Monday, February 06, 2012

Editorial: When pilots ‘fly’

The arrest of a Lion Air pilot after being caught red-handed in possession of crystal methamphetamine on Saturday is indeed a cause for concern. That Saiful Salam is the third flight captain nabbed for drug-related crimes within the last eight months should serve as a warning to the country’s aviation safety, which has been severely tainted following a series of accidents last year.

Had the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) not arrested Saiful at his hotel room in Surabaya, only less than three hours before his scheduled take-off, he would have put many lives on board at risk. As it deals with safety, flying under the influence of alcohol or drugs is punishable by a jail sentence and fine.

BNN officers busted Saiful over one month after the arrest of his colleague Hanum Adhyaksa, who led the police to Saiful. Hanum, according to BNN spokesman Sr. Comr. Sumirat Santoso, had told investigators he once consumed crystal meth together with Saiful.

In June last year BNN apprehended another Lion Air pilot, Muhammad Nasri, and his co-pilot Husni Thamrin, for the same crime, three months after the arrest of an air crew with the airline company for possessing crystal meth.

Like cocaine, meth can make its addicts feel “flying” and relaxed. They can be sober and awake for a long time, but then they feel depressed and tired.

Medical experts are of the same opinion that flying under the influence of drugs and alcohol will impair the performance of the pilots as it affects their nervous systems and law enforcers agree that taking illegal drugs is a serious criminal offense.

A study conducted by the US Federal Aviation Administration on civil aviation accidents in 2000-2007 revealed that 23 pilots had consumed ethanol prior to fatal accidents. More strikingly, a military tribunal heard two US F-16 fighter pilots serving in Afghanistan, Harry Schmidt and William Umbach, mistakenly bombed Canadian soldiers in April 2002 while under the influence of an amphetamine administered by their flight surgeon.

For Lion Air, currently the largest budget airline company in the country, the arrests should trigger bold measures to ensure all its air and ground staff is clean, including random tests widely practiced in the sports world. Lion Air has conducted regular drug tests on its pilots, even during their recruitment test, but the arrest of several of its air crews displays a flaw in the supervision mechanism.

Random testing has been in place within national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia for the last seven years, which according to the company’s operational director, Ari Sapari, forces pilots to undergo 14 tests a year.

Random checks may force the aviation industry to spend more, but the price must be miniscule compared to the industry’s credibility, let alone passengers’ safety.

The drug cases involving pilots may not amount to a trend yet, at least for the time being, but BNN needs to dig deeper into the possibility that the Lion Air crews are clients of a drug syndicate that may supply the same products to flight attendants from other airline companies.

As the regulator, the government cannot take the drug abuse among flight attendants lightly, but should inspire it to tighten regulations related to air crews before it is too late.

Source:  http://www.thejakartapost.com

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