PILOTS AND ‘BOTTLE TO THROTTLE’ RULE 

Airlines must do everything to enforce discipline in their operations

The confirmation by Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) that the flight crew of a domestic carrier that recently overshot the runway at Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo International Airport, Omagwa, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, tested positive to alcohol and cannabis is disturbing. These are substances the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) prohibits pilots from taking when they are flying. Others include stimulants, cocaine, opiates and metabolites, benzodiazepine, etc. The ‘bottle to throttle’ rule also prohibits pilots from consuming alcohol within eight hours of a flight. The rule ensures that a pilot’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is below the legal limit of 0.04%, and crew members must not be under the influence of alcohol when operating an aircraft.

To the extent that alcohol and cannabis could impair a pilot’s judgment, which is critical in landing and take-off, the Port Harcourt incident was a narrow escape for Nigeria. We therefore enjoin authorities in the aviation sector to take the issue seriously to ensure it doesn’t happen again. The last time a scheduled commercial flight was involved in air crash with fatalities was on 3 October 2013, when Associated Aviation Flight 361 crashed on take-off from the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. That accident was attributed to human error. Since then, Nigeria has maintained a good record in air safety, especially in commercial, schedule service, which is deemed very important because of the number of passengers that are airlifted at the same time by one aircraft.

It is particularly heartwarming that Nigeria has maintained such a good record for 12 years, which is the longest period the country has had such safety record in the history of commercial aviation. This is also why it is important that airlines must do everything possible to maintain discipline by reinforcing improvement in their operations. On this particular incident concerning alcohol and substance abuse, the signal is that it is a major responsibility of airlines to monitor the activities of pilots and cabin crew before they embark on flights. This is to ensure that they are in the best state of mind by abstaining from substances prohibited by the law.

Activities of the pilots are better monitored by the airlines because airline operation is not just about providing scheduled commercial service but effective management of personnel, and equipment in line with extant regulations to ensure that flight operations are conducted in a safe and secure manner. The airlines should therefore pay more attention to the behavioural patterns of the crew by using their operational safety auditors to monitor them. They must also apply stringent punitive measures when anyone derails from the rule of engagement. We hope that appropriate sanctions have been applied to the erring pilot and cabin crew members by the airlines concerned.

  There is a lot for the airlines to learn from the oil and gas shuttle, which is a more critical sub-sector. While the pilots are under the management of their airlines, they are effectively monitored by oil and gas officials in charge of crew activities. They monitor what they eat and even when they finally retire to bed, usually by 10:00 pm. The pilots are only free when they are off duty. It is also the responsibility of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to carry out effective oversight of airlines. We recommend unscheduled ramp visits to test pilots for illicit substances. Seeking and securing such information by NCAA can go a long way to pre-empt and check deviant behaviours. Airlines handling companies and others involved in flight operations can also give NCAA heads-up or clue about pilots and other crew members who break the rules.

The regulatory authority has indicated that airlines have engaged in checking the behaviour of their crew, but there is need to reinforce that responsibility. Globally, such failures occur from time to time, but the drastic steps in correction and prevention by concerned authorities give assurance that the system can be secure and that those who travel by air are safe.

Quote

The regulatory authority has indicated that airlines have engaged in checking the behaviour of their crew, but there is need to reinforce that responsibility