Germanwings Flight 4U9525
On March 24, 2015, First officer, Andreas Lubitz, locked the captain
out of the cock pit and purposely flew the A320 into the side of the
french alps, killing all 144 passengers and 6 crew members.
Andreas Lubitz had previously been treated for suicidal tendencies. After dropping out of the Lufthansa flight training pilot school in bremen. He was then diagnosed with deep depressive episodes, and was prescribed two powerful antidepressants to help. The doctor declared him fit for training again after 6 month but continued to treat him for another 3 months after telling officials he was good to go, with the same medication as before. German officials took a few months but finally cleared his student pilots license and medical certificate, with the exception that if he ever went back on the medication or on the lines of that, they would revoke any flying privileges.
When he got to the Lufthansa flight school in Arizona, he lied and check off that he never had or was treated for any suicidal tendencies. He was then caught in the lie, normally sending that person to jail. However, they only asked him to come clean and give current medical history on his documented health status. He was given a second chance, and years later, was shown to be a huge mistake (
Suicide in the sky
Unfortunately, this hasn't been the first case of pilots crashing an
airplane on purpose. I found many different attempts on a site listed below
cited 10 tragic cases of suicide by pilot. Captain Seiji Katagiri tried to
crash a Japanese Air Line carrying 160 passengers. The co pilot, Yoshifumi
Ishikawa, and the flight engineer, Yoshimi Ozaki, tried to fight of the
captain. In the end, the plane crashed, killing 24 of the passengers.
(10 Tragic Cases Of Suicide-By-Pilot)
FAA Medical Screening
FAA Medical Screening
Currently, all airline pilots have to go through medical screening every
year if under 40, and every 6 months if over the age of 40 years old. During
the medical screening, doctors will ask questions to look for any signs of mental
illness. The pilots must disclose any previous or existing physical and
psychological conditions and any medication proscribed. Failure to do so can
result in heavy fines.
Screening for mental illness once the pilot has their medical certificate can be hard, most pilots would rather lie about anything then to say something and potentially have their medical revoked and not be able to fly. In the event that an incident occurs and points towards the pilots mental health, they will be instructed to see a doctor for screening. Also, the FAA can receive information from an outside source, other coworkers, family and friends, which will then direct the pilot to be screened and provide documentation on their physical and mental health (Fact Sheet – Pilot Mental Fitness).
I feel the best way for the FAA to screen for individuals mental status
is pretty much how they are doing it already. Looking at any previous
documentation the individual may have stating any previous concerns for mental
health. Also, to push for pilots to look out for signs from others that they
fly with. most people don't talk about their issues to people they don't know,
however, may express tell tails when they are flying or even off duty while
with other crew members before or after flights. Adding a training that
would help pilots screen the people the fly and work wth may be one of the best
ways to see the signs of mental problems before they become serious
issues.
10 Tragic Cases Of Suicide-By-Pilot. (2016, August 04). Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://listverse.com/2016/08/05/10-tragic-cases-of-suicide-by-pilot/
Fact Sheet – Pilot Mental Fitness. (2014, September 19). Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=20455
Hammer, J. (2016, February 22). The Real Story of Germanwings Flight 9525. Retrieved January 23, 2018, from https://www.gq.com/story/germanwings-flight-9525-final-moments
Interesting idea about training to screen peers and coworkers. It seems apparent at this point that the minimalistic "screening" done during a traditional medical is insufficient to account for any discrepencies that might exist between what a pilot reports/records about their mental health, and what their actual condition is. It's definitely important for crew to always feel secure and confident in their ability to self-disclose and to know they will have the full support of the company or organization in that case. Nice post:)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the refresher on the mental illness-induced accidents at the link you provided. It allowed for a broad perspective on the topic and showed that mental illness among pilots is not any less-common compared to the public due to the fact that these accidents still occur. I like the idea about pilots anonymously reporting other pilots if they see unsafe behavior, but I do not think the current system is sufficient. I am not one who likes tons of regulations, but I think a good compromise, which I mentioned on another blog, is for doctors to only have to report a patient's mental health condition if they do not seek treatment or remain under the care of that doctor once it is deemed the patient indeed has a mental health condition. It keeps the patient safe in two ways: first, the patient will not be reported if they are following the medical advice and second, if they are following the medical advice, the odds of them committing an unsafe act on an aircraft go down.
ReplyDeleteI was interested to see that you mentioned a Japanese carrier as another instance where a pilot was facing mental illness and crashed an aircraft. Sadly, this is a world wide issue that's not just directly related to the aviation industry in certain countries. Your knowledge and resources really help break that through as well, that made it much easier to read and comprehend, especially in a discussion like this. It's a great write and a fun read.
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