Officials told to revoke licenses of junkie pilots

The Transportation Ministry’s air transportation directorate general should immediately revoke the license of any pilot proven of taking drugs, an aviation industry group says.

“We urge the [directorate] to revoke the license of pilots when they have been proven of taking drugs,” Indonesian National Air Carrier Association (INACA) chairman Emirsyah Satar said in Jakarta on Friday.

“Grounding the pilot or suspending their licenses is not enough because this recent case has made air transportation users concerned,” he added.

Emirsyah said that while the association had not recorded a decrease in passenger numbers or a diminished interest in flying, travelers were currently more concerned about safety.

“Pilots are the tip of the spear of the aviation industry. A pilot should uphold professionalism because they are responsible for passenger safety,” he said.

To ease concerns, Emirsyah said that the association urged all operators to fully implement Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR).

Airlines should pay special note to the CASR’s sections on general operations, flight rules, alcohol and drug use and the use of narcotic drugs, marijuana, depressants or stimulants, he said.

The issue of drug abuse by airline pilots is serious, Emirsyah said, and might create concerns outside Indonesia.

“We do not want the tragedy that befell our airline industry in 2007 to reoccur,” he said.

Emirsyah referred to the ban levied on all Indonesian airlines by the European Union in 2007 for what EU officials said was local airlines’ poor safety practices following a string of accidents.

The ban was partially lifted in 2009, allowing the national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia to resume flights to Amsterdam in June 2010. The flag carrier stopped European service in late 2004 as part of consolidation measures.

Separately, Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said that the air transportation directorate would support another INACA request to ground or suspend any pilot or cabin crew member who tested positive for illicit drug use.

“Grounding and suspensions are part of the punishment for pilots while we are waiting on the investigation,” Bambang said.

The Air Transportation directorate would revoke the licenses of any pilot testing positive for drugs due to the negative effect on pilot ability, he added.

According to Bambang, the directorate had already revoked the licenses of four pilots.

Meanwhile, Edward Sirait, the general affairs director of Lion Air, said that Lion was the first airline to work with the National Narcotics Agency [BNN] to vet applicants and employees.

“We now submit the names of people who apply to Lion Air because we want BNN to track their record,” Edward said.

A Lion Air pilot in Surabaya, East Java, was arrested last week for allegedly possessing 0.04 grams of crystal methamphetamine. The pilot had his license revoked after police said that the pilot tested positive for crystal meth.