SAFETY

Drug- and alcohol-related aviation
accidents and incidents

The prevalence of drug- and alcohol-related accidents and incidents in civil aviation is pretty low. Regarding car drivers, the rate seems to be slightly higher.

But what aviation and roads share in common regarding the use of drug and alcohol is the high rate of fatalities.

A recent research from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau studied accidents and incidents involving drugs and alcohol in Australia between January 1975 and March 2006. There were 36 such events, most related to alcohol, and they accounted for 0.02% of all incidents. Fatal accidents accounted for 67% of all drug and alcohol occurrences.

In the US, 12,7% of the General Aviation fatalities are attributed to alcohol.

Australia plans to introduce mandatory drug and alcohol testing of aviation personnel, as USA does now for years.

Some facts and figures:

• About 5% of the workers abuse alcohol (every pilot... works);
• Alcohol is a sedative, a neurotoxic and an hypnotic;
• it impairs judgment and is addictive; this is the best factors for a... drug;
• Studies show that if you’re addicted to one drug then you have a greater chance of being addicted to another drug e.g. addicted to smoking and alcohol;
• Studies show that if there is a history of alcohol or drug abuse in your family then the likelihood of you having an alcohol problem is high.