MILLENNIAL PERSPECTIVE
organizational safety culture in this area could have had all team members on the same page from day one. This has been a surprising career sidebar that has challenged me to grow in ways that I never anticipated. As I discuss examples from personal
experience, please keep in mind that my body of evidence includes the consequences of both poor and sound judgement. This is my direct experience. I am certainly not above the fray morally, but I have chosen to tell the truth and plant my flag in a place that feels more appropriate with regard to mixing alcohol with flight crew duties. What I hope to accomplish here is not to blame or shame, but to implore managers and directors to be more proactive with their new employees. Walk with your new flight technicians and pilots as they explore the nuances of fitting in while maintaining their own integrity and personal safety limitations. Don’t just arm them with technical training before sending them out on the road as a flight crew member. Let them know what to expect while integrating socially to the team, so they are not left confused and anxious about the behavior they may witness and participate in on the road. Perhaps most importantly, be an advocate and an ally when a crew member expresses a desire to not participate in the booze-soaked revelry that may permeate the culture of your flight department. Ideally, break the cycle of incremental rationalization that may have diluted your organizations alcohol policy.
THE REGULATION The obvious first place to go when exploring alcohol in corporate aviation is our old rule book — FAR 91. Here is what we find in 91.17: “FAR 91.17 Alcohol or drugs. (a) No person may act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft—
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1) Within 8 hours after the consumption of any alcoholic beverage; (2) While under the influence of alcohol; (3) While using any drug that affects the person’s faculties in any way contrary to safety; (4) While having an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater in a blood or breath specimen. Alcohol concentration means grams of alcohol per deciliter of blood or grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.” This is very straight-forward. As a flight technician, it is easy to understand the prudence of applying these rules to crew members piloting the aircraft. In the interest of best practice, they should also govern the flight tech or cabin crew member — whoever is responsible for cabin evacuations in an emergency. The NBAA Management Guide supports applying pilot medical and fitness limitations to all cabin crew members. From the 2019 guide section on Crew Fitness and Health (2.5): “FAR Part 61.53 prohibits a pilot from flying if medically unfit. Cabin crew members should adhere to the same medical guidelines as those followed by the flight crew.” Clearly, 91.17 applies as much to the cabin attendant as it does to the pilots flying the airplane. Many flight departments choose to add detail to flesh out the alcohol and drug policy in their operations manuals. The department I worked for, and many others, follow the recommendations of the NBAA when setting these policies. More from the 2019 Management Guide: “The use of alcoholic beverages by crew members or personnel in a safety sensitive position on duty or within the FAA- specified time limitations should be cause for disciplinary action. FAR Section 91.17 states that no person may act as a crewmember while under the influence of alcohol. The definition of “under the
influence” includes hangovers. The FAA specifies that at least 8 hours must have elapsed between the completion of alcohol consumption and the beginning of flight duty, and 12 hours is generally accepted by the business aviation community.” The key points here are: 1. “Under the influence of Alcohol” includes hangovers, and 2. 12 hours bottle to throttle is the general rule adopted by flight departments, setting a stricter standard than the 8 hours found in 91.17. I think we can all agree that these restrictions are positive, and demonstrate a responsible, safety- oriented philosophy concerning alcohol use by the flight crew.
MY EXPERIENCE AS A NEW
TECHNICIAN As a newly minted flight technician, I was surprised to find that these restrictions were in fact meaningless to some of my peers. It was shocking, scary, anxiety-producing, and honestly exhilarating to watch as crews would park the airplane and scurry off as fast as the rental car could take us to whatever pre-determined watering hole they agreed upon. Often spurring themselves on with toasts to “Crew Appreciation Night” as they regaled us with stories, no… legends, of pilot heroics from the past. In all honesty, I loved it. I couldn’t believe this was my new job. I loved the adventure of it. I loved it until I got home and spent time in quiet analysis of what exactly just happened out there. I loved it until I felt the embarrassment that comes with an admission to self that I just participated in activities that although are fully sanctioned by my superiors, highlighted my apparently flimsy integrity. More importantly, these activities jeopardized my career and our collective safety. Not finding it funny anymore, I began to cringe as I watched crews become fall-down drunk, going hard right to the 12-hour limit before flying.
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