PACT Background
History
In the USS Nimitz accident on May 25, 1981, an EA-6B aircraft attempting to land at night, struck a helicopter then hit another aircraft and tow tractor before coming to rest. A fuel fire erupted. Improved flight deck fire fighting systems quickly contained the fire, and once the fire was believed to be out, the order was given to start the clean-up.
As sailors approached the scene, a SPARROW missile warhead that was buried in the debris detonated. The explosion restarted the fire and three more warheads detonated before the fire could be extinguished. Fourteen sailors were killed and 45 injured. Three planes were destroyed and nine were damaged. Proof of drug use was noted in this accident, as well as in the 1987 wreck of a Conrail/Amtrak train in Maryland, and the 1989 environmental disaster resulting from the Exxon Valdez incident.
These episodes gave rise to concerns about job performance by impaired workers. Intuitively it would seem that drug use is associated with workplace accidents, and many drug-testing advocates have offered estimates of very high injury and fatality rates among involved employees, but upon detailed analysis, most scientific authorities agree now that there is little data regarding such a relationship. At the time of the episodes referenced, the inclination was to assign causality to substance abuse.
The fact is that the “Proof of drug use after the 1981 accident on the USS Nimitz,” was based on the autopsy findings on the maintenance crew aboard, who were victims, and not identified as causing the accident.
Following the Exxon Valdez accident, the reaction by industry and government was similar to the aforementioned accidents, but the culprit then was alcohol. However, the alcohol abuse was attributed to the Captain, who was asleep in his cabin, not in primary control of the vessel at the time of the accident. He had left Third Mate Gregory Cousins in charge of the wheel house and Able Seaman Robert Kagan at the helm with instructions to return to the shipping lane at a prearranged point. Exxon Valdez failed to return to the shipping lanes and struck Bligh Reef at around 12:04 a.m. March 24, 1989. The accident resulted in the discharge of around 11 million gallons of oil, 20% of the cargo, into Prince William Sound. The seamen in primary control did not show evidence of substance use. Still, Exxon’s policy was to “ground” all safety-sensitive employees with a history of alcohol abuse.
Our objective was to develop a test to assure performance by targeting those in primary control in safety-sensitive operations, and that did not require invasive procedures. Fatigue and sleep deprivation, two of the more common causes of accident, are not easily detected by blood, saliva, or urine tests.
This was the reasoning behind PACT.
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