Drug and Alcohol Testing Violations Alleged

The FAA has proposed an $83,000 civil penalty against AirMed International, LLC, of Birmingham, Ala., for allegedly failing to conduct required drug and alcohol testing.

Between April 13, 2018 and Dec. 2, 2019, AirMed hired 21 employees in safety-sensitive positions but failed to include them in random drug and alcohol testing pools until months after they were hired, the FAA alleges. These included 17 people who performed flight crewmember duties and four people who performed aircraft maintenance work.

The FAA also alleges that prior to June 2019, AirMed failed to receive a verified negative pre-employment drug test for an employee it hired into a non-safety-sensitive position. The employee was later transferred into a safety-sensitive position to perform flight crewmember duties before the company received a verified negative test.

This is a notable effort by the FAA against a significant player in the aeromedical field. AirMed International is part of the Global Medical Response family of companies. They claim to be one of the leading air medical transport companies in the world, with over 18,000 total missions and counting. AirMed offers medical care and bedside-to-bedside transportation on a worldwide basis. Reportedly chosen as a preferred operator for many of the top hospitals around the globe, as well as a contracted carrier for DoD, AirMed operates its own fleet of fully customized and permanently configured jets.

AirMed International has 30 days after receiving the FAA’s enforcement letter to respond to the agency.

FMI: www.faa.gov