Pilots and Depression

On March 24th 2015, German Wings flight 9525, an Airbus 320 crashed into the alps on a flight from Barcelona, Spain to Dusseldorf, Germany, killing all 150 people aboard. In the investigation, it was found that the copilot locked the Captain out of the cockpit and then set the autopilot to 100 ft and sped the airplane up to intentionally crash the plane into the mountain. The co-pilot, 27 year old Andreas Lubitz, had lost his medical in April of 2009 because he had depression and was taking medication for it. He reapplied in July of 2009 and was denied, later that month he was granted his 1st class medical with limitations. One of the limitations was that the AME giving the exam, must contact the controlling agency to get more information, presumably about the depression. (BEA 2015)

There have been other instances of pilots with mental issues intentionally crashing airplanes, There was a Japan Airlines DC-8 in 1982 that killed 24 people, a Royal Air Maroc ATR42 in 1994 that killed 44, Silk Air 737, in 1997 that killed 104, Egypt Air 767 in 1999 that killed 217 and a LAM flight in Namibia in 2013 that killed 33 people.(BEA 2015) The one that stuck out to me was the Japan Airlines flight 350 in 1982 where the pilot,Seiji Katagiri, Switched the autopilot off on approach, pushed the nose down and put two of the DC-8's engines in reverse. Despite the co-pilots efforts the plane crashed into the water just short of the runway. In the investigation it was found that Katagiri was suffering from a schizophrenic episode at the time of the crash, and as with Lubitz there had been warning signs of mental health issues. Katagiri had been put on medical leave about a year before the crash. But was able to pass the needed tests and be reinstated to fly. (Alexander 2015)

The only screening that I know that the FAA does for mental health is to ask if you have ever been diagnosed with certain mental conditions, such as bipolar Disorder, or substance abuse, they also ask you if you are taking any medications. The whole thing rests on the fact that the consequences of getting caught lying about your conditions will be dire, loss of certificate or even possible jail time. The problem that isn't immediately apparent is the fact that if you do tell your AME about depression or that you are on medication to help with depression, your chances of getting a first class medical are pretty much out the window. From there you will not be able to fly and then you will not be able to work as a pilot and your career is essentially over, unless you can fight at great expense to your self, while of course you also are not working, then you may be reinstated, but with that black mark on your record that will come up every 6 months that you have to renew your medical. You can see how as a pilot it would be in your best interest to keep things like that to yourself, or try and find other doctors to help you with prescriptions as Lubitiz did.

I know that there can be some improvement in the process, but I just don't know where the balance is would be, because if you become tougher on people with depression or even mental issues, you will just make the people who need the help to keep from getting it, so that they could keep their jobs. 

I do not envy the FAA or the airlines in coming up with an approach that works to deal with depression or mental illness in pilots. On one hand if you are too tough and deny people with any depression a medical, you will get people to stop reporting it and stop getting the help they need, but if you are too accommodating and don't stop people from flying when they have serious mental problems then you run the risk of not only an accident but the public finding out that you allowed a pilot to fly when you knew he was mentally unstable. If I could come up with anything, I would say that the Airlines should pay for pilots to seek counseling free of charge and with the understanding that they would not be putting their jobs on the line unless there was a very strong evidence that they were a danger to themselves or passengers. That is about the only way that I see pilots that need it seeking help.  





Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile. (2015, May). BEA of the Preliminary Report on the Safety Investigation. Retrieved January 23, 2016, from http://www.bea.aero/docspa/2015/d-px150324.en/pdf/d-px150324.en.pdf

 Alexander, D. (2015, June 14). The Suicidal Pilot Who Survived. Retrieved January 23, 2016, from http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-suicidal-pilot-who-survived/41496