Mon, Dec 06, 2004
No Matter What They Say In Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania
legislature this week passed a "flying while impaired" law, joining
47 other states that have laws against drinking and flying. That
was in response to the January drunken, erratic flight of a
Pennsylvania pilot through Philadelphia's Class B airspace and near
a nuclear power plant. Gov. Edward Rendell is expected to sign
it.
"We absolutely condemn flying while impaired," said Bruce
Landsberg, executive director of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation,
"but it's also important to note that as a group, pilots are
scrupulous about not mixing alcohol and flying."
In fact, Air Safety Foundation statistics show that alcohol has
been a factor in only 0.2 percent of general aviation accidents in
the past five years.
GA pilots take very seriously FAR 91.17(a), which says, "No
person may act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil
aircraft: Within 8 hours after the consumption of any alcoholic
beverage; while under the influence of alcohol; while using any
drug that affects the person's faculties in any way contrary to
safety; or while having .04 percent by weight or more alcohol in
the blood."
"While alcohol isn't much of a problem, pilots should remember
that there are plenty of legal drugs that can affect their ability
to fly safely," said Landsberg. "Particularly now that we're in the
cold and flu season, many over-the-counter drugs can affect
judgment and reaction time. And some cold remedies contain a pretty
high dose of alcohol."
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