Drunken pilot reporting for duty (1) may have made headlines, in turn setting various fora abuzz with strong public opinion ranging from strong action against the pilot to the need for a sympathetic view. Indeed, if one looks at this incidence from the perspective of aviation safety, the pilot, if he had gone unnoticed, was …
Tag: aviation medicine
Project Get Out and Walk – A Story of Perseverance
When the chips are down and there is no way but to pull, the ejection handle in a combat jet, has helped save so many lives around the world, that Michael C. “Mike” Bennett had to tell this gripping story of survival. It is Mike’s labour of love that has resulted in what is known …
Ah! Piloting in the arms of Bacchus
Drinking occasionally or regularly by the pilots, but restricting it to couple of small pegs, remains a matter of individual choice and social acceptance. But aviation safety and alcohol do not go together. In an interesting instance at Heathrow Airport, a Delta Airline pilot forgot what his destination was! His blood alcohol levels were found …
Increasing Safety or Risking Lives – Airport Body Scanners
All this while, it has been the cabin- or the check-in luggage which is x-rayed as part of the airport security. But the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of USA intends to undertake whole body scanning of public traveling by air. The intent of using low density x-rays, delivered at high speed, both in front and …
Lost Sleep – Compromised Safety
One of the often neglected but vital predisposing physiological factors in aviation is sleep, rather lack of sleep. The commercial pilots are governed by their duty schedule and the military aviators have the uncertainties of the operational deployment to blame for the loss of sleep. Although there may be regulations and guidelines, including FDTL to …