
determining the relationship between a drug’s presence in the body
and an individual’s ability to operate an airplane is very complex.
Unlike alcohol, drugs can affect individuals differently, which makes
tackling drug-impaired aircraft operation particularly challenging.
We are increasingly concerned about the safety implications of drug
use in all modes of transportation.
In aviation, most fatal accidents
involving drug use occur in general
aviation (GA) aircraft. In most
modes of transportation, data about
operator drug use is limited to a small
portion of operators and a short list
of drugs. Aviation is the one mode
in which the regulatory authority,
the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA), routinely conducts extensive
postaccident toxicology testing in
fatally injured pilots.
Our 2014 study, Drug Use Trends in
Aviation: Assessing the Risk of Pilot
Impairment, analyzed drug use trends
in aviation between 1990 and 2012.
Of the 6,677 study pilots, we found
the proportion of pilots with at least
one positive drug finding increased
from less than 10 percent of pilots in 1990 to a high of 40 percent
in 2011. Although evidence of illicit drug use was found in only a
small number of cases, the positive marijuana results increased
from 1.6 percent between 1990 and 1997 to 3 percent between 2008
and 2012. The most commonly found impairing substance in fatal
crashes was diphenhydramine, a sedating antihistamine found in
OTC allergy, cold, and sleep-aid medications.
What can be done?
In February 2019, NTSB dertermined the following:
Aviation accidents caused by drug-impaired operators are 100 percent
preventable. We have issued many recommendations to address
this problem in all transportation modes.
To address the problem of drug impairment in
aviation, the following actions should be taken:
Regulators
- Require pilots who are exempt from medical certification
requirements to periodically report to you their status as active
pilots and to provide a summary of their recent flight hours.
- Develop, publicize, and periodically update information to educate
pilots about the potentially impairing drugs identified by your
toxicology tests on fatally injured pilots, and make pilots aware of
less impairing alternative drugs, if they are available.
Pilots
- Become familiar with the Aeronautical Information Manual’s “I’M
SAFE” checklist, which helps pilots assess and verify that they are
healthy and fit for flight. The checklist includes assessing if various
issues, like illness, medication, or alcohol, may impair your ability to
fly safely.
- Talk to your pharmacist, aviation medical examiner, or prescribing
physician to determine the effects of any medications you’re taking
and whether there are any dangerous interactions you should be
aware of. Additionally, read and follow the package warnings for all
prescription and OTC medications, and don’t fly after taking sedating
and impairing medications until the condition you are treating
has resolved and you are no longer experiencing the medication’s
adverse effects.
- To ensure the adverse effects of a medicine have resolved, follow
the FAA-recommended minimum wait times between your last dose
of medication and beginning of pilot duties—which is 5 times the
maximum pharmacologic half-life of the medication, or 5 times the
maximum hour dose interval if pharmacologic half-life information
is not available.
- As an employee performing safety-sensitive functions in the
transportation industry, you are responsible for providing a safe work
environment for your coworkers and the traveling public. Creating a
safe work environment not only means following established work
rules, but also following the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s)
rules on drug use and alcohol misuse.
- Recognize that marijuana is a schedule I federally prohibited drug
that impairs your mental state and ability to safely operate motor
vehicles and aircraft! DOT and FAA guidance regarding marijuana
states that even though it may be legal for medicinal and recreational
use in some states, it is not at all permitted for flight.
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