3.3 Fitness to Fly, Impairment Rules & Incident Reporting

Fitness to Fly, Impairment Rules & Incident Reporting

Operating an RPAS safely requires sharp cognitive faculties, rapid spatial orientation, and uncompromised motor skills. Transport Canada treats remote pilots as aeronautical flight crew members under federal law. Consequently, the rules governing substance consumption, medical fitness, and occurrence reporting in Part IX mirror those in commercial and general aviation.

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Substance Consumption & Impairment Rules (CAR 901.19)

Under CAR 901.19, strict federal prohibitions apply to anyone acting as a crew member of a remotely piloted aircraft system. This includes the Pilot-in-Command (PIC), Visual Observers (VOs), and any personnel operating flight control or safety systems.

1. The 12-Hour Alcohol Rule ("Bottle to Throttle")

Under CAR 901.19(2)(a), no person shall act as a crew member of an RPAS within 12 hours after consuming an alcoholic beverage.

• Exact Window: The 12-hour clock begins the moment the last sip of alcohol is consumed and must be fully satisfied before undertaking any crew duty.
• Historical Comparison: While older general aviation regulations historically cited an 8-hour rule, Transport Canada standardized Part IX and modern flight crew regulations to a mandatory 12-hour minimum.

2. "Under the Influence" Has No Numeric Threshold

Under CAR 901.19(2)(b), no person shall act as a crew member while under the influence of alcohol. Part IX contains no blood-alcohol percentage — do not import the 0.04% figure used in United States regulations. Satisfying the 12-hour waiting period alone is not a defence if the pilot is still impaired:

• If 14 hours have elapsed since drinking, but the pilot experiences a hangover, dehydration, headache, altered vestibular balance, or sluggish reaction times, the pilot is legally prohibited from operating.

3. Cannabis and Drug Impairment

Although cannabis was legalized for recreational use in Canada under the Cannabis Act (2018), aviation regulations remain uncompromised.

Under CAR 901.19(2)(c), no person shall act as a crew member of an RPAS while under the influence of any drug or substance that impairs their faculties to the extent that aviation safety is affected.

• Zero Tolerance for Impairment: Cannabis THC compounds alter spatial perception, peripheral awareness, divided attention, and short-term memory.
• The 28-Day Guidance: The TC AIM (RPA 3.2.7) states that all aircraft pilots and flight crew members — including RPA pilots and visual observers — must abstain from cannabis use for at least 28 days when conducting operations with an RPAS. This is Transport Canada guidance rather than a numbered regulation, but it is the standard the department publishes and expects.
• Enforcement: The TC AIM notes that acting as a crew member within 12 hours of consuming alcohol, or while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, may result in individual penalties of $5,000 and corporate penalties of $15,000, while acting as a crew member while otherwise unfit may result in individual penalties of up to $1,000 and corporate penalties of up to $5,000.

4. Prescription and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medications

Many commonly used medications induce drowsiness, visual disturbances, or delayed motor coordination. Crew members must evaluate all medications:

• High-Risk OTC Classes: First-generation antihistamines (e.g., diphenhydramine/Benadryl), cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine or dextromethorphan, motion-sickness medications (e.g., dimenhydrinate/Gravol), sleep aids, and muscle relaxants.
• Rule of Thumb: If a medication package warns against driving a motor vehicle or operating machinery, you are legally prohibited from acting as an RPAS crew member while under its effects.

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Crew Medical Fitness & Fatigue Management (CAR 901.19(1))

Under CAR 901.19(1), no person shall act as a crew member of an RPAS if the person is suffering or is likely to suffer from fatigue, or is otherwise unfit to perform properly the person's duties.

Physiological & Psychological Hazards

• Acute Fatigue: Caused by sleep deprivation or intense physical work prior to flight. Studies demonstrate that 18 to 24 hours without sleep causes cognitive and visual degradation equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05% to 0.10%.
• Chronic Fatigue: Accumulated exhaustion over days or weeks, resulting in tunnel vision, chronic inattention, and delayed emergency response.
• Illness: Even common conditions like ear infections, severe colds, seasonal flu, or migraines degrade situational awareness and depth perception.

The IMSAFE Self-Assessment Checklist

Aviation pilots worldwide use the IMSAFE mnemonic as a standardized pre-flight fitness checklist:

Exam Tip: Under CAR 901.19(1) and CAR 901.28(b), the PIC is legally responsible not only for assessing their own fitness, but also for ensuring that every visual observer and crew member is fit for duty before launching the aircraft.

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Incidents and Accidents: The Cease-and-Analyse Duty (CAR 901.49)

This is one of the most commonly misremembered rules on the Small Basic exam. CAR 901.49 is not a reporting rule. It is a stop-flying-and-investigate rule.

Under CAR 901.49(1), a pilot who operates an RPAS shall immediately cease operations if any of the listed incidents or accidents occurs, until an analysis is undertaken as to the cause of the occurrence and corrective actions have been taken to mitigate the risk of recurrence.

The Seven Triggering Occurrences (CAR 901.49(1)(a) to (g))

1. (a) Injuries to any person requiring medical attention.
2. (b) Unintended contact between the aircraft and persons.
3. (c) Unanticipated damage to the airframe, control station, payload or command and control links that adversely affects the performance or flight characteristics of the aircraft.
4. (d) Any time the aircraft is not kept within horizontal boundaries or altitude limits.
5. (e) Any collision with, or risk of collision with, another aircraft.
6. (f) Any time the aircraft becomes uncontrollable, experiences a fly-away, or is missing.
7. (g) Any other incident for which a police report has been filed or for which a Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Report (CADORS) has resulted.

The Record (CAR 901.49(2))

The pilot must keep a record of the analysis for 12 months after the day the record is created and make it available to the Minister on request. There is no requirement to telephone Transport Canada.

When the TSB Must Be Told (TSB Regulations, TC AIM RPA 3.2.37)

Separately from CAR 901.49, certain RPAS occurrences must be reported to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, including when:

• an RPA weighing more than 25 kg is involved in an accident as defined by paragraph 2(1)(a) of the TSB Regulations;
• a person is killed or sustains a serious injury as a result of coming into direct contact with any part of a small RPA (250 g to 25 kg), including detached parts; or
• a collision occurs between an RPA of any size and a traditional (crewed) aircraft.

TC AIM GEN 3.0 sets out the time limits and information to report. If the flight was conducted under an SFOC — RPAS, any incident or accident must also be reported to Transport Canada on the RPAS Aviation Occurrence Reporting Form issued with the certificate.

Minor Mishap vs. Triggering Occurrence

Record Retention (CAR 901.48 and CAR 901.49(2))

Three different clocks run, and the exam tests the difference:

• Crew and flight-time records (CAR 901.48(1)(a)): names of pilots and other crew members involved in each flight, and the time of each flight or series of flights — retained 12 months.
• Maintenance records (CAR 901.48(1)(b)): particulars of any mandatory action and any other maintenance action, modification or repair, including who did the work and when — retained 24 months.
• Occurrence analyses (CAR 901.49(2)): the record of the analysis undertaken after a triggering incident or accident — retained 12 months.

All three must be made available to the Minister on request.