Baku. 20 February. REPORT.AZ/ The German government has agreed to implement surprise checks on pilots to test for alcohol and certain medications, a report says. Report informs citing the foreign media, the checks are supposed to help prevent catastrophes like the Germanwings crash in 2015.
Germany's ruling coalition has agreed on a proposal to invoke stricter controls for airplane pilots in the wake of the tragic Germanwings crash in March 2015, according to a report in the German newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung."
"We want to expand the Air Traffic Act in order to strengthen security in the aviation sector," Ulrich Lange, the transport spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary party, told the newspaper in a report published on Friday.
Under the proposed amendments, airlines must be certain that aviation personnel are "competent and able" to 'ensure a safe and orderly flight', the paper said, citing internal documents.
The coalition-approved draft also states that airlines will be required to check pilots and cabin crews to test whether they are "under the influence of medication, alcohol, or other psychoactive substances" if they suspect that their personnel might be impaired.