PETALING JAYA: Mandatory drug screening for all Malaysia Airlines pilots returned zero positive results, according to Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG).
The exercise covered about 1,260 operationally active pilots and marked the first phase of a wider testing programme that will cover cabin crew next.
It was conducted following the recent arrest of a Malaysia Airlines pilot for alleged drug possession in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In a statement yesterday, MAG said screening of the airlines’ 2,840 cabin crew would begin today and is targeted for completion by Sept 3.
More than half of sister airline Firefly’s 158 pilots and 163 cabin crew had been screened by Aug 15, with all testing negative.
The company expects to complete the exercise by Aug 25, ahead of the Sept 5 deadline set by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM).
“The completion of this first phase is an important milestone in the measures we committed to implementing, but work does not stop here.
“We are moving ahead with screening across other operational groups so the same rigorous standards apply across our airlines,” said MAG president and group chief executive officer Capt Nasaruddin A. Bakar.
MAG said it would continue conducting random drug testing led by its safety and health team, in addition to its existing fitness-for-duty framework, which includes pre-employment screening, medical certification and pre-flight checks.
The screening exercise followed the July 28 detention of a 39-year-old Malaysia Airlines second officer after Indonesian authorities allegedly found about 25kg of MDMA, or ecstasy, in his luggage.
MAG had said the pilot was travelling in the cockpit jump seat as an observer and was off duty at the time.
Separately, CAAM has launched a regulatory investigation into whether all aviation security requirements were complied with before the pilot departed Kuala Lumpur.
The incident prompted the regulator to order all Malaysian carriers to test 100% of their active flight and cabin crew within 30 days, alongside enhanced random and reasonable-suspicion testing.
Operators must also submit a declaration of compliance to CAAM and screen crew members who join or return from leave before they resume duty.
