The Region - News from Aug. 29, 1986

The Federal Aviation Administration said it has cleared and reinstated three of the 34 Southern California air traffic controllers who were removed from their jobs during an investigation of off-duty drug use. The agency said it plans to reveal the rest of the results of its investigation at a press conference Tuesday. The controllers, who work at the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Center in Palmdale, were reassigned on Aug. 21 and forced to take urine tests after the FAA received reports of drug use. Meanwhile, the FAA’s administrator, Donald Engen, said in Washington that air traffic controllers and anyone in his agency who flies or works in airplanes should be tested for drugs. The FAA does not now test its employees for drugs, but will begin a program in the next several months requiring pre-employment drug tests and regular follow-ups.