Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Bottle-to-throttle: The precautions airlines take to make sure your
pilot is sober
Commercial pilots should not sit in the cockpit under any influence of
alcohol or drugs. They are mandated to take a breathalyzer test before a flight.
But how sober do they need to be to fly an airplane? To your surprise, there is
no universal law that applies to all airlines. Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)
is widely used to measure how much alcohol remains in the bloodstream. In the
USA, the BAC limit for driving is 0.08% for adults. To sit in the airplane
cockpit, however, some countries require a BAC below 0.04%, others limit up to 0.02%,
while India implements no tolerance. Also, some airlines enforce a minimum cool-off
time between drinking alcohol and reporting for duty, called the bottle-to-throttle
window, like 12 hours by Delta and United airlines and 24 hours by Japan
Airlines. The airline also bans drinking during hotel layovers. Just like a surgeon,
vet, or driver, flight crew members are expected to be alcohol free when they perform
their duties.
Read the article and learn how sober commercial pilots need to be to
fly.
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