Keeping aviation personnel drug-free

What probably might have resulted in another major disaster in the aviation industry was averted recently by Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), following a random alcohol and drug test carried out on licensed aviation personnel. The screening was conducted on 87 officials including pilots and cabin crew members from two private airlines and Air Traffic Controllers of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

In all, 19 pilots, 52 cabin crew members, 10 licensed air traffic controllers and six trainees from the control tower and Total Radar Coverage of NAMA were scrutinised. A crew member tested positive to a psychoactive substance, Tetrahydro-Cannabinol, also known as marijuana, just before the commencement of flight operations. Further tests revealed a large quantity of the substance in the culprit’s urine sample. The crew member whose identity was shielded was immediately suspended from flight operations for 180 days  in compliance with the provisions of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs).

Airline crew members and air traffic controllers are prohibited from taking alcohol eight hours to flight operations and related duties. Until recently  Nigeria’s aviation industry has recorded numerous plane crashes. Investigations attributed the causes of some of them to human error and poor professional judgement which might not be unconnected with usage of  alcohol and other drugs .

At the height of the frequent crashes, the nation lost its international safety certification status. The random test of personnel is part of the measures the NCAA put in place to sanitise the system and maintain the best safety standards. Usage of psychoactive drugs like marijuana by crew members preparatory to flight operations is capable of jeopardising general flight safety.

This routine  move by the NCAA  is commendable because it did not wait for an air mishap before reacting, which is typical of most government agencies. That was not the first time such effort in the past yielded similar result. This bold initiative  is recommended to similar agencies. Government agencies entrusted with the safety of lives and property of the public must remain eternally vigilant and conduct random checks such as the one NCAA carried out with a productive outcome.

The indicted personnel should face the consequences of testing positive to alcohol and drugs while on duty. Airlines whose staff are caught should also be sanctioned because they should ordinarily conduct routine internal due diligence on their staff to ensure maximum safety and not wait for industry regulators to catch them pants-down.

We call on the NCAA not to rest on its oars because this nation cannot afford any new round of agonies as a result of loss of precious lives to avoidable air accidents and crashes.

 

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