© Oliver Berg/DPA/Press Association ImagesA Germanwings plane on the tarmac at Cologne Airport
The plans follow the recommendation of a taskforce set up by the Transport Ministry, after a pilot sealed himself inside the cockpit of a plane and crashed it in the Alps, killing all 150 people on board.
Prosecutors have found evidence the co-pilot, who had suffered severe depression and may have feared losing his job, had researched ways to kill himself and hidden an illness from his employer, sparking a debate on supervision and medical secrecy.
German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the paper Bild am Sonntag: "I think it's sensible that pilots are checked on a random basis for the consumption of alcohol, drugs and medicines."
He added: "Experts around the world see positive effects from this to boost operational safety in aviation."
The minister said it was important airlines were given the responsibility to carry out the checks. The paper said Dobrindt plans to present the regulation to the cabinet in the new year.
But Markus Wahl, a spokesman for German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit, was quoted attacking the idea.
He said: "From our point of view the planned random tests are completely wrong. They have nothing to do with the Germanwings disaster and will put an entire professional group under general suspicion."
In July, a panel of experts led by Europe's aviation safety regulator recommended improved psychological screening for new pilots, and called for the creation of a European database with details of medical visits plus better support networks to reduce the risks of a similar tragedy.
It also called for the introduction of random drug and alcohol testing of pilots and better oversight of the doctors responsible for their regular medical checks.
So like drug testing is now thought to be a new way to prevent a person bent on suicide and because of religious beliefs, which as I recall was the original cover story for this air crash, and that the poor kid who was the co-pilot desperately trying to regain control was then painted as a fanatic bent on a terrorist act, which makes no sense at all as why would he chose to fly in to the ground when any number of other opportunities would have been the rationale choice; if he had actually been a terrorist, which he manifestly was not, and so now, so now...suddenly the solution is Drug Testing? You just can't get any more logical than that.
Oh yes, flying is still the safest form of air travel alright. You bet it is.