A citation X first officer determined after the fact the medication he had taken to control symptoms...

Narrative:

When I arrived at the airport I found I needed to keep my pockets stocked with tissues for my constantly running nose. Symptoms like this are not entirely foreign to me. I've had to deal with all sorts of allergy problems all my life and had no doubt that it was a minor irritation and would not hinder me while carrying out my duties. We arrived at an intermediate stop after a short and uneventful flight. I was getting really annoyed with my nose still running and beginning to chafe from all the wiping. I was worried what the passengers would think so I looked in the medicine drawer of the aircraft lavatory to see if there was something that would help. I found a packet of benadryl and took one pill with a cup of coffee. I didn't give it a second thought and knew a small dose with a little caffeine would clear up my sinus and not make me drowsy. I did not consider that the medication might not be approved as it is very common in many work places; even provided by the company and stocked in the aircraft.a short time after the passengers arrived; I loaded their bags and we departed. On this leg I was the flying pilot and we arrived without issue. I felt great and was really pleased with the flight. We stayed only long enough to unload the passengers and buy some fuel.on our final leg of the day I was again the flying pilot. My arrival and approach weren't the smoothest of my career as I am new to the citation X and still developing a feel for the airplane. After we arrived the captain told me I was a little behind on the arrival and I agreed. I said I was a little distracted with all the avionics and learning to operate the aircraft's VNAV system while calculating my descent using mental math. He asked if I was just tired it being the last flight at the end of a 12 hour duty day. I said 'yes a little.' then I told him my allergies were driving me nuts earlier but I took a benadryl and that cleared it right up. He asked if the benadryl was affecting the way I flew the last portion of the flight. I said 'no not really I just need more practice.' I did not know at the time the active ingredients in benadryl are not approved by the FAA for use before or during flight. I regret my actions and in the future vow to do my research so I know that what I am putting in my body is both safe and legal.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Citation X First Officer determined after the fact the medication he had taken to control symptoms of his allergies was not acceptable for use before or during flight.

Narrative: When I arrived at the airport I found I needed to keep my pockets stocked with tissues for my constantly running nose. Symptoms like this are not entirely foreign to me. I've had to deal with all sorts of allergy problems all my life and had no doubt that it was a minor irritation and would not hinder me while carrying out my duties. We arrived at an intermediate stop after a short and uneventful flight. I was getting really annoyed with my nose still running and beginning to chafe from all the wiping. I was worried what the passengers would think so I looked in the medicine drawer of the aircraft lavatory to see if there was something that would help. I found a packet of Benadryl and took one pill with a cup of coffee. I didn't give it a second thought and knew a small dose with a little caffeine would clear up my sinus and not make me drowsy. I did not consider that the medication might not be approved as it is very common in many work places; even provided by the company and stocked in the aircraft.A short time after the passengers arrived; I loaded their bags and we departed. On this leg I was the flying pilot and we arrived without issue. I felt great and was really pleased with the flight. We stayed only long enough to unload the passengers and buy some fuel.On our final leg of the day I was again the flying pilot. My arrival and approach weren't the smoothest of my career as I am new to the Citation X and still developing a feel for the airplane. After we arrived the Captain told me I was a little behind on the arrival and I agreed. I said I was a little distracted with all the avionics and learning to operate the aircraft's VNAV system while calculating my descent using mental math. He asked if I was just tired it being the last flight at the end of a 12 hour duty day. I said 'yes a little.' Then I told him my allergies were driving me nuts earlier but I took a Benadryl and that cleared it right up. He asked if the Benadryl was affecting the way I flew the last portion of the flight. I said 'no not really I just need more practice.' I did not know at the time the active ingredients in Benadryl are not approved by the FAA for use before or during flight. I regret my actions and in the future vow to do my research so I know that what I am putting in my body is both safe and legal.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	971443
Time
Date	201109
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	CRQ.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Citation X (C750)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 6410 Flight Crew Type 200
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness

A citation X first officer determined after the fact the medication he had taken to control symptoms of his allergies was not acceptable for use before or during flight.