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Originally Posted by KingBBinLV
how long before a flight do you have to stop drinking?
Here's the FAA rules about alcohol:
A pilot may not attempt to fly an aircraft or even attempt to be a crew member of a civil aircraft:
* Within 8 hours after consuming alcohol;
* While under the influence of alcohol;
* While under the influence of any drug that impairs a person in a way which is is contrary to safety;
* While having a blood alcohol concentration equal to or greater than 0.04 grams per decilitre of blood or grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.
Many companies have stricter rules. At ACA it was "twelve hours bottle to throttle." I think it's the same at Delta, but I don't have my Flight Operations Manual handy.
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Do they have random testing for alcohol/drugs?
Yes they do. When your name comes up for testing, you are met at the gate upon arrival and escorted to the test site (at the airport). Breathalyzer if it's an alcohol test; pee in a cup if it's a drug test. The test usually takes just long enough to ensure you miss your commute home.
In my years at Delta, I've been tagged for a random test only twice.
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Do you personally know any pilots that have been in a crash?
Had to think about this one, but no I don't.
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Also how often do you have to come out of the cockpit and speak with an unruly passenger or do the Marshals handle that now?
Air Marshals are present on only a small percentage of flights and, when present, would only deal with an unruly passenger if they deemed him to be an immediate threat. Part of their Secret Squirrel training says that a disturbance (such as an unruly passenger) could be an attempt to flush out any law enforcement officers, thus enabling the other, more discreet terrorists on board to take effective action.
I dealt with a problem passenger on the ground before departure once when I was a Captain at ACA. He was giving our FA some grief and she needed backup. I also saw a case once where it resulted in a guy being taken off the plane in cuffs after he told the Captain that he didn't have to do what the Captain said.
My most recent brush with this was about 3 months ago in Nice. We had the son of Princess Caroline of Monaco (a real Prince) get on the plane drunk. Technically we're not supposed to take a passenger who is drunk, and the Captain was ready to have him pulled off the plane, but he was apparently a docile drunk and the Nice station manager was nearly having a fit that we were even considering taking the Prince off the plane. Ultimately the Captain left it up to the FAs since they would have to be the ones dealing with him. They gave him the thumbs up. International crisis averted.