A pilot or ATCO testing positive for drug abuse for the first time will be grounded and made to undergo de-addiction/rehabilitation programme. The DGCA had last year started conducting BA test on ground staff too and have found as many as 131 violations by ground staff, ET had reported it first on February 8.According to the order these tests will be carried out post-flight (for crew) or post-shift (for ATCOs). Airlines and Airports Authority of India (which provides ATC services) “shall ensure that at least 10% of (their flight crew and ATCOs) are covered in a year.”Testing will be done on urine samples collected from the randomly selected employees. Samples shall be collected only with consent of the person required to undergo test.Apart from random checks, pilots and ATCOs will have to be tested for drug abuse at three stages: before getting hired; after an accident and follow-up testing of confirmed cases. All positive cases will have to be reported the DGCA within 24 hours.

Source: Economic Times February 21, 2020 08:56 UTC