Ft. Lauderdale International Airport
650 SW 34th Street Suite 301, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315
954-635-2098; 954-359-9448 fax
WWW.FLIGHTLINEDRUGTESTING.COM
NEWSLETTER
May 10, 2015
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FLIGHTLINE BRIEFS 
LABORATORY REPORTS – THEIR IMPORTANCE
FAA Inspectors review laboratory reports to see if there are any inconsistencies in the testing that was done
at the laboratory. These reports are issued every six (6) months. You should have two years or four (4)
reports in a file labeled “Lab Reports”. The report may reveal that there was a positive test or a post accident
test. The positive tests can be a two edged sword. If there was a “confirmed” positive test result, then your
records would be inspected to ensure that the testing paperwork is in order, along with any rehabilitation
records from a Substance Abuse Professional and return to duty and follow up testing, as part of the
rehabilitation process. Remember to maintain these records for five (5) years. However, if the positive was
overturned due to a prescribed drug determined by the Medical Review Officer, you would not have any
record of the initial positive result. The test would be reported to you as a “negative” result. This can cause
confusion on the part of the inspectors, but Flightline Drug Testing MRO’s would intervene and assist the
inspectors with confirmation that the drug testing protocols were followed according to the regulations.
POST ACCIDENT TESTING
Testing for post accident is often confusing, due to the regulations surrounding this type of test under the
FAA DOT Appendices I & J. Post accident testing must be qualified, as a result of NTSB 830 regulations
that pertain to injuries or “significant” damage to an aircraft, due to flight. Flightline will assist in this
qualification process, if notified by the D.E.R. Why is this important? Statistics is the short answer.
Confusion in this type of testing is caused when “on-the-job” injuries occur and the employee is sent to an
Occupational Health Center for medical reasons. Sometimes this is also accompanied with a drug test. If the
post accident test is completed on a Federal Drug Testing Custody & Control Form, it will not be a valid
post-accident test under FAA Department of Transportation regulations. If you require drug tests due to
employment incidents or accidents, we suggest that you have a NON-DOT drug testing account setup with
Flightline. The appropriate forms will then be available when you need them for post-accident testing.
Believe it or not, a safety sensitive employee can fail a drug test following an “on-the-job” accident under a
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NON-DOT drug test and not have his safety sensitive status impacted!!! Your only option would be to have
a corporate policy that deals with “All” Drug Testing, whether DOT or NON-DOT.
 LEGAL UPDATE 
The legality of using a Substance Abuse Professional when someone has a verified positive test is extremely
important to both the individual that wants to remain in the aviation industry and to the company that has a
drug testing program. Policies and procedures have to be followed closely to ensure compliance with the
regulations in this area. We have seen inspectors review files and find one missing follow up test that was
required and demand that the entire rehabilitation program be repeated. This can happen many years after the
rehabilitation program and testing has been completed, since records have to be maintained for five years.
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WHY “CONSENT” HAS CHANGED TO “ACKNOWLEDGEMENT” FORMS
 First, a little history. When the FAA program first started in 1989, there
was considerable discussion as to whether or not mandated drug testing
was a violation of civil rights or an invasion of privacy. Many of the State
courts had not spoken to the subject and the Federal courts had no cases
decided. Yet, our clients were required to do the testing in order to be in
compliance with the FAA program. The “INFORMATION AND
CONSENT TO TESTING FORM” was widely used, so that an employee
could not claim that he/she did not know about the tests or what drugs were
being monitored.
Now that the courts have set precedent on many occasions and the legality of the testing has been well
established, 49CFR40.27 precludes the “consent “process in all aspects of the DOT program. Therefore, the
Receipt/Acknowledge form uses “acknowledgement” that a program is in place to test for the NIDA 5 drugs
and that failure of a test has significant consequences. Reference to the word “consent” was eliminated.
DRUG ALERT 
POPPY SEEDS – A POPULAR SUBJECT FOR DRUG TESTING
Poppy Seeds contain trace amounts of morphine and codeine, so an individual who consumes poppy seed
products may yield urine test results positive for morphine (with or without codeine). The threshold levels
for opiate metabolites are 2,000ng.Ml. Although these levels essentially eliminate casual poppy seed
ingestion as a factor, the higher levels can still be theoretically achieved. One of the myths in drug testing is
that a person had to eat between a barrelful and a truckload of poppy seeds to be positive for morphine on a
urine test. As urine testing became more common, a number of cases appeared that challenged this belief.
Dozens of studies were performed which demonstrated that normal dietary sources of poppy seeds are
sufficient to produce a positive opiate test. Not too long ago, we had a pilot test positive due to eating a
sandwich on poppy seed bread. Flightline could not believe the amount of poppy seeds in the bread, which
was the culprit. Bottom line, be careful in selecting your diet
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