The Transportation Safety Board says alcohol played a part in a deadly plane crash in April 2015.
The TSB is now calling for the aviation industry and employee representatives to develop and implement requirements for a comprehensive substance abuse program.
The Carson Air flight was carrying freight from Vancouver International Airport to Prince George with a crew of two pilots on board.
Six minutes after takeoff, the plane vanished from radar.
The aircraft had experienced a catastrophic in-flight breakup, according to the TSB, after entering a steep dive and then accelerating at a high rate of speed.
Carson Air Flight 66 was supposed to land in Prince George at 8 a.m. but Vancouver Airport Authority says it lost contact with NavCanada’s Kamloops Flight Information Centre at about 7:10 a.m. The plane was at 7,900 feet when it lost contact.
The next day the bodies of the two pilots were found. The pilot was identified as Robert Brandt, aged 34, and the co-pilot was Kevin Wang, aged 32, both residents of the Vancouver area.
Toxicology testing shows Brandt had consumed a lot of alcohol that day, prior to the flight.
READ MORE: Pilot in cargo plane crash had ‘significant level of alcohol in system’: BC Coroner
“In Canada, regulations and company rules prohibit flying while impaired, but they rely heavily on self-policing,” stated Kathy Fox, chair of the TSB, in a release. “What is needed is a comprehensive substance abuse program that would include mandatory testing as well as complementary initiatives such as education, employee assistance, rehabilitation and peer support.“
“We realize that employees within Canada’s aviation industry will have concerns under any possible testing regime,” she added. “This is why we recommend that the substance abuse program consider and balance the need to incorporate human rights principles enshrined in the Canadian Human Rights Act with the responsibility to protect public safety.”
The TSB says the aircraft did not have the data from a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder, so it is impossible to determine with certainty all the factors that led to this crash.