Cases of Airline Pilots Consuming Alcohol or Drugs before Boarding Aircraft in Singapore

Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Transport (a) in the past 10 years, whether CAAS has detected any case of duty airline pilots consuming alcohol or drugs before boarding aeroplanes in Singapore; (b) whether there are adequate laws that deter such behavior; and (c) whether all airlines operating out of Singapore airports have a sufficiently robust standard operating procedure to conduct random test to detect such errant pilots.

The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Dr Lam Pin Min) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, most civil aviation regulators, including the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), hold their airlines responsible for ensuring that their pilots do not operate aircraft whilst intoxicated. Specifically, CAAS requires Singapore carriers to ensure that their pilots do not consume any alcohol at least eight hours before flight, wherever they operate in the world.

In addition, Singapore has strict rules for pilots who fly out of our airports, regardless of whether they are operating Singapore or foreign registered aircraft. Every pilot has the responsibility to ensure that he does not operate a flight while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Doing so is an offence under the Air Navigation Order, and carries a penalty of up to $100,000 and/or five years' imprisonment upon conviction. Based on records from CAAS, there has not been any case of pilots consuming alcohol or drugs before boarding aeroplanes in Singapore.

To proactively identify and manage individuals that may have alcohol-related issues, Singapore carriers have set up peer support groups. These support groups provide a non-punitive approach for pilots to seek support and treatment. Such peer support groups are recognised internationally as an effective measure to identify such pilots at an early stage to rehabilitate them, or to remove them from flying duties where necessary.

Operating an aircraft while intoxicated is a serious matter. CAAS is reviewing the regulations and procedures to more strongly deter such behaviour.

Mr Speaker: Mr Ang Wei Neng.

Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Thank you, Speaker. Can I just clarify – so there is no SOP to do random checks on pilots before they board airplanes? That is the first question. The second question is, what are the measures that prevent or make sure that the pilot does not consume alcohol while they are on the plane.

Dr Lam Pin Min: Like I mentioned, pilots are bound by the Air Navigation Order where they are not supposed to consume any form of drugs, or psychoactive substances, or alcohol, if they are performing any flying duty. Right now under the Air Operator Certificate requirements, Singapore carriers have to instruct the pilot to abstain from alcohol consumption at least eight hours before flight – what we call bottle to throttle time.

There is currently no random blood testing conducted in Singapore. However, there are spot checks specifically performed by CAAS during ramp inspections. And so far, CAAS has conducted over 900 such ramp inspections since 2013 and has not detected any pilot showing signs of alcohol intoxication.