EL CAJON -  

The Federal Aviation Administration is seeking a civil penalty of $359,350 against an East County aircraft-repair station for allegedly violating drug and alcohol testing regulations, the government agency announced Tuesday.

GKN Aerospace Chem-Tronics Inc. of El Cajon allegedly failed to conduct required pre-employment drug tests and receive verified negative results before hiring 17 people to perform "safety sensitive" functions, according to the FAA. The violations purportedly took place between May and December of last year.

The federal agency also alleges that the company failed to screen four randomly selected workers for alcohol use in 2011, that it did not carry out required drug testing for two employees as part of their return-to-duty processes and that it conducted inappropriate post-accident testing for two staffers.

The FAA discovered the alleged violations during an inspection of GKN's testing program in January of this year.

The West Bradley Avenue company has 30 days from receipt of the agency's enforcement letter to issue an official response.

A company representative did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.