Alcohol & drugs (bottle to throttle)
You must not act as a crew member of an aircraft in any of three situations (CAR 602.03):
- within 12 hours after consuming an alcoholic beverage (bottle to throttle),
- while under the influence of alcohol, or
- while using any drug that impairs your faculties enough to endanger the aircraft or persons on board.
The three are separate. The 12-hour clock is for alcohol only; even past 12 hours you are still grounded if you are under the influence. The drug clause is judged by impairment, not by a time, a legal limit, or whether the drug is legal or prescribed: any impairing drug counts.
Trap: using 8 hours (the old bottle-to-throttle figure) instead of the current 12 hours, or thinking a prescription drug is automatically fine.
References
- CARs 602.03