Spirit Pilot Found Dead of Fentanyl Overdose
 

Both shocking and tragic: a Spirit Airlines pilot and his wife found dead of a suspected fentanyl overdose. Raises many uncomfortable questions about the screening of pilots......

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireSto...-ohio-46228029

Not a drug to play around with....

Yikes. More details here:

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local...416467653.html

“Our hearts go out to the family, friends, and colleagues of Captain Halye,” the airline said in a statement.
The company added that “Spirit Airlines is required by Federal Law and by its own internal standards, which exceed federal standards, to operate with the highest degree of care for the safety of the traveling public.”


Yeah, sure. Talk about boilerplate! My fears are allayed now. Can't wait to book Spirit.

He would have been part of the random pool subject to drug testing. Outside of the chance selection in that program, there was only one time per year where he would have been before the FAA, well an AME, who would interview him during his medical exam. The protocol includes looking for indicators, but it's certainly not fool proof. The best safety net for substance abusers is those around them. Reasonable suspicion can get the pilot tested. If those people know but fail to report, shame on them. The one news items said a relative knew what was going on and it appears they didn't report. Shameful, and sad.

How often are pilots randomly drug tested? Logic would suggest it should happen a couple times a year. From the media reports, it seems pretty clear this guy "had a problem" that should have been noticeable, but nobody at the company noticed. Logic also suggests there are more such pilots who need to either clean up their act or not be pilots (based on the steady stream of "drunk pilots reporting to work" stories).

In this case, had some testing been done, it might even have saved the pilot's life by getting him treatment.

I'm sure there are pilots out there with problems, but considering the number of pilots that fly commercially there don't seem to be that many stories in the media.

Right, the vast majority of pilots have no problems. But given how few weaknesses there are these days in air travel safety, this would seem to be the weakest link. If 1% of USA pilots have drug/alcohol issues, it would be a big deal. Logic suggests a rational testing regimen -- which is why I wonder how often random testing occurs.