Vietnam Airlines pilot tests positive for ketamine pre-flight, faces dismissal

"The banned substance is not related to the use of two painkillers declared by the pilot earlier. The pilot will be rebuked and dismissed."

The unidentified pilot had refused a pre-flight drug test along with his crew on April 25, according to a report from the Vietnam Airlines medical center.

He was then taken to a testing facility in Hanoi's Long Bien District for rapid urine drug testing, where he tested positive for ketamine. A blood test by the facility produced similar results later.

Pilots found using banned substances will have their licenses permanently revoked.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that distorts the perception of sight and sound and makes the user feel disconnected and not in control. It is referred to as a "dissociative anesthetic hallucinogen" because it makes patients feel detached from their pain and environment.

Ketamine can induce a state of sedation, immobility, relief from pain, and amnesia, and is abused for the dissociative sensations and hallucinogenic effects, it said.