CBS Evening News January 12, 2003
Lawyers say pills to stay alert impaired pilots
JOHN ROBERTS, anchor: A US Air Force panel holds a hearing on Tuesday on whether to court martial two pilots from Illinois for a friendly fire accident in Afghanistan that killed four Canadian soldiers and injured eight. Paul Moniz tells us in question is an Air Force policy of giving pilots amphetamines, so-called 'go pills,' to keep them awake and alert.
PAUL MONIZ reporting: Air Force pilots say taking amphetamines, or so-called 'go pills,' is technically voluntary, but the families of two F-16 pilots charged with dropping a 500-pound bomb on Canadian troops last April in Afghanistan say there is pressure. Ms. JOAN SCHMIDT (Mother of Major Harry Schmidt): If the pilots do not take the pills, the flight surgeon grounds them and their career is down the tubes.
Mr. JOHN PIKE (Globalsecurity.org): The Air Force calls them 'go pills.' Truck drivers call them speed.
MONIZ: Military analyst John Pike says the Air Force is not regulating closely enough the so-called 'go pills,' named for keeping pilots up and ready for long missions. The pills are banned in commercial aviation.
Mr. PIKE: If you take too many of these pills for too long, it's going to make you somebody who's out looking for a fight.
MONIZ: Lawyers for the two pilots charged in the friendly fire case, Major Harry Schmidt and Major William Umbach, say they were both taking the drug Dexedrine when the deadly incident occurred. Dexedrine is used primarily to treat hyperactivity in children and narcolepsy, a disorder in which patients fall asleep suddenly. The manufacturer's literature states the drug carries a high potential for abuse and may impair the ability to engage in potentially hazardous activities, such as operating machinery or vehicles.
Mr. CHARLES GITTINS (Attorney for Major Harry Schmidt): If the drug company is smart enough to know that you shouldn't be operating heavy machinery, then you have to wonder what the Air Force is doing sending out people to operate jet aircraft in a combat environment.
MONIZ: No one is suggesting Dexedrine directly caused the friendly fire incident. The problem, the pilots say, is that their superiors never told them the Canadians were in their area, performing a training mission. And, they claim, headquarters took too long getting back to them with instructions. The question is whether Dexedrine caused the pilots to react too hastily when one of them dropped the bomb without permission.
The Air Force vigorously defends its amphetamine policy, noting the drugs have been used safely since World War II, are dispensed in minimal doses to only a small percentage of pilots and are especially needed now, due to missions in far-flung countries.
Colonel PETER DEMITRY (US Air Force): Bomber missions now are going 30 to 40 hours. Fatiguing? Absolutely. Hazardous from a fatigue standpoint? Absolutely.
MONIZ: The controversy over the Air Force amphetamine policy is expected to intensify this week as the pilots face charges that could put them behind bars for 64 years each. Paul Moniz, CBS News, New York.
© Copyright 2003 CBS News
