Takeaway: Transportation employees required to obtain federal certification must remember that regulatory agencies hold great sway over their livelihoods. Failure to follow an agency's exact instructions concerning seemingly minor matters may have dire consequences.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is authorized to issue "airman certificates" that permit individuals to engage in a range of activities related to aviation. It issues six types of pilot certificates. These include a certificate confirming a pilot's physical abilities and a medical certificate confirming the pilot's physical fitness to pilot planes.
As part of this process, the FAA maintains a program for controlled substances testing of airmen. FAA regulations require that each test subject provide at least 45 milliliters of urine for a drug test. If a pilot fails to do so, the collector must follow "shy-bladder" procedures by discarding the specimen and urging the pilot to drink up to 40 ounces of fluid. If the subject leaves the test center before the collection is completed, the departure is deemed a refusal to test.
Refusal to take a required drug or alcohol test is grounds for suspension or revocation of a pilot certificate, and disqualifies the pilot from holding any of the three classes of medical certificate for two years from the refusal to test. An adversely affected pilot may appeal an FAA order to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
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